Mitsubishi Electric: Changes for the Better

Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation

MEAFnet

• October 2009
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Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation names new Director

posted October 26, 2009
The Board of Directors of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin R. Webb to the position of Director. Webb is responsible for guiding and implementing grant programs and company volunteer activities focused on MEAF’s mission of helping young people with disabilities maximize their potential and participation in society.

Webb comes to the position after serving four years as the Foundation’s Program Officer. Previously he worked in the field of international educational exchange, including eight years as Executive Director of a nonprofit in Columbus, Ohio and three years teaching college courses on International Business and Global Cultures. Webb holds a BA in International Studies and MA in Public Administration from The Ohio State University.

Webb succeeds Rayna Aylward, who helped found MEAF and served as its Executive Director for 19 years. Aylward recently resigned from MEAF to take a Presidential appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Education.

Established in 1991 by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and its US subsidiaries, MEAF has made nearly $10 million in grants to help organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Girl Scouts of the USA more fully include youth with disabilities. The Foundation also supports Mitsubishi Electric employee volunteers, who have provided more than 25,000 hours of service to date in the communities where they live and work. For more information about the Foundation and its current youth inclusion initiative, visit www.meaf.org.

Founding Director of Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Appointed to U.S. Department of Education

posted September 15, 2009
Rayna Aylward, founding Executive Director of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF), has accepted a Presidential appointment to become Special Assistant in the office of the US Secretary of Education.

Aylward leaves the Arlington, Va.-based Foundation after 19 years of service, where she guided MEAF in its mission of assisting young people with disabilities to maximize their potential and participation in society. This experience has prepared her for her new position with the Department of Education, where she will focus on a number of projects such as building federal-foundation partnerships and strengthening special education programs. Aylward will assume her new duties as of October 5th.

The Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and its US subsidiaries established MEAF in 1991, one year after the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Foundation board chose to focus on helping young people with disabilities and hired Aylward to lead its efforts. Under her direction, the Foundation has worked with its nonprofit partners to provide more opportunities for youth of all abilities. Aylward has also been instrumental in engaging thousands of Mitsubishi Electric employees across the country in supporting their local communities through volunteer efforts.

Aylward is a recognized philanthropic leader and advocate for disability rights and has received national awards for her achievements. During her tenure with the Foundation, she served on numerous boards and helped establish a number of organizations, including the Affinity Group on Japanese Philanthropy, Disability Funders Network, the Youth to Work Coalition, and the Committee on Disability Power and Pride.

MEAF Program Officer Kevin R. Webb will manage Foundation operations until the board selects a successor in late October to continue the legacy Aylward leaves behind.

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MEAF Executive Director Honored With KIT Founders Award

posted March 26, 2009
SAN DIEGO, CA—Rayna Aylward, Executive Director of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, was presented with the Kids Included Together (KIT) Founders Award at a luncheon ceremony on March 20th in San Diego. Jan Giacinti, KIT CEO, made the surprise announcement at the 5th Annual KIT National Conference before an audience of more than 200 educators, recreation specialists, and representatives of youth-serving organizations.

KIT, based in San Diego, specializes in training community-based youth organizations on how to include children with disabilities in their regular programs. The KIT Founders Award was established four years ago to recognize the exemplary efforts of an individual, organization or foundation in leveling the playing field for people with disabilities. “The standards for this award are so high,” said Giacinti, “that until today there has only been one recipient of the KIT Founders Award.”

In presenting the award, Giacinti declared that Aylward has “done more to foster the process of inclusion, advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, and motivate organizations of national scale to recognize disability as a part of the diversity initiative than she’d ever take credit for.

“She enabled a foundation of relatively small size to turn a ripple into a wave that is reaching from coast to coast,” continued Giacinti. Aylward was selected to receive the award for her ability to make modest investments that can maximize impact and bring out the best in an organization for the benefit of people with disabilities. Giacinti shared the example of how Aylward facilitated a lasting partnership between KIT, with just six employees in California, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which has thousands of employees across the country, to make a lasting impact on the lives of youth with and without disabilities.

In closing, Giacinti said of Aylward, “Her vision is crisp and clear – create a world where all people regardless of their abilities are welcomed, valued, and included as contributing members of our society.”

