Kessler Foundation’s Elaine E. Katz Receives Betty Pendler Award from Community Options
CAPTION: Robert Stack, chief executive officer of Community Options, Inc., presented Elaine E. Katz, senior vice president of Grants & Communications at Kessler Foundation, with the 2015 Betty Pendler Award for her work to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
WEST ORANGE, N.J.—On Friday, May 15, Elaine E. Katz, senior vice president of Grants & Communications at Kessler Foundation, received the 2015 Betty Pendler Award from Community Options for her work to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Since 1991, Community Options, a nonprofit organization that develops housing and employment supports for people with disabilities, selects an individual who exemplifies its mission for the Betty Pendler Award. A member of AHRC’s Board of Directors in New York City, Betty Pendler was committed to people with disabilities, their families and others who served them. She was also a mother of a daughter with a developmental disability. Pendler passed away in 2001.
“I am pleased to be recognized by Community Options, which shares the Foundation’s commitment to empowering people with disabilities through employment,” said Katz. “Betty Pendler — by seeking new ways to improve the lives of individuals and their families — set an example for all of us in the disability community. Her advocacy and dedication made a difference in the lives of so many. It is an honor to share in her legacy.” Katz also aided in the ribbon cutting of the second location of Community Option’s Daily Plan It, in Princeton, N.J. Daily Plan It, a social enterprise with an office, conference and copy center, will employ up to eight people with disabilities.
For two decades, under the direction of Katz, Kessler Foundation has awarded more than $33 million in grants to disability employment initiatives to organizations throughout the U.S., including Community Options. A $150,000 Foundation grant to Community Options launched the School to Employment Program (STEP)—a transition program for students with disabilities. Since its start, STEP has served more than 200 individuals with disabilities across the nation. With a $30,000 Kessler Foundation grant, Community Options provided job-training to 12 individuals with disabilities at its social enterprise florist, Vaseful.
Katz serves on the board of directors of Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE), the Disability Funders Network, Board Chair for JESPY House and on the program committee of the Council of NJ Grantmakers. Elaine is also an appointed member of the Disabilities Issues Committee of the NJ State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) and Union County New Jersey Human Services Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Essex County Workforce Investment Board Disabilities Issues Committee, and former National Research Advisory Panelist for NTAR Leadership Center at Rutgers University.
About Kessler Foundation
Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. For more information, visit KesslerFoundation.org.
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Contacts:
Lauren Scrivo, 973.768.6583, [email protected]
Carolann Murphy, 973.324.8382, [email protected]
