The Virgin Islands University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (VI UCEDD) at the University of the Virgin Islands has been selected to participate in the outbound program 

Kimberly Mills currently serves as the Executive Director at the Virgin Islands University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (VIUCEDD). She has over twenty years of experience in executive management, direct service, and university special education. All of this experience was instrumental to mentoring PFP-IDE fellow, Evelyne Njeri. In addition to her role at VIUCEDD, Dr Mills also works as Affiliate Faculty for the Center for Disabilities Studies at the University of Hawaii and as participating faculty member with Westchester Institute for Human Development. She has experience in management of federal, international, and local government grant writing and project management and has established the first TriCare Autism Demonstration Project within the US Virgin Islands. Dr Mills will be traveling to Kenya to help Evelyne in the development of her project ‘Interdisciplinary collaboration towards strengthening, Anapendeza’s ability to advocate, train and serve people with disabilities through continued partnership exchange.’ This will include increasing public awareness, creating collaborative partnerships with local businesses, recruiting job coaches, and introducing customized employment methods.

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VIUCEDD is located in Kingshill and will be the first location in a United States territory to host a PFP-IDE fellow. Their expertise in inclusive education lies in job training and job coaching programs which are integral to successful inclusive employment initiatives and the mobilization of persons with disabilities in the workforce. Within the sphere of job coaching, VIUCEDD partners with vocational rehabilitation service providers to train job coaches on person centered planning. The result of this individualized model is customized employment matches that are better suited to the needs of the person receiving the job coaching.

Shamika Thomas is a Program Coordinator for the Virgin Islands UCEDD. In hosting a PFP-IDE fellow she will bring with her an array of experiences working in diverse locations, such as Bermuda and Dubai, and with diverse populations, including Mennonites, Muslims, and Hasidic Jews.