Chet Cooper

Chet Cooper
Occupation	Advocate, Publisher, Journalist, Public Speaker

Chet Cooper, is best known as a leading advocate for people with disabilities, most notably in the areas of education, equal employment, and housing. Cooper is the founder/creator of ABILITY Magazine, ABILITY Awareness, and JobAccess.org.

In 1991 Cooper launched ABILITY Magazine, the first newsstand magazine focusing on issues of health and disability. Distributed by Time Warner, ABILITY Magazine is a bimonthly (6 issues annually) publication.

In 1995 Cooper founded ABILITY Awareness, a non-profit foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people with disabilities through housing, employment, education, media and volunteer opportunities. In response to the growing population of low-income people with disabilities, Cooper created ABILITY House, a program of ABILITY Awareness. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity, ABILITY House creates accessible homes for low income persons all over the United States, including Oahu, Hawaii. ABILITY Awareness created the ABILITY Magazine Award (via ThinkQuest Internet Challenge), which provides scholarships to winning teams of students where one or more members have a disability.

Cooper also developed JobAccess.org, an internet employment site for people with disabilities. Partnered with CareerBuilder.com, JobAccess.org helps those with disabilities find jobs within companies, government and non-profit organizations. According to Cooper, eighty percent of workers with disabilities are unemployed looking at the Percent of Population in Labor Force numbers the government provides. However, many have given up searching for work after countless unsuccessful attempts. As a result, they no longer are classified as unemployed and consequently government estimates of the disabled without work is substantially less than the real number.

He has been honored by President George W. Bush at a private White House ceremony where he was presented with the President's Community Volunteer Award, the highest national honor bestowed upon a volunteer. Chet Cooper has further been recognized by the California Governor's Committee for "exemplary leadership in the community" and has received a special Congressional recognition for outstanding community service and the Easter Seals Awareness Award, to name a few.

...
Wikipedia