The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experience for Youth in Transition

LaVerne A. Buchanan, Ed.D., is a senior research associate at TransCen, Inc.Dr. Buchanan has been affiliated with TransCen since 1991, when she joined thestaff to serve as director of the Washington, D.C., office of the MarriottFoundationa€?s a€?Bridges . . . from school to worka€? program. During her tenure withthe organization she has also provided training, technical assistance, and programevaluation to a number of Maryland and District of Columbia school systems, aswell as serving as a member of the Maryland State Department of EducationCareer Development Council and as a consultant to the D.C. Public Schools HighSchool Improvement Institute. Currently, she works on projects addressing youthconnectedness to schools and the community, drop-out prevention for middleand secondary students, and teacher implementation of authentic transition andcareer development. In addition, Dr. Buchanan is an adjunct faculty member atarea collegesa€? and universitiesa€? graduate special education transition programs.She has maintained active leadership roles in national professional organizations,including serving on the Boards of the Council for Exceptional Children and itsDivision on Career Development and Transition.

Meredith Gramlich, M.A., has worked with TransCen, Inc., since 1992 in a variety of capacities helping youth and adults with disabilities find successful career opportunities. She has worked throughout Maryland to facilitate business education partnerships and collaboration among disability service providers in their business partnering efforts. Ms. Gramlich has contributed to expanded customized employment opportunities for people with disabilities who access MontgomeryWorks, Montgomery County’s One Stop Career Center. She has also written and contributed to a number of publications about business–education partnerships, customized work opportunities for people with disabilities, and workplace mentoring.

JD Hoye is President of the National Academy Foundation.

David R. Johnson, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota.

Karen Leggett is a writer/journalist in Washington, D.C. As an advocate forimproved special education services, Ms. Leggett chaired PTA special educationcommittees throughout her daughtera€?s school years, edited newsletters, andwrote newspaper articles. Currently, Ms. Leggett serves on the MontgomeryCounty Special Education Continuous Improvement Team and chairs theTransition Work Group, an organization of parents and service providers workingto improve the transition to adulthood for young people with disabilities inMontgomery County, Maryland. In 2006, Leggett wrote The Parent MentorPartnership: A Toolkit (Southeast Regional Resource Center, 2006) about a groundbreakingmentoring program in Georgia public schools.

Richard G. Luecking, Ed.D., is the President of TransCen, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Rockville, Maryland, that is dedicated to improving education and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Dr. Luecking has held this position since 1987, when he was charged by the Board of Directors as the organization's first employee to create improved linkages between schools, employment service providers, government, business, and families so that youth with disabilities experience improved post-school employment outcomes. During his tenure with the organization, he and his TransCen colleagues have been responsible for the design and implementation of numerous model demonstration and research projects related to school-to-work transition and employment of people with disabilities. He is the author of a range of publications on related topics, including the book, The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experi