Originally Published by TD Bank.
On Thursday, August 23, dozens of TD Bank employees, leaders and friends gathered at the TD Tech Center in Mount Laurel, NJ to celebrate a unique group of 2019 interns. These eight high school students were carefully selected from a pool of 16 peers across the Cherry Hill, Lenape and Camden School Districts in New Jersey to participate in TD’s second annual Project SEARCH program.
Francis, Lara, Vincent, Megan, Jenny, Benjamin, Da’Jaun, and Amanda are talented students with developmental or intellectual diverse abilities who have demonstrated remarkable passion, resilience and ambition both at school and in their local communities. All were invited to sign commitments in front of their future Colleagues, friends and families, confirming their participation in a 10-month long rotational internship at TD.
This is the second year that TD has partnered with Camden County Educational Services Commission, the Employment Network Team of NJ, the NJ Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, the Department of Developmental Disabilities and Project SEARCH, a national nonprofit that strives to “secure competitive employment for people with disabilities.” TD is the only bank in New Jersey to participate in this program, which helps interns gain employment either at TD or another company in the local community by leveraging the skills they learn through the program.
“Through this partnership, we are opening doors to the next generation of talent,” said TD’s Diversity & Inclusion Center of Excellence’s Jocelyn Weyrauch. “We recognize that these interns have tremendous potential, and we are committed to helping them develop their professional skills.”
Project SEARCH grows out of TD’s long-standing commitment to Disability &Inclusion and, by extension, its mission to foster a barrier-free, service-oriented culture that empowers people of all abilities and backgrounds to achieve their goals. This initiative was sponsored by TD’s Diversity & Inclusion Center of Excellence and The Ready Commitment, a multi-year platform that helps TD maximize its impact by increasing financial security and building connected communities that enable all people to thrive in a changing world.
“As the father of a son with autism spectrum disorder, I’m amazed by my son’s resilience, dedication, passion and persistence traits I believe he shares with other people with diverse abilities,” said John Pluhowski, Chief Communications Officer at TD Bank. “These are the kind of traits that will help TD and other businesses grow and prosper. Through our partnership with Project SEARCH, we are bringing top talent to our business, while accelerating the path to a more inclusive workplace and world.”
