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Employment Achievement Award

Take a look at our past recipients of our Employment Achievement Essay Contest, and their inspiring stories they share. Triumph Foundation has launched our Contest for 2017! The Award will give $5,000 to someone within the paralysis community to help them with employment. Funding can be used to help you obtain employment, achieve more success at your job, or start an entrepreneurial venture.

2016 Employment Achievement Award Winner - Bardo Ramos

In 2002 Bardo and a group of friends were targeted in a drive by shooting that left 1 dead and Bardo shot 4 times. One of the bullets struck him in the neck and he sustained a C-5, 6, 7 spinal cord injury. He struggled coming to terms with his paralysis until he met a wonderful woman named Blanca that motivated him to go back to school and earn a Masters degree in Social Work. Shortly after he got a job at the Department of Veterans Affairs in West Los Angeles. He was making a great impact with all the staff and the veterans from different war eras. In a way, having a physical disability gave him the ability to really connect with the veterans. However, his job required him to push his wheelchair between multiple domiciliary houses to serve 300 veterans located up and down long and strenuous ramps that lead into the buildings. This led to him straining his shoulders and being fatigued. He applied for our Employment Achievement Contest and explained how power assist wheels to help him be more successful at work and better serve our nation's heroes. We are proud to that your support got him the wheels that are necessary to propel his career forward.

Watch the video of him receiving the news he had won!

2015 Employment Achievement Award Winner - Austin Whitney

Austin Whitney won the Award in 2015 to help him build his business, Accessible Festivals. Austin believed that all music festivals should be accessible to anyone who wanted to attend. A person’s disability should never hold them back from having a life changing experience, his goal was to start an organization that ensured the best accessible services at festivals. Triumph is very proud to say we had a small part in helping Austin and the important work he does with www.AccessibleFestivals.com.

Watch this testimonial video on how he was enabled to follow his dreams and make a positive impact on the entire disabled community with the $5,000 investment.

Our 2017 Winner could be YOU!

To apply for our 2017 Employment Achievement Award submit an essay describing how the funds would enable you to obtain employment, achieve more success at your job, or start an entrepreneurial venture.

More info/guidelines: https://triumph-foundation.org/event/bill-hollman-return-to-work-essay-contest/

Applications are due by October 15, 2017.