We are excited to bring to this year's TRA Annual Conference a dynamic, charismatic and incredible individual. Mr. Urban Miyares will open the conference on Sunday, August 16, and share with us his personal accomplishments and discuss self employment as a viable employment goal. If you were to Google Mr. Miyares name, you will find information on him from his experience in the Army to an award from President George Bush.
Mr. Miyares is blind; he lost his sight when he was an Army Sergeant in the Vietnam War. He went into a diabetic coma during a firefight and fell to the ground. They thought he was dead and tossed him into a body bag that stayed out in the hot sun for hours until an alert medic, detecting a faint heartbeat, rescued him. Mr. Miyares spent the next six months in a military hospital slowly recovering. If you Google Urban Miyares, you will also learn:
That he is the President and Founder of the Disabled Businesspersons Association which began in 1985 as a national pilot program for disabled veterans in business and quickly was recognized as the National Disabled Veterans Business Center. The Disabled Businesspersons soon becoming a public charity to serve all enterprising individuals with disabilites in their rehabilitation towards workplace entry and competitive performance, the DBA is recognized today as one of the nation's leading authorities on the self-employment of people with disabilities.
You will also learn he is a leader in self employment for people with disabiliteis, an entrepreneur, and an active sportsman. In the 1990-1991 season, he was a U.S. Alpine Ski Champion and ranked as the fastest blind skier in the world. He still holds the world record for the fastest downhill by a totally blind skier (63 miles per hour), clocked in the early 1990's at Alpine Meadows in Lake Tahoe and again in Calgary, Canada.
That is not all. You will also learn he co-founded Challenged America which is an adaptive-sailing rehabilitation program for children and adults with disabilities, founded in part from frustration and the desire to take charge of their own rehabilitation and recreation. And yet there is more. In 2005, Urban Miyares and a small crew of fellow sailors competed in the Trans-Pacific yacht race. Their boat named B'Quest had a crew of six sailors-including a quadriplegic, an amputee and a crewmember with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis-had mastered this taxing offshore yacht race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. The team finished 4th in a class of able-bodies sailors and in the top third overall. Using new sailing technologies developed in part by students at San Diego State University, the crew overcame many obstacles to complete the 2,225-mile trek.
What we have mentioned here are only a few of the accomplishments for this gentleman. He has also written books, been the subject of more than one cable TV show, and has been a motivational speaker. We know you will not want to miss this opportunity to listen to and meet this extra ordinary individual. We look forward to seeing you at the Conference!