Khadija Bari, Board of Directors – Chair
Khadija Bari
Photo courtesy of Rick Guidotti, Positive Exposure 109
Khadija Bari (she, her) is the Director of Job Placement Services in the Workforce Development department at VISIONS/Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired. VISIONS is a nonprofit rehabilitation and social service organization whose purpose is to develop and implement programs to assist people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to lead independent and active lives in their homes and communities. Bari has almost a decade of experience guiding underrepresented college youth and job seekers with disabilities in career development and connecting with employment opportunities.
Bari also sits on the Career Advisory Board of APH ConnectCenter. CareerConnect® is an integral part of the APH ConnectCenter, a website that provides curated information and resources to people who are blind or low vision, their families, teachers, counselors, and employers. CareerConnect offers job seekers of all ages and employers a variety of resources to help with the job search and hiring process.
Bari lives in Queens, New York with her husband, stepdaughter and their dog. Bari was born in Pakistan and immigrated to the United States at the age of 22 with her parents and younger brother. It is then that she learned she had a disability and was diagnosed as being legally blind. Bari wrote a personal reflection that Disability Belongs™ published during Women’s HERstory Month in 2020.
Bari earned her Master’s degree in Economics from Hunter College of the City University of New York. She then began her career at Queens College of the City University of New York, working with first-generation college students in their learning in freshmen and sophomore Algebra and Calculus courses. The next step in her career advancement led her to VISIONS, switching her focus to the internship and job placement of college students and job seekers with visual impairments and other disabilities, and she partners with companies to foster inclusivity in their workplace.
Bari has a passion for discovering and promoting talent to develop an open and inclusive environment within organizations. In her current role, she co-leads New York State’s largest Workforce Development team serving the legally blind population across the State in helping them develop professionally and obtain internships and employment relevant to their education, skills and interests. On the business development side of her role, she promotes the VISIONS’ brand and values by connecting with new employers and maintaining strong relationships with existing HR business partners, educating them about the significance of diversity and inclusion in the workforce, and ways to accommodate their employees with disabilities. Simultaneously, she researches and partners with organizations that work with and engage diversity and inclusion experts, at a national and local level, to help them hire the most capable and diversified pools of jobseekers. It is during this research that Bari came to know of Disability Belongs™ and its efforts. After attending several Disability Belongs™ events and trainings, Bari was selected to participate in its Training and Consulting Bureau.
In her spare time, Bari enjoys spending time with friends and family, and welcomes all opportunities for international travel and learning about new cultures. She appreciates meeting new people and exploring ways to collaborate and build partnerships.
