Gautier | Georgia | The People of MG&A

Marc Gold & Associates (MG&A) is a network of training consultants who are disability professionals specializing in the area of employment and community participation for persons with significant disabilities. MG&A was founded in 1976 by Marc Gold, a professor at the University of Illinois. This organization has provided consultation, staff training and project management to systems, organizations, families and individuals with disabilities throughout the U.S. and Europe to scores of states, hundreds of agencies and thousands of individuals. In 1981, MG&A managed a state-wide employment project in Mississippi that was to become a critical component of our state’s emerging supported employment services. Following Dr. Gold’s death in late 1982, a group of employees purchased the company from his estate and have evolved into a dynamic network that continues to provide cutting-edge information and capacity to the disability field. MG&A has been a Mississippi organization since 1983.

Michael Callahan of Ocean Springs, MS, has been president of MG&A since 1983. In that capacity he has managed an array of national employment projects, both through MG&A as well as through his role with the national office of United Cerebral Palsy Associations (1987-2000). Melinda Mast joined the MG&A network in 1987 and Norciva Shumpert joined in 1993. Together they have managed and consulted with projects that have included individualized supported employment, choice-based rehabilitation services, generic, one-stop employment for persons with disabilities and self-employment and micro-enterprise development.