Missing Piece Awareness Appoints New Regional Director for Westchester County

Missing Piece Awareness Inc. announced today that Joseph Ginnane has joined the company as Regional Director to further develop and train more businesses to be autism aware and accepting in the Westchester and New York Metro region.

“I’m excited to move into this position at Missing Piece Awareness, and I look forward to working with the team to further develop the scope of their services for businesses in Westchester County,” Joseph Ginnane said, “Having spent most of my career working in the autism field in Westchester, I am focused on bringing the Missing Piece Awareness mission to the area to foster autism awareness and acceptance. I am passionate about cultivating relationships with forward-thinking businesses so that individuals with autism and their families can fully participate in the community.”

Ginnane is an accomplished and recognized educator, teacher and advocate for the special needs community in Westchester County.

In April 2014, The Westchester Foundation for Autism honored Joseph Ginnane for his work in the autism community. While working as a special education teacher in a self-contained Communication Development class at the Anne Hutchinson Elementary School in the Eastchester School District, he also passes on his knowledge and expertise as a teacher at the Teaching and Research in Autism Program at PACE University.

Joining Missing Piece Awareness, Ginnane can continue contributing to the autism community and expanding his scope of work to concentrate on bringing autism awareness and acceptance to businesses in the region. Missing Piece Awareness trains, certifies and supports businesses to be autism aware and accepting. Their approach helps businesses be successful servicing families affected by autism.

Executing and furthering the strategic vision of the organization, forging key affiliations, coordinating business trainings and supporting the businesses within the region, Ginnane will lead Missing Piece Awareness in Westchester and the New York Metro Area.

In 2009, Andy Spano announced that Westchester County was “Autism Friendly” following the recommendations of an April 2009 report from the Westchester County Autism Advisory Committee. Missing Piece Awareness hopes to expand on this goal and address the community and business sector needs to effectively aid in making Westchester County autism friendly and accepting. One of the Autism Advisory Committee’s recommendations is “Exploring training opportunities for providers, family members, first responders and public and private employees.” Missing Piece Awareness intends to assist the businesses and public sector of Westchester County implement these directives with outreach, partnerships and focused trainings.

Dianne Porter, CEO of Missing Piece Awareness said, “The special needs population deserves inclusion in all localities, and we look forward to serving businesses within Westchester. Our expansion and the increasing demand for our business trainings led us to look for an addition to our team who will fit in with our mission of sustainable change for businesses and the autism population. We are fortunate that we were able to find someone of Joseph’s caliber to fulfill this important role. I’m confident that Joseph will play a critical role in addressing the needs of businesses within the Westchester and New York Metro area.”

About Missing Piece Awareness Inc.
Missing Piece Awareness trains, certifies and supports businesses to be autism aware and accepting. Partnering with businesses, they help implement accommodations that allow people with autism and families affected by autism to feel more comfortable to access the goods or services of that business. Missing Piece Awareness promotes and markets the business to families and individuals within the autism community to inform them of the services and trained establishments available to create more positive experiences and opportunities for integration and inclusion. For more information, please see www.missingpieceusa.com.

Contact
Missing Piece Awareness Inc.
Victoria Boye, Chief of Business Development
[email protected]
(631) 244-0800
www.missingpieceusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Missing-Piece-Awareness