It’s not every day you get the chance to meet the CEO of a company and speak directly to them about your questions and concerns, but that’s just what two of our students recently got the opportunity to do with the CEO of Sound Transit, Peter Rogoff.
On Wednesday, November 13, Edward and Cassidy met Peter Rogoff at the House of Hong restaurant for lunch. Edward’s mom had won the luncheon through an auction at her agency, and she gifted it to Edward. As an avid metro user, Edward was thrilled for the opportunity to not only learn more about Sound Transit and their upcoming projects, but talk more with Mr. Rogoff about how people with disabilities utilize the metro system. The meeting was set up before the November elections, but Edward used the opportunity to voice his concerns following the passing of Ballot Initiative 976. Edward invited Cassidy, a fellow OLS student and Metro rider, to join him.
“It was nice to be able to talk with Mr. Rogoff about our concerns with Initiative 976. It failed in King County and Snohomish County, and Mr. Rogoff was able to provide information on how it will affect upcoming Sound Transit projects and transit users,” said Edward.
Self-advocacy, communication, citizenship, and self-determination are all skills students in the OLS program develop and expand on throughout their time in our program, and this was a wonderful opportunity for Edward and Cassidy to utilize those skills in the real world with an issue that affects them personally.
“The advocacy I learned in my Citizenship course last fall definitely helped me with this meeting,” says Edward, who feels great about his meeting with Mr. Rogoff. “Peter was very nice and receptive to what we had to say. He’s a very honest guy, the kind of person who will tell you how it is, not what he thinks you want to hear,” says Edward.
For more information on the OLS program, please join us at an upcoming Information Session.
Last Updated December 11, 2019