Visiting International Research Fellow,
Curriculum Vita (PDF)
Leading Japanese disability advocate, Mizuki Hsu, has been appointed a Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) Visiting Fellow during Fall 2015. Ms. Hsu will be in residence at BBI’s Syracuse offices to examine and partner with BBI staff on topics including employment of people with disabilities.
Although Ms. Hsu lost the ability to walk when she was two years old, her parents advocated for her to receive the same educational services as did non-disabled Japanese students. At the age of 17, she had a chance to visit Australia and was impressed by the advanced infrastructure and accessibility there. Since then, she became interested in knowing more about welfare in developed countries. With those thoughts, she went to The University of Wisconsin River Falls in the U.S and received her B.S. in Communication Studies and International Studies. After returning to Japan, she worked with three companies in Tokyo and volunteered at a non-profit which publishes a magazine for women with disabilities.
Her research focus at BBI is “How to Maximize Inclusion of People with Disabilities in the Workplace.” Ms. Hsu will take her research findings back to Japan to work on increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Japan. She personally had a hard time at building a good career, encountering numerous barriers to accessibility and discrimination against persons with disabilities. Her current project, sponsored by the Duskin AINOWA Foundation, is to improve equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Japan by learning how U.S. companies, non-profits, and governments implement employment equality strategies and policies efficiently and successfully. “Employment and economic participation is the gateway to full participation as a citizen, in communities, and in life. We look forward to learning more about Japan from Ms. Hsu and sharing successful strategies for inclusion based on our research in the U.S.” says Dr. Peter Blanck, University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute. In addition to her main research project, Ms. Hsu will support ongoing research and projects being conducted by BBI to improve economic and community participation of people with disabilities.