Community Coffee☕| ‘Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Tech’

ABOUT ‘COMMUNITY COFFEE’ ☕

Join us for our weekly tech community gathering (with coffee) for updates, best practices, and a way to connect with other local business leaders on what they are doing during this unprecedented time.

PRESENTED BY:

South Florida Business & Wealth

Boca Code

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION ☕

This discussion is designed to help expand diversity and inclusion programs to consider a unique population, individuals who are apart of our Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

Attendees will:

• Learn best practices for hiring adults on the with hearing disabilities
• Gain actionable strategies to build a more inclusive workforce
• Understand what it means to work with those deaf/hard of hearing teammates
• Hear about different resources and tech available to you to learn more

Grab your coffee and join us for this important discussion on expanding your diversity program!

GUEST SPEAKERS ☕

Beth Wagmesiter is the Founder of The Wag Group, deaf and ADA advocate, and inclusion consultant and workshop presenter. She is an ADA Outreach Specialist for the City of Boynton Beach and the Executive Director for the Palm Beach County Association of the Deaf. Beth was previously the Director of Deaf Service for the Gulfstream Goodwill Industries for over four years.

Saïda Florexil is the Founder of Imanyco which is a tech startup that advocates for communication accessibility and create a real-time transcription technology called Comunify that supports the deaf and hard of hearing people during an in-person group conversation. Being a part of this community herself, Saida is passionate about improving communication accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing. She graduated from Palm Beach State Collège with a Bachelor in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial Studies from Lynn University.

Sue Abel is the Director of Work Opportunities Unlimited & Independence Works serving Palm Beach and northern Broward counties. Sue has worked in the field of supported employment in New England prior to moving to Palm Beach county 11 years ago. Work Opportunities Unlimited believes all people can work and strives to find great job matches with business partners and customers everyday.

Janice Pickron is a Frontend Developer & Web App Security Consultant. She has been a Web Developer over 25 years with various corporations such as FPL, Motorola, American Express, IBM and local companies. Janice also graduated from Palm Beach State College with Network Security certification, BBA degree from FAU in Computer Information Systems and an AA degree from University of Central Florida. She also recently took a Frontend Development with React.js course last with Boca Code. Technology is a rapidly changing field and she constantly works to keep her skills relevant.

ABOUT OUR PARTNERS ☕

The Wag Group advocates on behalf of the d/Deaf Community where Beth serves as an outreach educator with focus on the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) to ensure that business’ understand their responsibilities under the ADA; Compliance; Accessibility; Inclusion of people of all different abilities. TWG provides interactive workshops/lunch & learns about Titles I-V of the ADA: Employment; State and Local Government; Public Accommodations (entertainment); Telecommunications; Miscellaneous.

Imanyco is a tech startup that advocates for communication accessibility and create a real-time transcription technology called Comunify that supports the deaf and hard of hearing people during an in-person group conversation.

Work Opportunities Unlimited (WOU) is an innovative, progressive organization dedicated not only to employment outcomes for job seekers and employers, but to the satisfaction and development of all employees, who we refer to as team members. With an emphasis on the training and professional development of qualified team members, WOU fosters a fun yet disciplined work environment that results in services of the highest quality. Armed with an experienced and diverse workforce of dedicated professionals, the team at WOU has been producing successful employment outcomes for those with barriers to employment since the company’s inception in 1982. Work Opportunities Unlimited has a non-exclusionary policy of serving thousands of individuals with a wide variety of barriers and disabilities. Given the right environment, proper supports, and effective training all people can be successful in a job and for employers this means finding diverse candidates whose unique talents and skills will help improve their business.

BRING YOUR QUESTIONS/COMMENTS ☕

We would like to hear from you and how our members are responding and staying ahead of their business challenges during this time. We will be offering weekly updates with speakers who can help answer your most pressing questions.

We look forward to your participation!