Thomastine, Sarchet-Maher, and Reyes, Oscar Sherlo (2025-2026). Establishment of Centers on Employment for the Deaf in the Philippines: Deaf GROW (Growing Regional Opportunities for the Work). Grant proposal submitted to The Nippon Foundation, The Nippon Foundation. ≠
Throughout Year 4 of Deaf GROW a series of workshops, seminars, and trainings will be conducted in order to fully develop employment curricula that can be offered to Deaf participants and industry partners in Years 4-5 of the project. During Years 1-3 of the project, Benilde was able to partner with a number of companies such Bayer, Willis Towers Watson, Accenture, Manulife, ANZ among others. During Year 4, the number of company partners will be increased through various networking events and conferences. This will allow for additional learning as to what skills and competencies are required for Deaf people to advance their careers and/or re-train for a new field. During Years 1-3 career advocacy events, and some seminars on job preparation were implemented. To expand on this in Year 4, Deaf GROW will add seminars on leadership, interpersonal skills, community outreach, spirituality, and sports to enhance the wellbeing of the Deaf community. It is anticipated that the local Advisory Boards will be critical in helping inform what is needed to assist in modifying and improving training materials for Year 4 and beyond. It has also been noticed that organizations like Workability Asia and other disability employment support service providers often do not highlight the unique needs of Deaf employees. The need for additional training on accessibility and mentoring was an ongoing theme from the employer survey conducted in Year 1. By the end of Year 4, Deaf GROW, will have significant data on Deaf employment rates and goals for improvement, industry partnerships in hiring Deaf talent. Curricula and training materials developed through the Deaf GROW project can be a model for use in other ASEAN countries.