What’s to Come

The first cohort of Teach Access Study Away participants, 2018

During the first few years of Teach Access, the Initiative was structured as a volunteer-led effort with nominal financial support for basic operations from its founding industry members, and with strategic project management support from PEAT. As mentioned, taskforce leaders and participants also volunteered their time to help execute Teach Access activities.

As the Initiative begins its seventh year, the leaders of Teach Access are undertaking a strategic planning process to refine its focus, work streams, collaborative partnerships, and organizational model which will result in a new strategic plan and a path forward for its goal of reaching one million students by 2030. The plan will be used to keep Teach Access focused and sustain its activities into 2021 and beyond.

In the next year, Executive Director Kate Sonka, with the support of the Executive Team and Teach Access members, hopes to secure more funding to hire additional staff, move projects forward, allow the Initiative to provide more funds to faculty via the Faculty Grants program, and reach more students through the Study Away program. Teach Access is also pursuing nonprofit status as a 501c3 organization, which would have many benefits, including giving Teach Access more credibility as its own non-profit entity, streamlining future grant application processes, and making it easier to collect dues from corporate members.

Stay connected with PEAT and Teach Access to learn how the community grows into its vision for a fully accessible future in which students are equipped to enter the workforce with knowledge of accessibility.

Read more about PEAT’s efforts to make emerging technology accessible for the workplace. Sign-up to PEAT’s newsletter and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also follow Teach Access on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.