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AAPD GENERAL COUNSEL OLLIE CANTOS NAMED TO HIGH-LEVEL GOVERNMENT POST

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 6) -- At an event hosted yesterday by the U.S.
Department of Justice commemorating the Americans with Disabilities Act,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Loretta King announced the selection of
Ollie Cantos, General Counsel and Director of Programs for the 90,000-member
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) as Special Assistant
to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights R. Alexander Acosta.  Cantos
is to begin service in his new post on Monday, August 9. 

Among other duties, Cantos will play a key role in strengthening national
outreach efforts to disability organizations, expanding the list of
jurisdictions under Project Civic Access, and increasing the number of state
building codes to become ADA Certified.  (See http://www.ada.gov/.) 

Since June 2001, Cantos served as International Coordinator of Disability
Mentoring Day (DMD) whose purpose is to enhance meaningful internship and
employment opportunities through job shadowing and hands-on career
exploration.  (See http://www.dmd-aapd.org.)  Under his leadership, the
program quadrupled in size and scope.  Having just 1,600 mentees in the
District of Columbia and 32 states in 2001, DMD grew to encompass
participation by more than 6,000 mentees from all 50 states, 3 territories,
and 17 foreign countries on 5 continents.  Collaboration with employers from
the private, governmental, and nonprofit sectors skyrocketed from 250 in
2001 to almost 1,000 in 2003.  His efforts led to an expansion of local
coordinators from just 70 in 2001 to almost triple that number today.
Preparations for DMD 2004 (to be nationally commemorated on Wednesday,
October 20) look brighter still as new local coordinators in communities of
every size come on board almost every week and as existing local coordinator
efforts build upon previous years to reach more students and job seekers
than ever. 

The mantle of leadership of DMD is being turned over to Jennifer "JT"
Taransky, who is to begin as the Interim DMD International Coordinator on
Monday, August 9 in addition to her other responsibilities.  Since Taransky
joined AAPD earlier this year as Internship Logistics Coordinator, primarily
working with The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars as
it reaches out to college students with disabilities as part of its Spring
and Fall Internship Program, she has been extremely effective.  She will
bring to her DMD role the enthusiasm and strong sense of organization that
have served the disability community so well in her present capacity.

When reflecting on his tenure at AAPD and unwavering optimism for the
future, Cantos said, "I am honored to have worked with the hundreds of
leaders from around the country and in different parts of the world to help
make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of people with
disabilities, and I am pleased that JT has agreed to serve on an interim
basis to take DMD to the next level.  I am grateful for the time I have
spent at AAPD and look forward to collaborating with leaders in a whole new
way as I strive to facilitate greater enforcement of disability rights law."

Cantos concluded, "Working closely with the Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights to continue to advance equality of opportunity and full
societal participation by all Americans with disabilities is a charge I will
take very seriously, and I will devote myself to giving this all the energy
that I've got."