IBMer Seth Bravin wins Employee of the Year Award from Careers & the disABLED magazine.
April 2, 2009 was a day of good fortune for Seth Bravin. On that Thursday in April, in Boston, Massachusetts, Seth received the Employee of the Year award from Careers & the disABLED magazine.
But, fortune, or luck, had little to do with the tribute Seth received. His body of work at IBM speaks for itself and his warm personality and willingness to help others were the real reasons he was so honored this spring.
Seth, who is deaf, joined IBM in 2003. He currently does financial planning for the Global Public Sector that includes the government, education, and healthcare industries. But, if finances are his occupation, helping others is his passion.
At Cornell University, while studying for his MBA, Seth worked with the disability office to understand the needs of students with disabilities and how to better serve them.
At IBM, Seth has a long list of accomplishments to his credit, including:
- Helps IBM's Human Ability and Accessibility Center with several strategic initiatives.
- Hosts IBM-sponsored technology camps for high-school students who are deaf and hard of hearing.
- Participates in IBM's global leadership conference for employees with disabilities, led a team of employees who are deaf and hard of hearing that works closely with corporate human resources, and mentored people with disabilities.
- Advocates use of video interpreting service (This technology breakthrough has allowed employees who are deaf and hard of hearing to participate in meetings and conference calls when a live interpreter isn't available or when a meeting is scheduled at the last minute.) and built relationships with organizations outside of IBM (including interpreting agencies) to better serve IBM employees with disabilities.
And, in his "spare time," Seth has been busy developing an academic partnership with Gallaudet University (his alma mater) and teaching a finance seminar there. He is also working with EntryPoint, a program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to help build a pipeline of students with disabilities interested in pursuing a technology-related career. Seth is a member of American Association of People with Disabilities, Hearing Loss Association of America and National Association of the Deaf. He's married and a father of three young children.
With all of this to his credit, it's easy to see why fortune favors the Bravin and why those who know Seth feel that fortune favors them.