Hi. My name is Kim Riley and I’m the founder and executive director of The Transition Academy – college and career planning center for youth with disabilities. Our mission is to make economic inclusion a reality for youth with disabilities, especially for young people of color who have historically been failed by systems.
I am also a mom of a young adult son who was not adequately prepared to be successful after high school. I designed this organization as a solution to this problem impacting our family as well as others like ours.
For far too long, parents of youth with disabilities have described life after high school as “falling off a cliff.” These feelings of dread are due to the fact that the preschool to high school process is easy to follow. But life after high school is a different story. And the systems (i.e. employment, benefits) are confusing. In fact, it seems like you need a secret knock and password to understand what employment and benefits opportunities are available and match you or your child’s interests. We, at The Transition Academy, believe every youth of every ability level deserves the right to live a happy and productive life.
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