Portugal. The Man - Public Service Announcement Release


After nineteen weeks at #1 on the Alternative Billboard Charts for their hit single, Feel it Still, ‘Portugal. The Man’ has contributed to another hit single. Today, we release the Public Service Announcement (PSA) by Eric Howk of ‘Portugal. The Man.’ In his message, Eric discusses the job-services the non-profit NTI offers to Individuals with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans nationwide.  Our press release can be found here




Eric is not only an accomplished musician but has a special understanding of the difficulties Americans with Disabilities face.  Several years ago, Howk broke his T4 vertebrae, leaving him paralyzed from the sternum down. However, through his talent and perseverance, Howk was still able to showcase his music to the world. 




To extend his support of individuals with disabilities, Eric Howk graciously recorded the following Public Service Announcements for distribution:  

http://portugaltheman.nticentral.org

The site features a video message from Howk to educate individuals with disabilities of the job-services NTI provides as well as 8 audio PSA's developed for radio distribution. 




Title tracks "Live in the Moment" and "Noise Pollution" from ‘Portugal. The Man's’ latest album, Woodstock, highlight the PSA's as well as the band's legacy offerings. Eric also allowed us to use his independent release, "Say," within one of our messages. 




We encourage you to distribute the message Eric illustrates and we will be working hard to get his message across America. If you know of anyone on SSI or SSDI who could benefit from the job services NTI offers, please feel free to register at NTICentral






Mike Sanders is the Senior Director of Talent Management Services for NTI where he oversees the Training, Call Center, and Recruiting departments. In the past, Mike was the Manager of Training for Canon North America, worked for a few Financial Firms, and has built Interactive media, Websites and Learning Management Systems for several Fortune 500 firms and start-ups.

Happy Birthday Alan Hubbard!

Typically we focus our social media posts on the accomplishments of those external to NTI in the realm of advocacy, arts and sciences, and adaptive sports, but today we wanted to focus internally on our COO, Alan Hubbard who has shaped NTI, headquartered in Boston, into what it is today. 




NTI, as well as the industry, recognize Alan's outstanding leadership and innovative efforts in placing Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans back into the workplace and advocating on their behalf. 

Over the past eight years, Alan has brought advocacy and innovation to NTI in many forms. Some of the landmark items he conceptualized in collaboration with NTI Staff include NTI Online University, the LandAjob Division, an eMentor program, social media advocacy, organizational growth, the restructuring of the company infrastructure, and the growth of internal communications among the teams of individuals nationwide.  All of these efforts were designed to helping Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans back into the workforce. 

When Alan first started, he conducted an analysis of the organization.  Alan soon developed what is internally called ‘Secret Sauce.’   According to NTI's Director of Client Services, Michelle Simone, "Alan spearheaded the efforts to develop NTI's ‘Secret Sauce.’ The ‘Secret Sauce’ allows  NTI to review the candidate process, identify areas for improvement and redundancy to ensure our candidates' experiences are highly efficient and effective and give them the primary goal of obtaining employment."  Once the infrastructure was defined, Alan determined to help the disability population further. He felt that education and the guidance of candidates should be paramount. Therefore, he developed NTI Online University, LandAjob and the eMentor program.    



Alan felt through the development of NTI Online University, applicants could be taught the necessary skills, services, and technical knowledge to support our clients’ needs.  Classes would be both instructor-led and self-paced to take into account various learning strategies. In turn, candidates would have the skills necessary for the positions which lead to independence.  To complement NTI Online University, Alan felt there was a need the need to develop a program to guide applicants through the process. The eMentor program was conceived to provide guidance on a range of essential skills including resume writing, interviewing, communication or managing stumbling blocks through the NTI process.  

Additionally, since not all candidates can fit into the jobs NTI provides, Alan conceptualized LandAjob.org.  In the LandAjob concept, Alan partnered with a Human Resources Fortune 1000 consortium to provide a database of over one million positions for Individuals with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans apply to. LandAjob also provides those with disabilities the possibility of work support payments from Social Security to subsidize their income.  Since the program’s inception, the scope of LandAjob.org has increased exponentially. John Bertram, LandAjob Operations Manager states, "He has pushed us to expand on the types of services we offer our candidates to include online training, work support reimbursements, and job coaching."


   
Not only has Alan provided multiple tools for Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans to become employed once again, he has built the foundation for both NTI and LandAjob to be the vanguard as advocacy groups supporting the rights of others through social media, events and TV/Radio media.  Alan, advocates for the voices of those who would not normally be heard and supports the technology and innovation to enable individuals.  As an end result, NTI globally has over 15,000 active organic followers on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram advocating for the rights of others.  More recently, he has expanded to traditional events including the celebration of the United Nations International Day of Disability in tandem with the Prudential Center, to raise awareness for Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans.  

   
   
In all, Alan’s vision has led the growth of job orders up to 3,000 today.  He has also built the business relationships to support and grow the business. When we first started hiring for our client, Amazon, we started with 10 hires, which quickly multiplied within the first 3 months. According to one of our largest Fortune 500 Retail Clients, it was stated that "NTI has officially become the seventh recruiter ." To compliment this, NTI has strengthened the business relationship with our other clients leading to a complete quality and complete solution.  According to the Director of Client Services, Michelle Simone, “Alan has brought dynamic leadership to NTI with his dedication to the mission as well as his ability to build relationships that often lead to new business opportunities.  Those new business opportunities have allowed NTI to diversify our client base in the past eight years while providing more chances for American’s with disabilities to find work-at-home jobs."   

To support this, Alan developed the culture, communication, and collaboration within our nationwide organization.  In the words of John Bertram, LandAjob Operations Manager, "Alan has helped NTI embrace technology to do our jobs better and more efficiently. Under his guidance, we have improved our communication solution so we can increase the types of work-at-home positions we can offer to core employees."  NTI's Director of Information Technology, Peter O'Leary states, "Alan has helped to foster a work environment where everyone on the team wants to help Americans with Disabilities find a job.  To further NTI’s commitment to our vision our staff has nearly doubled in the last year allowing NTI to work with more and more disabled individuals.  Increasing the staff also allows the employees to spend more time with each individual to help better understand his or her needs." 

Alan has garnered the respect and gratitude of those for whom and with whom he serves; his clients, his peers, and Americans with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans nationwide. In the end, we want to wish Alan a Happy Birthday and thank you for making a difference in the lives of others!  If you would like to be a part of his effort, feel free to connect with NTI using the information below. 

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For Candidates: If you are on SSI or SSDI and would like to get back into the workplace, feel free to register for our job-placement services at goo.gl/ac4yFs

For Businesses: If you would like to partner with a business to augment your Call Center, feel free to contact NTI at coo@nticentral.org. 

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