James Emmett
James Emmett is a national leader in development of employment services for persons with individuals with disabilities as well as in assisting corporations in creation of outreach efforts to the disability community. He is an individual with a disability and a parent of three daughters with disabilities. James is a partner at Two Steps Forward, Inc. with a role as the Disability Consultant for Midway Moving & Document Destruction (www.midwaydocumentdestruction.com) and Jitterbug (www.jitterbug.com). James has helped the organizations he has worked with in securing over $3,000,000 in grant dollars and incentives. He serves as a Consultant to APSE HR Connect (www.apse.org) and is the Lead Disability Consultant to the companies TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) and Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com). In 2005-2006, James has worked as the initial Disability Program Manager for Walgreens helping set up the company's national disability initiative (www.walgreensoutreach.com). He also assisted Easter Seals National in laying the foundation for their national autism services network (www.easterseals.com/autism). James graduated with a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Illinois Institute of Technology.
James has worked with companies such as UPS, ABN Amro/LaSalle Banks, Century Tile, and the Brookfield Zoo in developing outreach efforts targeting the disability community. James has been working with business and disability issues for the past twenty years. He served as the Project Director for three award winning research/demonstration projects examining career development and transition strategies for individuals with autism and other disabilities (www.vocationalalliance.com). These projects included the Vocational Alliance Autism Project (VAAP), the Business Approach to Social Integration & Communication (BASIC) Grant, & the EmployAlliance Employment Within Business Project. James co-authored a chapter on school to work transition in the book Employment for Individuals With Asperger Syndrome or Non-Verbal Learning Disability (http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book.php/contents/9781843107668). He recently completed an article for the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation entitled Lessons Learned By A Rehabilitation Counselor in Corporate America. He is currently writing a book entitled Business & Autism: The Desktop Guide on How Companies Target the Growing Autism Community. James has presented at over 200 national, state, and local conferences on issues related to career development, transition, the business community, and disability.