Major Initiatives

2025 Major Initiative for Young Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): ASPF’s First Call to Action

Disability awareness has been a passion of Alex Pissios’s his entire life. He is especially concerned about this population’s lack of job opportunities and believes everyone deserves a chance to work. Alex’s father was a special education teacher for over forty years in Chicago. Alex’s admiration for his father’s work inspired him to mentor a fellow student with autism and his passion for this cause has continued throughout his life. Over the past year, the Alexander S. Pissios Family Foundation has begun supporting Gateway to Learning to establish the Alexander S. Pissios Family Foundation Employment Services. This initiative consists of three key calls to action:

1. To the State of Illinois: Currently ranked 44th in the nation for supporting individuals with IDD, we can and must improve by providing more employment opportunities.
2. To Other Family Foundations: Less than 2% of family foundations in the United States give to organizations that support individuals with IDD. We encourage other family foundations to join us in supporting organizations that serve people with IDD.
3. To the Chicago Business Community: We are calling on you to support the launch of Gateway Learning’s Employment Services Program by providing training and job opportunities for these dedicated, reliable, and hardworking individuals. They can perform the work, and we are responsible for hiring them.

Please take a moment to watch the videos below to see these individuals working in your community.

To hire qualified, motivated individuals through this program, please visit Alexander S. Pissios Family Foundation Employment Services at Gateway to Learning for more information.

Thank you for your time and interest in offering opportunities to these talented individuals.

— Alexander S. Pissios, Founder and Chairman