Name of Practice: JAMBA - Career For All  

Organisation: Social Future Foundation

Description of the Organisation: The Social Future Foundation was founded in 2017, and aims to provide training and facilitating labour market integration for people with disabilities in Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary.

Since then Social Future Foundation focuses on increasing capacity building and providing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities through accessible training, organized through partnerships with companies. At the same time, they proactively seek connections with employers who have an open and inclusive perspective. They prepare companies not only for due shifts in mindsets but also provide concrete and operational tools to successfully include a new talent with a disability.

Country: Bulgaria, Austria and Hungary 

Year of initiation: 2017 

Funding: Key revenue streams come from the companies involved; this includes recruitment commissions, membership subscriptions to the talent pool and job board, corporate trainings, diversity, and inclusion workshops  

Link to UNCRPD: Article 27 – Work and Employment 

Brief description of practice: The “JAMBA Career for All” initiative supports job seekers with disabilities to attain key competencies through a wide range of training programmes which include the development of soft skills, English classes and trainings on ICT, AI and programming tools. 

Problem Targeted: According to the National Statistical Institute, 800,000 persons with disabilities live in Bulgaria. 80% of these individuals are of working age and represent a largely untapped resource of human capital, yet only 12% are employed. Persons with disabilities have enormous potential but lack equal access to inclusive and quality education given that the educational infrastructure and learning materials are currently inaccessible. Further, the political, legal & employment systems in Bulgaria contribute to the problem given the multitude of complex and unclear regulations related to the employment of talents with disabilities.  

Solution Offered: JAMBA aims to include persons with disabilities in the open labour market by ensuring a provision of equal access to professional training programmes tailored to the user’s needs, extending opportunities for professional experience, and establishing inclusive workplaces in the open labour market. Active investments are made in capacity building through in-person trainings and the creation of an accessible e-learning platform. This platform provides anyone with the opportunity to study online and acquire new qualifications, even if the individual is in a remote area. JAMBA opened the first accessible career hub In Bulgaria which allows persons with disabilities to develop further skills and boost their social inclusion. 

JAMBA proactively seeks connections with willing employers, assisting these companies with recruitment, and preparing them to effectively integrate persons with disabilities into their teams. Companies are offered diversity and inclusion trainings, and are advised on relevant legal frameworks, including tax and other incentives, for employing people with disabilities. JAMBA organises awareness-raising campaigns with the participation of persons with disabilities to help change the general public's attitude, so far establishing a wide reach of over 2 million individuals.  

Impact generated by the practice: Since the establishment of the project, JAMBA has managed to attract more than 2500 candidates to their talent pool, implement multidisciplinary trainings for more than 600 candidates and assist in the recruitment of 350 Bulgarians with over 60 partnering organisations. By increasing the skill set of persons with disabilities, they are given a fair chance for a professional start and career development and can better integrate into society. With regards to the corporate sector, JAMBA aims to change the mindset of corporations, encouraging them to push for more inclusion in the workplace and start actively looking for and hiring long-term employees with disabilities. 

Sustainability of the Practice: The project has recently expanded to Hungary and Austria and is looking to expand in further areas of Europe. To ensure successful growth, trainings and a transfer of know-how, and access to the online infrastructure will provide strong support to future franchise partners. 

Contact information:

Iva Tsolova, Co-founder and CEO: iva@jamba.bg 

Joana Koleva, Co-founder and Chair: joana@jamba.bg  

Additional links: 

Jamba - Career for All Practice - Impact Transfer

Introduction to Jamba - Career For All: YouTube

Profile on Iva Tsolova, CEO of Jamba- Career For All.