What We Do

Our goal is to grow our businesses and Maine's business community by increasing the number of people with disabilities in Maine's workforce.

We are accomplishing this goal through marketing, research, education, outreach — and leadership by example. We create partnerships with other Maine employers interested in leading by example and shaping the future of our workforce.

Beyond Maine, we are an affiliate member of the US Business Leadership Network (USBLN), giving us a national network of business resources and platform for our efforts.

Following are some examples of Working Together's activities.

  • Marketing: We advertise Working Together and the benefits of employing people with disabilities in local and regional media outlets.
  • Research: We track business attitudes and trends through methods such as the Minding Maine's Business annual survey.
  • Education: We host an annual conference, provide online resources, and send quarterly e- newsletters to our members.
  • Outreach: We place informational articles in local and regional publications; we make presentations at human resource and other business gatherings; we host exhibit booths at conferences.


Business Partner Liaison, Merritt Carey, facilitates Working Together's activities and manages the coalition's daily operations. Business Partners participate voluntarily as time permits. Seed funding for Working Together activities is provided by a federal grant.1

About Merritt T. Carey, Esq., Working Together's Business Partner Liaison

An employment attorney by trade, Merritt is principal of GraffamSolutions, a marketing & communications firm for socially responsible & sustainable businesses.  For the last two plus years has helped spearhead Working Together, a campaign to encourage employers to hire people with disabilities, in conjunction with the Muskie School of Public Service.
 
In connection with this work, Merritt has been invited to speak at the National Consortium for Health Systems Development in New Orleans, participate as a panelist discussing cause-related marketing strategies at New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility's Annual Conference and speak at the Metro West Work Opportunities Coalition's Accommodation Awards luncheon (recognizing businesses that have set an exemplary standard in employing and accommodating people with disabilities) in Framingham, Massachusetts.  In addition, she has authored articles on the subject of employment of people with disabilities, and led panel discussions on the subject for employers.

 

1 This web site is part of the CHOICES CEO project, funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through a grant to Maine's Department of Health and Human Services (grant #1QACMS030316) and administered out of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. Views expressed do not represent official policy of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, or the University of Southern Maine.