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Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Presents Second Annual Inclusion Champion Award

posted March 25, 2009
SAN DIEGO, CA—Ingrid M. Kanics, OTR/L, Therapy Director, Hattie Larlham, Mantua, OH received the 2009 Inclusion Champion Award, presented by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) at the Kids Included Together annual conference in San Diego.

The award, now in its second year, includes a trophy and a $1000 contribution to the recipient’s organization. It was established by MEAF to honor individuals who have made measurable and sustainable impact in promoting the inclusion of youth with disabilities.

In presenting the award, MEAF Executive Director Rayna Aylward highlighted Kanics’ inclusion advocacy within the Hattie Larlham organization and her efforts to develop programs and promote inclusion throughout the country. “Ms. Kanics is a shining example of the power of one individual to make a difference in the lives of many. Because of her work, thousands of children with disabilities have inclusive opportunities to play with their friends and visit museums with their families. We are a better society because of Ingrid Kanics.”

Kanics started working with Hattie Larlham when the organization hired her company to create the design for their new play center in 2003. This facility assists in the development of cognitive, social, physical, and emotional skills of children with intellectual disabilities. It also provides educational and networking support to families and surrounding communities. Prior to joining Hattie Larlham as a full-time employee, she worked at the Center for Creative Play in Pittsburgh, where she assisted many communities and museums in creating universally accessible indoor play environments.

In accepting the award, Kanics remarked: “A truly inclusive environment is one that does not ‘disable’ individuals but allows them to engage in any activity to the best of their ability. It an environment that allows them to play together, learn together, and become a community that embraces all.”

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About The Play Center at Hattie Larlham:
The Play Center is a universally accessible, 7,000 square-foot play area that provides children of all abilities with a variety of developmentally appropriate, hands-on play experiences including big
muscle play, manipulative play, sensory play, creative arts and pretend play. The Play Center is part of the Hattie Larlham Life Achievement Center, which also includes a therapy pool, resource library stocked with specially adapted toys for children with disabilities, outpatient therapy clinic and eating area with a courtyard. Construction on the Life Achievement Center was completed in August 2008, and will fully open in July 2009. www.hattielarlham.org

About Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation:
Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) was established in 1991 by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and its US subsidiaries, with the mission of helping young people with disabilities maximize their potential and participation in society. Based in the Washington DC area, MEAF has invested more than $2 million since 2003 in its Inclusion Initiative to help organizations like Hattie Larlham fully include more youth with disabilities. www.meaf.org

About Kids Included Together
Kids Included Together (KIT) is a San Diego-based non-profit organization specializing in providing best practices training for community-based youth organizations committed to including children with disabilities into their existing recreational, social and child care programs. Incorporated in 1997, KIT supports the inclusion of children with disabilities or other special needs in programs that occur in the non-school hours. KIT accomplishes this by creating four-year affiliations with organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs. During this affiliation, KIT focuses on sustainability so organizations will continue to provide inclusive environments long after KIT’s involvement has ceased. www.kitonline.org

MEAF Awards Grants to Support $3.2 Million Initiative

posted February 18, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC — The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation has announced $360,000 in new and continuing grants, raising the total investment in the Foundation’s five-year Inclusion Initiative to $3.2 million. A new national inclusion project will be funded at $40,000, and continuing multiyear projects will receive $320,000 to help children and youth with disabilities to be fully included in mainstream programs and activities. In addition, $125,000 will be awarded in matching grants and matching gifts to organizations selected by Mitsubishi Electric US employees in the communities where they live and work.

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation is dedicated to helping young people with disabilities maximize their potential and participation in society. The 2009 grants build on the best practices and lessons learned from earlier inclusion projects and expands the Initiative to additional youth-service organizations, with the aim of making their programs more accommodating of and attractive to youth with disabilities.

“The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation’s investment in the Inclusion Initiative over the past five years has helped organizations like the Girl Scouts of the USA become more inclusive,” says Rayna Aylward, executive director of the Foundation. “This year’s grants will expand inclusion to other youth service providers, such as the YMCA, and we hope to grow our network of inclusion ‘champions’.” Last year, the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation awarded its first Inclusion Champion Award to Marvin B. Laster, director of diversity at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, for his efforts in promoting inclusion of youth with disabilities in Clubs throughout the country. The 2009 Inclusion Champion Award recipient will be announced in March.

