The US Business Leadership Network (USBLN) recognized Kathleen A. Petkauskos, director of UMass Medical School’s Work Without Limits, for being inducted into the National Disability Mentoring Coalition’s Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame on the last day of its annual national conference on Sept. 22.
Petkauskos was nominated for the honor by Work Without Limits team member Megan Northup. A woman with autism, Northup credits Petkauskos for giving her the support and encouragement she needed to succeed in the workplace. “Kathy makes me want to do more and be more than I ever envisioned for myself because she believes in me,” Northup wrote in her nomination letter.
The bond between Northup and Petkauskos is the subject of a Sept. 8 5 for Good segment on WCVB-TV.
All 17 mentors inducted this year into the hall of fame were celebrated and brought onstage at the conference, hosted by USBLN to further its mission to help businesses leverage disability inclusion.
Work Without Limits, a program of Commonwealth Medicine, is a statewide network of employers and partners established in 2008 to increase employment among individuals with disabilities. The program hosts career fairs and conferences, and manages a fully accessible job board, Jobs Without Limits. The Northeast Human Resources Association in February named Work Without Limits the 2016 Frank X. McCarthy Organizational Diversity Champion.
The Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame was established by the National Disability Mentoring Coalition to honor individuals who are making a difference in the lives of youths and adults with disabilities through mentoring and to raise awareness of the importance of mentoring.