Frances Vhay

Program Associate, Center for Workforce Development

Frances Vhay joined the Institute for Educational Leadership’s Center for Workforce Development in December 2013 as a Program Associate. In this role, she provides support on various initiatives focused on youth in transition, including the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) and DC Advocacy Partners, a program that trains people with disabilities and their family members to become their own advocates and to navigate and improve local disability programs and services.

Prior to joining IEL, Frances served as The HSC Foundation Youth Transitions Fellow at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), where she was responsible for facilitating collaboration among internship programs through the Greater Washington Internship Coalition. She also assisted with The HSC Foundation's National Youth Transitions Initiative, which aims to be a central resource in the field of youth transitions, filling gaps in information and providing support for organizations that serve youth and young veterans with disabilities in transition. Prior to her fellowship, Frances interned with AAPD’s Programs Department on their Higher Education Project. She also served as an Office of Diversity and Inclusion summer intern at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Frances previously interned with then-Senator John Kerry’s Boston Office and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Office of Community Affairs. As a person with a disability, Frances is a member of both AAPD and the National Council on Independent Living.

Frances is from Massachusetts and graduated from Vassar College in New York with a B.A. in political science in May 2013. While at Vassar, Frances was a founding member and co-President of ACCESS, Vassar’s student organization for people with disabilities. During college, she spent a semester participating in the Washington Semester Program at American University, with a focus on Transforming Communities.

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