Andraéa LaVant: My name is Andraéa LaVant and I am the Inclusion Specialist at the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital. And my role is really to ensure that girls of all abilities are able to participate in the 100 year tradition that is Girl Scouting.

Lidia Soto-Harmon: Andraéa heads up our inclusion efforts for the whole organization, and what that means is that she not only works to bring kids that, girls who have physical or intellectual disabilities into the organization, she also is a role model for all of these troop leaders who are wanting to include girls but need some help in figuring out what accommodations they should make in order to be able to do this.

Andraéa LaVant: I actually started out as a speaker for one of our conferences about four years ago. And that was my entry into kind of remembering 'oh yeah, Girl Scouts was a great place' you know, in terms of growing up. So when the job opportunity came open, I seized it.

Jocelyn Garay: Well, at the conference, she meets all of the girls, she gets to talk to them making sure they're okay, but I think where her impact is most seen is during her summer camp where she hosts a summer camp for girls with disabilities. It's a very small camp but it gives her the opportunity to kind of talk to these girls one-on-one, and it gives these girls a real role model; someone they can see, someone they can look up to, someone they can learn to be like and learn from. I think her confidence and just her passion is kind of fed to the girls through that experience. 

Andraéa LaVant: So, I've actually been at Girl Scouts for just over two years, and I was a Girl Scout myself. And I remember that as a Girl Scout, other than school, Girl Scouts was really one experience that I had where I was able to fully participate. And as a wheelchair user, sometimes there are things that I wasn't able to do growing up, but I remember going to camp. As a teenager, I think my goal was really just to be included, and I didn't really want my disability to be something that anybody really thought about. My parents helped me to just be as independent as possible; to go to school, and to leave home, and to forge out on my own, my own path. So I decided to go to school three-and-a-half hours from home. So Voc. Rehab. actually, I was introduced to them when I was in high school. I received a portion of my funds for school came from VR, had some scholarship money. They also helped fund my vehicle, which was incredibly helpful. I got on SSI when I was 18, transitioning actually into college. What it really did for me, which was huge, was allow me to live and go to school at the same time. Because, of course as a person with a disability, your expenses tend to be more, and so the SSI allowed me to do that successfully. One thing that my mother always told us growing up was to find a job that you would do even if you didn't get paid, so that was always my goal, you know, just figuring out what it was that I was passionate about. But all of the things that as a person with a disability that you can encounter that make working have to be a decision, really, for people with disabilities - am I going to have the appropriate care, personal care, because when I was on you know, full benefits, that was something that was provided. So then when you start working, some of those benefits are taken away, and so you're worried about that. So my previous job before coming to Girl Scouts was as a youth development specialist. 


Jocelyn Garay: And Andraéa definitely has that passion of serving people with disabilities and I can honestly and personally say that Andraéa has completely changed my life. Andraéa has given me so much more knowledge on people with a disability, which is I think what other people with disabilities can bring to organizations all over the place. 

Andraéa LaVant: Really that's what motivates me is knowing that lives are changed and that there's impact made because I come to work, and if I don't, it might not get done otherwise. Ticket to Work, you know, that's a tool that's in place for you to do those things and pursue what it is that you desire to do. 

I am inspired every day by the work that Andraéa LaVant does in this organization because it makes us stronger. The fact that we have someone who is not only the embodiment of what it's like to be a role model for others, but that she has so much kindness in her heart to constantly be looking at ways of including other people in her work. It is, you know, it is one of the most inspiring things that I get to do in this job is to see her work, not only with all of the volunteers that she works with, but with the girls, and with the staff in this organization. 

Andraéa LaVant: The opportunity to be a contributing member of society is huge, I mean what I do know is I wouldn't be where I am physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of those things if it weren't for you know, this being here. I had an opportunity to meet with President Obama this summer to a Girl Scout meeting in the afternoon making cookies. And I mean, it's the best of both, you know, all worlds. And you know, the reactions of the girls is still the best part, I kid you not. Just those other experiences are great. Seeing a girl learn a song, watching a girl from one year at camp who is super shy and doesn't say much, to the next year she's singing and you know dancing and wants to lead and all of those things, that for me, is priceless and why I do what I do.