Generating Leaders In Disability Employment

The Generating Leaders In Disability Employment (GLIDE) program opened doors in 2008 for college students by facilitating mentoring relationships with professionals from the Governor's WorkForce Development Council (GWDC) and members of its committees.

Mentoring can be thought of as a structured developmental partnership with clearly defined goals, roles, expectations, and time frames.  Mentoring is a reciprocal learning opportunity in which mentor and mentee both benefit.  The GLIDE mentoring partnerships were both mentee-driven and mentor guided.

The goals of GLIDE were to:

• Assist students with disabilities to connect with mentors from the GWDC and other Minnesota agencies
• Show that State of Minnesota agencies can and should be model employers for people with disabilities
• Promote similar mentoring programs in other Minnesota state agencies

These goals support the mission of Minnesota's Pathways to Employment (PTE) initiative, which is "to increase competitive employment of people with disabilities and meet Minnesota's workforce needs by bringing together people with disabilities, employers, businesses, government and providers."

The GWDC is committed to disseminating and marketing the results of the GLIDE Mentoring Program in order to encourage other Minnesota state agencies to start mentoring programs.

Documents available for download:

• GLIDE 2008 Mentoring Program Participant Workbook
• GLIDE  2008 Final Report

For More Information
Contact Terry Donovan at 651-259-7374 or email Terry.Donovan@state.mn.us