WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) presented its annual Coalition Partner awards during the agency’s 19th annual Disability and Multicultural Coalition Conference. Both nonprofit organizations recognized for their accomplishments this year were instrumental in helping TSA and their community members.
TSA recognized the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) for its significant and exemplary collaboration during the past year. HLAA is the nation’s leading organization representing consumers with hearing loss whose mission is to open the world of communication to people with hearing loss by providing information, education, support and advocacy.
HLAA conducted training webinars on hearing loss, provided best practices for engaging with travelers with hearing loss and best practices for COVID-19 screening considerations including the wearing of masks as it relates to travelers with hearing loss. They also provided data collected directly from consumer surveys as well as information on consumers’ experiences to better enable TSA to work directly with travelers with hearing loss.
HLAA has partnered with the TSA Disability and Medical Condition Coalition since its inception, consistently providing support and advocacy to promote TSA programs and initiatives while sharing valuable consumer feedback and information with TSA leadership and staff.
TSA awarded the Minority Humanitarian Foundation (MHF) with TSA’s Multicultural Coalition Partner of the Year Award. MHF’s mission is to provide humanitarian response to issues facing immigrants and refugees.
MHF assists asylum-seeking refugees and people who are fleeing gang violence, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. This includes transitional age youth, pregnant and parenting teens, the elderly, deported veterans and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
TSA recognized MHF for contacting TSA to raise awareness about potential concerns for refugees who need to travel through airport security checkpoints. MHF’s work with TSA on frequently-issued refugee documents has helped TSA enhance its partnerships with other federal agencies to ensure more secure travel for refugees with unique asylum documents. In addition, MHF connected TSA with other organizations that assist refugees.
Each year, TSA’s Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement hosts TSA’s Disability and Multicultural Coalition Conference as part of its stakeholder outreach to improve the airport security screening process. The conference brings together TSA leadership and leaders from organizations representing various religious, cultural, LGBTQIA+ and disability communities to discuss security screening and issues of concern to coalition constituencies.