The new national grant project, which will receive $40,000 over two years, is a collaboration between the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University-Center for Summer Learning and the Raleigh NC-based Bubel/Aiken Foundation to help expand summer learning opportunities for all children. The project partners will develop and pilot a curriculum that youth-serving organizations can use to offer inclusive summer camp opportunities.

Continuing Inclusion Initiative projects include $72,000 to San Diego-based Kids Included Together for the second year of a program to train after-school providers on techniques to develop inclusive environments for youth. As part of its grant, KIT hosts and maintains the www.IncludingAllKids.org website as a clearinghouse for inclusion-related resources. The Corps Network will receive $30,000 for the third and final year of a project to develop the Inclusive Crew Model for use by the 113 community and conservation corps in the U.S. Girl Scouts of the USA and the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital will be awarded $75,000 for the second year of their three-year joint Include All Girls project. A grant of $40,000 will go to the Education Equity Center at the Academy for Educational Development in New York for the second and final year for the After-school Inclusive Math program, which partners after-school programs with science museums.

In other continuing grants, the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation will provide $93,000 for the eighth year of its signature MEAF/AAPD Congressional Internship Program, for the Washington, DC-based American Association of People with Disabilities to continue placing college students with disabilities in summer internships in Congress. This past year, one of the interns served in the office of then-Senator Barack Obama. Talented college students with disabilities also served in the offices of Sen. Brownback, Sen. Clinton, Sen. Harkin, and Sen. Kennedy. In the House, the offices of Rep. Baldwin, Rep. Delahunt, Rep. Hoyer and Rep. Sensenbrenner also hosted an intern. In addition, AAPD will receive a three-year/$30,000 renewal grant for the Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award, which is presented annually to emerging leaders in the disability field.

On the corporate side, the Foundation will continue sponsoring the Annual Mitsubishi Electric Hallway Golf Tournament, which is organized at Mitsubishi Electric locations across the U.S. More than 1,000 employees participated in the inaugural Tournament last year, raising more than $50,000 for Special Olympics and other charities serving youth with disabilities.

The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, based in the Washington, DC area, was established in 1991 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and the Mitsubishi Electric U.S. companies, which produce, sell and distribute a wide range of consumer, industrial, commercial and professional electronics products. With an initial endowment of $15 million, the Foundation has contributed more than $9 million to organizations assisting young people with disabilities to lead fuller and more productive lives.

For more information, please visit the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation’s fully accessible website at www.meaf.org.

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MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC AMERICA FOUNDATION
2009 NATIONAL GRANTS

New Grant
Johns Hopkins University (two-year grant) $40,000
Supports a joint project between the university’s National Center for Summer Learning and the Bubel/Aiken Foundation to develop a summer learning curriculum to help summer camps fully include youth with disabilities.

Continuing Grants
Academy for Educational Development (second year of a two-year grant) $40,000
Supports the Education Equity Center’s working in partnership with after-school program providers and science and technology museums to develop an After-school Inclusive Math program.

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) (three-year renewal grant) $30,000
Helps fund the Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award, recognizing outstanding young leaders in the disability field.

AAPD (second year of a three-year grant) $93,000
This grant funds the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation/AAPD Congressional Internship Program, which provides summer internships on Capitol Hill for college students with disabilities.

Girl Scouts of the USA (second year of a three-year grant) $50,000
Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC) (second year of a three-year grant) $25,000
Supports the Include All Girls Initiative to develop inclusion tools at GSCNC and identify best practices from other Councils, which are then disseminated to Councils throughout the U.S.

Kids Included Together (second year of a three-year grant) $72,000
Funds the development of a National Training Center on Inclusion, provides training to 10 National Affiliates, and supports the maintenance of the www.IncludingAllKids.org inclusion resource website.

The Corps Network (third year of three-year grant) $30,000
Supports the development and replication of an inclusive crew model, giving opportunities for youth with disabilities to engage in volunteer service activities and develop leadership skills.

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Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation
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