myAbility Talent® Program | Ashoka Impact Transfer

Country

Austria

Import/Export

Export

Topic

Zero Project 2020/2021

Transfer Model

Partnership model

Status

Replicated

myAbility is an Austrian social enterprise offering strategic consultancy services to companies on disability inclusion. It operates in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The myAbility Talent® Programme is a career programme that aims to bring together students and graduates with disabilities and companies. The students receive coaching and exposure to companies through networking and job shadowing. From 2016 to 2020, 52 jobs have been created, 180 Talents trained and over 200 employees sensitised.

Solution

Students and graduates with disabilities often face unconscious bias from employers, which makes it difficult to find employment.

The myAbility Talent® Program works with graduates and students with disabilities or chronic illnesses, with a focus on economic and technical field of studies. Following a selection process, chosen participants, called ‘Talents’, receive presentation and empowerment trainings, one-on-one career coaching, expert subject input, and career workshops.

Simultaneously, myAbility meets with partner companies, offering advice and inclusion training as well as preparing staff for the job shadowing part of the programme. Companies and Talents attend matching events, where they undertake short interviews and where job shadowing is arranged.

At the end of the programme there is a celebration event, at which Talents receive certificates followed by a programme evaluation.

The programme is financed by the participating companies, which receive benefits such as sensitisation, advice, support, and recruitment opportunities. Participation in the programme is free for the Talents.

Impact

From 2016 to 2020, myAbility has arranged 1,620 coaching hours and 720 job support days.

Of the 180 Talents who have completed the programme, 60 have started work or have received offers from 70 participating companies, in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Goals

Our strategic goal is to expand our impact across Europe. The aim is that the employment rate of people with disabilities in Europe corresponds to that of people without disabilities.

Needs

If you are in contact with students with disabilities or chronic illnesses, you can help us to address students with disabilities or chronic illnesses who are at the end of their studies or who have just finished.

Please announce our offer!

Transfer Model

The programme started in Vienna and has been successfully replicated in Zürich and Berlin and Munich. In 2021 the programme will be conducted also in Frankfurt and Hamburg (tbc). myAbility is looking to replicate to other European countries in the near future.

There is a structured approach to replication, which consists of assessing the needs of the two main target groups in the new market area, developing a pilot project, and evaluating and standardizing for further roll-out.