A media release I received last week gave me a bit of a buzz, so I thought I’d share this good feeling.

Now normally government media releases aren’t the highlight of the day, but this one was from the offices of Jenny Macklin MP and Senator Jan McLucas announcing Telstra as a finalist in the National Disability Awards Excellence in the Improving Employment Opportunities Award category.

The fellow behind Telstra’s Supported Workforce Program, which is the main part of the award nomination, is Michael Marrett, National Contract Specialist in our Service Delivery Group in Telstra Operations.

Now Michael came up with the idea when, in the line of duty, he was looking for network site maintenance contractors. Michael realised his son, who was employed at Minda (a local not-for-profit organisation which supports people with varying degrees of intellectual and physical disabilities) performed similar maintenance duties to what Telstra was seeking.

Michael raised the idea of a Telstra Supported Workforce program and from there his passion for this initiative has driven it from a trial in 2010 (of site maintenance at two exchanges), to a program which now currently employs (via contract arrangements) over 200 people from 13 not-for-profit organisations.

Michael will be attending the award ceremony along with Bert Ciavarra, Telstra’s Manager Disability Services, on 28 November in Canberra.

Whether Michael receives the award or not, he’s a winner in my books, and so is Telstra due to all those who are a part of our Supported Workforce Program.

This program is changing lives and I’d encourage readers to view the short video on my previous blog, ‘Diversity creates connectivity and a strong sense of community’, to see the stars behind this program.

When have you been part of something which is life-changing?