Broadening horizons
Landmark College President Dr. Peter Eden signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Broad Futures Co-Founder, CEO, and President Carolyn K. Jeppsen (pictured, left) during the 2018 Spring Family Weekend festivities that will provide new internship opportunities for Landmark College students.
Starting this summer, three LC students will take part in the Work Based Learning Semester, during which they will undergo the training and mentoring program developed by Broad Futures and be placed in a paid internship with one of the non-profit’s corporate partners. Students will earn minimum wage ($12.50-$13 an hour) for the duration of the internship and earn up to three credits toward their degree.
“We’re very excited to give students the opportunity to take part in the Broad Futures program,” said Jan Coplan, Director of Career Connections at Landmark College (pictured, right). “We also think the experience will demonstrate how neurodiversity enhances workplace culture and the bottom line for the companies where our students are placed.”
Broad Futures is a new non-profit organization providing holistic training, mentoring, and meaningful paid transitional work experiences for young adults with learning disabilities. After initially serving the greater Washington D.C. area where they are based, partnerships like this one are part of their vision to replicate their success on a national scale.
The program Broad Futures has created provides a unique focus on stress reduction and tolerance for young adults with learning disabilities that affect their attention, organization, and social functioning. The two to three-week orientation period incorporates yoga, drama, mediation, and mindfulness exercises to prepare interns for their workplace experience. Broad Futures then assigns a mentor to supervise and support the student in tandem with the employer, including weekly meeting to discuss performance.
Likewise, employers are appropriately educated in the necessary accommodations interns might need, as well as what skills and capabilities these individuals bring to the workplace. Broad Futures also organizes forums that enable employers to share effective practices and lesson learned with each other.
“Nationwide, less than half of the students with learning disabilities find employment within two years of graduating,” says Coplan. “We believe the education Landmark College provides combined with the Broad Futures program will have a positive impact on those numbers.”
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