For the last 75 years, advocates have taken the month of October to highlight and create awareness of career opportunities for people with disabilities through National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). And this year, one of our very own IBVI employees became one of the faces helping to drive these awareness efforts.
Mishanda Pressley—often referred to as Charleston’s Shining Star—has been an IBVI employee at our Charleston, South Carolina, Base Supply Center (BSC) since 2019. This year, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) featured Mishanda (and her one-of-a-kind smile) on posters placed in BSC’s all over the United States highlighting NDEAM.
Mishanda lost most of her sight in 2014 through complications from diabetes, but this didn’t stop her from seeking to make a difference. Through assistive technologies such as eSight and Job Access With Speech (JAWS), Mishanda does whatever it takes to get the job done and help her customers on base.
She was born in New Jersey, but has lived in South Carolina since 1970. She is now married with two children and is a top sales associate at IBVI. Mishanda’s favorite part of coming to work is interacting with customers and coworkers because it makes her smile.
When she isn’t working, Mishanda loves to sing with her choir group at Royal Missionary Baptist Church, spend time with family, and indulge in a game of Candy Crush when she can.
Through our four Wisconsin locations, IBVI is able to provide meaningful job opportunities for those who are blind or visually impaired by providing the U.S. government and military with essential supplies, from pens and brooms to mission-critical building and detainment kits. But manufacturing and shipping is just one part of how we support our customers.
We also have brick-and-mortar locations on 14 military bases around the country, which allows us to serve our customers better and employ even more people who are blind or visually impaired—like Mishanda.
To learn more about our BSC operations, please visit our website.