The Your Next Star Academy

Transforming the disability employment landscape one graduate at a time

The Your Next Star Academy provides experiential training for aspiring employees and entrepreneurs with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Academy also helps connect area employers to an underutilized and qualified labor pool that can successfully meet their needs.

FAQ

We invite job seekers with varied levels of experience to apply for our Your Next Star Academies. Whether you are at the beginning of your employment journey, considering a career shift, or simply looking to sharpen your employment skills, consider applying for one of our Academy offerings.

The Employment Academy is for trainees ages 18+, while the Career Exploration Academy targets students ages 17-21. The latter is designed to complement transition programs prior to graduation. Both Academies seek to sharpen employment skills, boost confidence, and strengthen interpersonal and “people” skills to enable job seekers to interact effectively and professionally with supervisors, co-workers, and clients.

Your Next Star Shop

Support our self-advocate entrepreneurs running their own businesses. Check out their unique, high quality products only available here.

Workshops

Designed to provide hands-on practice for job seekers to explore their interests, gain critical skills and pursue their career goals.

Workshop

Employment Academy

Works with trainees ages 18+ to sharpen their employment seeking skills, boost their confidence, and strengthen interpersonal and “people” skills to enable them to interact effectively and professionally with supervisors, co-workers, and clients. Participants receive hands-on practice in three areas: soft skills (e.g. communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, positivity, time management, problem-solving, etc.), financial literacy (e.g. budgeting, planning for the future, comparing prices, etc.), and job skills. Upon graduation, Academy trainees will be prepared for a real-world experience in a field that interests them.


Ages: 18+
Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about future Academies.

Workshop

Entrepreneurship Academy

A program for aspiring entrepreneurs with Down syndrome in partnership with Collettey’s Cookies. The program is intended to give a select group of self advocates with Down syndrome tips and tools for achieving their dream of running their own businesses. Catering to self advocates who have explored or developed expertise in a range of fields, from hospitality to the arts to public speaking, the Entrepreneurship Academy promises to equip these hopeful business owners with specific skills and resources that will help them launch and sustain a successful enterprise.


Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about future Academies.

Workshop

Career Exploration Academy

A three-day training for students seeking to develop or sharpen their employment skills, boost their confidence, and strengthen interpersonal and “people” skills to enable them to interact effectively and professionally with supervisors, co-workers, and clients. Designed to complement transition programs, participants receive hands-on practice in two areas: soft skills (e.g. communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, positivity, time management, problem-solving, etc.) and employment skills.


Ages: 17-21
Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to know about future Academies.

Sign up to get the latest delivered right to your inbox.

By submitting this form, you are granting: Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, 20 Burlington Mall Road, Burlington, Massachusetts, 01803, United States, www.mdsc.org permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.

Sign up to get the latest Your Next Star Academy news right to your inbox.

By submitting this form, you are granting: Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, 20 Burlington Mall Road, Burlington, Massachusetts, 01803, United States, www.mdsc.org permission to email you. You may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email. (See our Email Privacy Policy for details.) Emails are serviced by Constant Contact.