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Mohegan Sun DEI manager details vocational inclusion program, says about 800 hires through BRS partnerships
Summary
Bill Donahue, DEI partnerships program manager for Mohegan Sun, told meeting attendees that the casino's Vocational Inclusion Program and partnership with BRS have produced roughly 800 hires through non-direct programs, provided multi-year youth training and accommodated placements including a deaf IT hire.
Bill Donahue, DEI partnerships program manager for Mohegan Sun, told attendees that Mohegan Sun has hired "right around 800 people" through partnerships with BRS and described the casino's Vocational Inclusion Program, which places students and adults across many departments and provides multi-year training and workplace accommodations.
Donahue said the program is designed to meet candidates where they are and to prepare them for sustained employment. "We believe in Mohegan Sun that we have a place for everyone," he said, crediting BRS with helping the company "know what the person needs and what the person is bringing to the table."
The program, which Donahue called the Mohegan Sun Vocational Inclusion Program, can run up to four years for youth and is structured like a college schedule, with rotations through multiple departments. Donahue said participants are trained in about 35 departments and that the youth-training pipeline typically brings 65 to 85 students a year to the property. "We're right around 800 people hired through programs, not direct hires," Donahue said.
Donahue cited specific outcomes to illustrate the program's reach. He said a BRS client who is deaf was placed into an information-technology role after BRS and Mohegan Sun arranged accommodations, allowing that person to work in the field they had been in previously. He also recounted a participant, "Christine," who began observing in wardrobe, advanced to run the Earth Hotel front desk and later moved into VIP services.
Donahue framed work as a key social support and noted Mohegan Sun's workplace culture. He listed the company's guiding principles as "welcoming, building relationships, mutual respect, and cooperation," and said BRS aligns with those values. "Everything you hear about people that you're basically unemployable, is false," he added.
Donahue emphasized the personal nature of the BRS relationship: "I know my BRS person's first name. That's what stands out to me," he said, contrasting that approach with what he described as more bureaucratic relationships in other states.
The transcript records Donahue's testimonial and program overview but does not record any formal vote or board action related to the partnership in the provided segments.
