Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations Disability Institute is working on a project called Partners in Policymaking.  It is an innovative national model of leadership training for people with developmental disabilities and their family members.  This free program provides knowledge about issues and policies related to disability, and how to influence policy development on a local and national level.  Their goal is to create a productive partnership between people with developmental disabilities, their family members, and policymakers.

The NYS Partners program instruction is delivered in a 4 month course time frame, and the complete course is offered twice per year.  During this time, partners complete a series of training sessions, primarily through web-based instruction.  Upon graduation, 74% of graduates rated the course as “Excellent,” while 24% rated it as “very good.”  Their 6 month follow up survey found that 80% of graduates have been involved in statewide or national systemic advocacy issues since graduation.

The application for the 2015 Spring Session opens on November 1st.  Once the applications goes live on November first, applicants may scroll down to “Resources for:” and click on ‘I want to apply*.

Please download this FLYER for all the details and disseminate to anyone you think may be interested.