Name: Merechia Davis
Formal Job Classification: Disability Program Manager
Organization: Code 120, Equal Opportunity Program Office, Office of the Director
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
As the disability program manager, I ensure that the campus is accessible and process requests for reasonable accommodation. I am also the program manager for the Equal Accessibility Advisory Committee (EAAC) and, as such, manage a contract for sign language interpreters and reader and scribe services.
Center management is incredibly supportive in ensuring that our employees receive the accessibility accommodations that they need.
What is your educational background?
I have a bachelor’s in sociology with a minor in criminal justice from Bowie State University.
What drew you to work in equal employment opportunity?
I started my career as an intern at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., working on equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints. I then rotated into the disability program area, where I fell in love with helping individuals with disabilities. I came to Goddard’s Equal Opportunity Programs Office in November 2018.
As the Equal Accessibility Advisory Committee (EAAC) program manager, how do you help make the campus accessible?
The EAAC ensures that the campus is accessible and listens to issues raised by our members. Dave Reth is our senior champion. We meet every second Tuesday of the month.
Our group addresses different issues regarding accessibility, such as parking, bathrooms, and elevators. We also have an accessibility technology laboratory, which includes software, screen readers and computer mice. An expert from the state of Maryland gives presentations from time to time about the latest equipment.
What sorts of reasonable accommodation requests do you generally receive?
Many of our ongoing requests are for sign language interpreters. We often get requests for reader or scribe services. Reader services involve providing a person to read to the individual, and scribe services mean we provide a person to take notes, including real-time captioning, for the individual. We also have requests for ergonomic equipment including chairs and adjustable desks. Sometimes we get requests for workplace modification including telework, flexible work schedule or a combination. We also receive duty modification requests, which can include changing the workplace location for part or all of the day.
What future services is the center investigating?
A contract for personal assistance service (PAS) is in the works. PAS is available when someone has trouble getting to and from a car, using the bathroom, or any personal, daily activities on campus, we would provide someone to help. This would be a NASA-wide effort.
Tell us about a mentor you have.
My mentor is Natalie Veeney, a senior diversity specialist at the Office of Personal Management. We met when both of us were working at DIA. She always says to keep the people first. She also advises me to research any questions thoroughly and answer within a reasonable time.
What is the coolest thing you have done at Goddard?
In October 2019, we created and distributed a campus-wide parking survey. We wanted to see exactly who needs handicapped parking spots and where these people generally parked. Some people may have had handicapped parking spots at their home office, but not at the various other buildings they visited throughout the day.
Another cool thing was when my mentor Natalie Veeney was a presenter at our program during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October.
What do you do outside Goddard?
I enjoy doing community service, especially feeding the homeless with my sorority sisters from Gamma Phi Delta. We try to do this once a month at a church in D.C. We serve dinner prepared by the church staff to about 200 people.
What is your favorite thing to do when you go home?
I love playing with my 3-year-old son, including reading books to him.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Mother. Compassionate. Adventurous. Shopaholic. Punctual. Organized.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center