When Not On The Basketball Court, Team USA’s Trevon Jenifer Is Working In The Secret Service

Trevon Jenifer competes during the quarterfinals against Team Turkey at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Sept. 1, 2021 in Tokyo.

Born with no legs, he joined the wrestling team in high school, finishing third in his weight class at the Maryland state tournament his senior year. At 17, he wrote his first biography, titled “From the Ground Up,” about his wrestling experience, fitting in with his classmates and determination to succeed.
 
Immediately after graduating, Jenifer worked in local government as a service coordinator for individuals with a disability, helping to promote independent living in Erie, Pennsylvania, and then as a background investigator for a government contractor, before heading to play professional ball in France for two seasons.
 
Meanwhile, as a member of the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team, Jenifer has earned Paralympic gold medals with his team in Rio and Tokyo and a bronze medal in London. 
 
That pursuit and attainment of success is an attractive asset for employers such as the Secret Service.
 
“Since joining the Secret Service, Trevon has brought into our workforce the same work ethic and teamwork mindset that has made him an extremely successful USA Paralympic athlete,” said SMD Chief Michael Mullen in an article published on the Secret Service website [CM1] prior to the Tokyo Games.
 
“We are always looking for people with leadership skills, and athletes have many of the skills we look for in candidates,” said Kamir Carrillo, a talent acquisition specialist for the Secret Service, who manages the agency’s disability recruitment program. “They tend to be very dedicated, very mission oriented, and definitely have those leadership skills.”
 
She follows, “It’s not about the disability but what they can bring to the table. It’s about their knowledge, their abilities, their educational background.”
 
Jenifer’s opening to work for the Secret Service came at an EOP Career Expo for people with disabilities in Washington, D.C. around the fall of 2019, and he’s now in his third year with the agency.
 
“Based on my experience, the Secret Service has been awesome,” said Jenifer.
 
Hired in September of 2020, Jenifer says he received a call prior to his start date asking what he needed as reasonable accommodations.
 
“This being my third professional job outside of basketball, this was the first time I had a conversation on what accommodations were going to be needed in order for me to be in the workplace,” he said. “That made things a lot easier, to know they were willing to go the extra mile for individuals with a disability.”
 
That’s included flexibility not just for Team USA demands but for family requirements as well.
 
“The agency has not only done a service to myself in regard to my basketball career, but to my personal career and life as well,” Jenifer said. “They recognized that this was a dream that I had.
 
“I was upfront when I got the position about letting my department know and, as you can see on the website[CM2] , they are proud to have a member of the Team USA wheelchair basketball team among their personnel. That speaks volumes to what we do here at the Service and how we hold our personnel here to a different standard.”
 
In the Secret Service article just before heading to Tokyo, Jenifer called the Secret Service “my dream agency to work with.”
 
“You are representing so much more than yourself when you are out there playing,” he said. “You are representing your family, the organization and the agencies we are working with. It’s an awesome feeling to know that you have that behind you.”
 
Much like Team USA.

 [CM1] https://www.secretservice.gov/trevon-jenifer-paralympian
 [CM2] https://www.secretservice.gov/trevon-jenifer-paralympian