“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If
it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above
all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then
they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve
Words of wisdom shared by two respected Americans…
which one is your favorite? Many students with
disabilities in Oregon had to choose – and to explain
why they chose it and what it meant to them. This was
one of the questions posed on the application for
Incight’s “Go-Getter Scholarship” application. This
year, thirty-four students were selected as winners and,
in the form of scholarship awards, Incight invested $750
in each of their educational goals.
Incight is a Portland-based nonprofit organization
that is uniquely dedicated to providing “resources for
self-empowerment” to young people with disabilities.
This small and vibrant organization pursues a formidable
mission; “Through self-empowerment we continuously
provide the tools and skills for those with disabilities
to advance their education, seek and obtain employment,
and become active participants in their communities.
Through all this, our main goal is achieved; to create
contributing members of society who view life without
any thought of limitations.” In addition to
scholarships, Incight currently supports students with
mentoring and internship opportunities –as well as
personalized career planning assistance.
At the core of Incight, is the belief that young
people with disabilities are deterred from career
success by erroneous societal beliefs and attitudes that
produce lowered self-esteem, self-confidence and
expectations for personal achievement. Incight has
dubbed this “Handicrap™” – “any attitude that keeps a
person with a disability or a person without a
disability from moving beyond their boundaries and doing
what they need to do to succeed.” Incight combats
Handicrap with Empowerment Trainings for high school
students – exposing and debunking the myths that
needlessly limit them – and replacing them with a sense
of self determination, personal worth, and expectations
for success.
With boundless enthusiasm, dedication and an
entrepreneurial spirit, founder and Executive Director
Scott Hatley is committed to Incight’s goals and its
long-term success. Recently profiled in the Oregonian
(June 13, 2005), Scott himself embodies the energy,
drive and dreams that Incight seeks to instill in the
young people that it connects with. Scott kindly agreed
to share some of his personal thoughts with the OBLN:
OBLN: What is the major benefit that you provide to
the young people you work with? What is the major impact
that your organization hopes to have on their lives?
SCOTT HATLEY: I think that is illustrated best in the
life of our very first scholarship winner. She moved
with her family from Ethiopia. When we first met her,
she and her family didn’t even realize that she could
ever even go to college. We gave them the message that
“Hey you can do whatever you want! Here are some
resources that you have to make this happen.” She wanted
to stay in Portland so we put her in connected her with
the disabilities office at Portland State University.
She met with them and went on a tour. We have connected
her with a mentor – someone who is supporting her,
pushing her, and helping her to find opportunities for
internships.
Her parents were also able to hear three disabled
people talking about their challenges and how they have
succeeded in life. It was really inspiring to them –
seeing that their child really could do something in
life. I think at times parents just feel bad for their
kids and don’t want to push them hard. They feel that
they already have a tough enough life. When we give them
a realization of what’s possible, the parents will push
their kids harder and expect more from them and for
them.
On our website you will see that we use the “Handicrap”.
We define it as any attitude that keeps a person with a
disability from moving beyond their boundaries and doing
what they need to do to succeed. It is those kinds of
beliefs that we are working to change in parents (and
educational counselors and transition staff). They need
to know that it is okay to be different and it is okay
to be challenged.
OBLN: Scott, what do you think the typical company
could do to improve their success at making their
company more disability-friendly and becoming a
successful employer of people with disabilities?
SCOTT HATLEY: They need to be better educated about
disability. They can achieve this by having more
interaction with people with disabilities. They can
reach out and become involved with organizations like
Incight. They can have their employees go out to schools
and educate students with disabilities about what it is
like to work for their companies. They can encourage
their employees to be career mentors to young people
with disabilities.
OBLN: Are there general kinds of things that typical
companies can be going in general to help people with
disabilities become a bigger part of the workforce?
SCOTT HATLEY: I think that educating their own
workforces is the best place to start. Too often people
without disabilities can feel uncomfortable around
people with disabilities and not know what to say, what
words to use. We need to break down the barriers on both
sides so we get to the point where we realize, “Hey, we
are all just people… all wanting to be successful... all
wanting to follow our dreams.” I’m not talking about
educational programs, but about bringing people together
to interact and learn from each other.
Nike is one of the companies that we work closely
with. Nike’s disabled mentoring day and job shadowing
are great examples of a company creating that kind of
interaction and educational opportunity.
OBLN: What do you consider to be the greatest
benefits to the companies that become involved with
Incight?
SCOTT HATLEY: The disabled market is largely untapped
by most companies. There are trillions of dollars in
potential purchasing power. Involvement with Incight
helps them to figure out how they can better reach that
population. Just as important as that is this is a
sub-population of people that, when trained and educated
properly, make great employees. This is a huge source of
potential employees to tap into. Staying ahead of the
competition is always a challenge to employers and
tapping into the resource and ideas of these people is
one way to do that.
We aspire to the day when employers will know that if
they contact Incight, they will be provided with a
source of high-quality employees that they can count on
and who will be an asset to their company.
