Our Mission
Our Mission
The primary mission of Deaf GROW is to develop two self-sustaining Centers on Employment to support the education and employment of people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the Philippines and Việt Nam. The Centers on Employment will be managed by leadership teams within partner universities in the Philippines and Việt Nam and will be modeled after the NTID’s Coop and Career Center. These centers have been established to serve as a hub for Deaf community members and employers to receive resources, support, necessary training and accessibility services to expand job placement and career advancement for Deaf people in both countries.
About Us
About Us
In 2001, with an initial investment from the Nippon Foundation, RIT/NTID created a multinational network of colleges and universities to improve and expand secondary and post secondary education for Deaf and hard of hearing students. The partners of the Postsecondary Education Network-International (PEN-International) and the Pre-College Education Network (P-CEN) participated in significant training and development of best practices in deaf education with regards to instructional strategies, access services and educational support services, educational technology , and faculty development and training.
A common area of frustration for many has been an inability for their graduates to find meaningful employment. Employment outcomes and career advancement for people with disabilities (PWDs) in ASEAN countries still lags behind many other nations. Further, deaf and hard of hearing people face significant barriers to employment due to lack of language and communication access. This is exacerbated by limited training opportunities and the lack of awareness among prospective employers. Little data exists, however, on the current employment trends for PWDs. Amid the pandemic of 2020, many deaf people who were employed, particularly those in the service industry, lost their jobs.
The swift change to virtual and remote technologies combined with very different ways of doing business now means deaf people need a variety of opportunities for retraining and gaining new skills. In addition, as the pandemic begins to ebb, deaf people must be prepared to adapt to changing work environments.
Therefore, RIT/NTID and its partner institutions in the Philippines and Viet Nam been awarded a new grant from the Nippon Foundation to create two Centers on Employment to support the education and employment of people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the Philippines and Việtnam. These centers will be established to provide the necessary training and support services to assist with the educational needs of deaf graduates in both partner countries.
Team
Team
Thomastine Sarchet
Assistant Dean
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Nashiru Abdulai
Associate Director
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
John Macko
Director
Co-Op and Career Center
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Mary Lamb
Research Programs Financial Administrator
Office of the Associate Dean for Research
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Michael Berrios
Lecturer & Web Master
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Erica Calders
Senior Staff Assistant
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Michelle Olson
UX Designer/Researcher
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Jinlan Li
UX Designer/Animator
Office of the Associate Dean for Research
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Xiangyu Shi
Website Editor
Center for International Outreach
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Our Partners
Our Partners
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation of Japan is a grant-making organization that provides financial assistance for activities that they determine can improve the quality of living of people around the world. The Nippon Foundation of Japan's support for deaf education began with supporting deaf or hard-of-hearing students from developing countries to study in the United States. The Foundation's partnership with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf continued with the funding to establish the Postsecondary Education Network-International (PEN-International) from 2001-2011 and the Pre-College Education Network from 2011-2016. Both of these networks has expanded education and access opportunities for deaf students in their home countries. Today the Nippon Foundation continues their generous support through the Deaf GROW project.
RIT National Technical Institute for the Deaf
RIT/NTID and its partner institutions in the Philippines and Việt Nam received funding from the Nippon Foundation to establish two Centers on Employment to support the education and employment of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Each program in the Philippines and Việt Nam will be modeled after the Center on Employment at RIT/NTID offering workshops, training, and resources, to Deaf community members and employers. The partners in each country will also create employment advisory boards consisting of local deaf leaders, government representatives, business stakeholders, and educational leaders to provide expertise and advocacy for employment of deaf people. The Centers will also house employment support service resources which will be able to provide fee-based interpreting, captioning, and education on access technologies utilized for the employment of deaf people. Additionally, the Centers on Employment will offer certification courses and job re-training to deaf persons seeking employment. It is the goal of Deaf GROW for these centers to be self-sustaining within the next five years.
Dong Nai University
Dong Nai University (DNU) was established in 1976, training over 50,000 teachers, nearly 1,000 managers for schools from preschool to high school, more than 2,000 bachelors of economics and engineering for businesses. As a teaching focused university, DNU opened the Center for Studying and Promoting Deaf Culture in 2005. This center provides high school and college education for deaf students across Viet Nam. Dong Nai University also provides sign language interpretation, captioning and other accommodations to ensure effective communication and understanding for deaf students. The university has been lauded for their commitment to promote academic success for deaf students in Vietnam.
Center for Studying and Promoting Deaf Culture
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De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde
The De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) has been the leading, learner-centered, Philippine Deaf education institution for the last 30 years.
In 2003, SDEAS partnered with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID-RIT) to implement PEN International. After this successful collaboration, SDEAS engaged in many other partnerships mainly for the employment and skills development of its deaf and hard-of-hearing students and alumni.
SDEAS has been vital and visible in advocating for equal access to education, employment, information, justice, religion, health services, and other opportunities. The School has actively collaborated with various organizations in pushing for policies that would benefit the Filipino Deaf community. The implementation of the Filipino Sign Language Law in 2018 compelled SDEAS to share its expertise on Deaf education and to provide more Filipino Sign Language trainings for teachers and other pertinent stakeholders. SDEAS continuously strengthens its research efforts while improving its curricula, programs, and services.
