The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) proudly presented "Disability Mentoring Day: Career Development for the 21st Century." Wednesday, October 19, 2005 was the official kick-off for a year-round effort. The kick off was in Tallahassee and the events were hosted and sponsored by the state of Florida. To create awareness of the contributions to the workplace, made by persons with disabilities. Guests: Jeff Ransdell is the Director of the JMGroup of Merrill Lynch in South Florida, who offered to open his business doors to a student with a disability. Merrill Lynch hosted the cocktail event and honored Meri Ramazio for her work as a Financial Advisor who has created a web site Disability Special Needs Trust for her clients who have children or loved ones with a disability. Anthony White, mentored student Carlton Jones at Clear Channel Communications as a board operator for WJNO. Russell Frederickson Director of Creative Services at Paxson Communications mentored job seeker Pat Archer by having him tour the behind the scenes creative department and how promos are created and then fed out into the air waves via satellite. Joseph Koker, VP of Operations at Paxson Communications Corporation was excited to be a part of Disability Mentoring to be a part of the Governor Jeb Bush’s initiative to increase employment opportunities to persons with disabilities.