Moon company receives $10,000 FedEx grant
A Moon Township consultant to employers seeking to enhance resources for people with disabilities has gotten a lift in the form of a $10,000 grant.
iDisability received the grant from the FedEx Entrepreneur Fund in collaboration with Hello Alice and Global Entrepreneurship Network. The grant was among 30 totaling $300,000 that were awarded to entrepreneurs affiliated with the military or people with disabilities.
The grants were awarded by Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx, Hello Alice, a free online platform based in Houston, Texas, that helps businesses launch and grow; and Global Entrepreneurship Network, an online platform started in Johannesburg, South Africa, that provides startup business help in 170 countries.
“I’m so honored we received it,” iDisability co- founder Joyce Bender said. “How can it be 32 years after the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act and 70% of people with disabilities are not represented in the workforce? It’s stigma. It’s ignorance.”
In 2017, Ms. Bender, of Bender Consulting Services Inc., and Andrew Houghton, of Disability Inclusion Solutions Inc., founded iDisability, a company that provides advisory and educational services that impact disability employment and engagement.
The FedEx Entrepreneur Fund is designed to aid veterans and small business owners with disabilities to excel by providing funding, resources and networks that are critical to success. More than 2.5 million small businesses in the U.S. are veteran owned, while more than 1.8 small businesses are owned by people with disabilities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
FedEx received more than 12,500 applications for the grant.