FOR RELEASE ON JUNE 2, 1999
PITTSBURGH BUSINESSWOMAN TO BE HONORED AT WHITE HOUSE FOR FURTHERING
EMPLOYMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
(Washington, DC—June 2, 1999) President Bill Clinton will present Joyce
Bender, president of Bender Consulting Services, Inc., with the 1999
President’s Award in the East Room of the White House on Friday, June 4, at
2:00 p.m.  The President’s Award is America’s highest honor for achievement
in furthering the employment and empowerment of people with disabilities.
During this event, the President also will honor the co-recipients of the
1998 President’s Award.  James H. Click, Jr. is the founder of the Tucson,
Arizona, non-profit LINKAGES program, which connects employers and job
seekers with disabilities.  Laura Hershey is the interim Executive Director
of the Disability Center for Independent Living in Denver, Colorado.
Bender Consulting Services (BCS) actively recruits and hires people with
disabilities who have expertise in information technologies.  BCS contracts
its employees as consultants to client companies throughout the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware, areas.
“Joyce Bender’s commitment to furthering the employment of Americans with
disabilities is unsurpassed.  Instead of focusing on barriers, she looks for
challenges.  By developing a network within the information technology
industry, Joyce has been able to identify current needs as well as provide
‘foot in the door’ opportunities for IT professionals with disabilities,”
said President’s Committee Chairman Tony Coelho.
Bender is involved in numerous community efforts aimed at enhancing the
employment of people with disabilities.  She is a board member of Tech-Link,
a local project of the President’s Committee’s national High School/High
Tech program, which introduces high school students with disabilities to
careers in high-tech fields.  She recently founded the Pittsburgh Disability
Employment Project for Freedom, a non-profit organization that trains and
provides work opportunities in the information technology networking
industry.  Bender serves on the Business Advisory Committee for the
Institute of Advanced Technology, a computer programming training program
for individuals with disabilities.  She also chairs the employment sector of
Pittsburgh’s Disability Agenda 2000 project.
On the state level, Bender is a member-at-large of the Pennsylvania Governor
’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.  On the national
level, she serves on the Executive Board of the President’s Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities and on the Board of Directors of the
Epilepsy Foundation.
Bender’s commitment to employment opportunities for people with disabilities
stems from her personal experiences.  In 1985, she sustained a
life-threatening epileptic attack that caused an intracranial hemorrhage
requiring brain surgery.  She returned to work with a seizure disorder, a 40
percent hearing loss in one ear and a renewed respect for the attitudinal
obstacles faced by people with disabilities.
The President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities is a
small federal agency based in Washington, DC.  The Committee’s mission is to
communicate, coordinate and promote public and private efforts to enhance
the employment of people with disabilities.  The Committee provides
information, training and technical assistance to America’s business
leaders, organized labor, rehabilitation and service providers, advocacy
organizations, families and individuals with disabilities.  It also operates
the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a toll-free information service on
workplace accommodations and the employment provisions of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.  Additional information about the President’s Committee is
available on the Internet at <www.pcepd.gov>.


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