Jamba - Career for all

JAMBA was founded by Iva and Joana, who met while working in Bulgaria's non-government sector with people with hearing impairment. Through that work they identified job-market inclusion as one of the biggest challenges facing people with disabilities, whom they call 'HEROES', and concluded that equal access to quality education, adapted professional training and labour-market inclusion were prerequisites for their economic welfare.

Jamba's mission is to support people with disabilities in Bulgaria and across Europe in acquiring key skills and competencies through training and internships, then to help with their inclusion in the job market and career advancement.

Jamba partnered with the British company Recite, whose cloud-based Accessibility Toolbar lets users personalise a website to their needs, including text-to-speech, dyslexia support, an interactive vocabulary and translation into more than 100 languages; the Bulgarian partner Social Future Foundation represents the software in the Balkans. Jamba also runs group or individual training targeted at professional and technical skills (such as graphic design, programming and Microsoft Office), alongside soft skills, job-interview preparation and workplace-integration methods, with qualified trainers developing plans based on each trainee's needs and skills.

In its first two years, Jamba built a database of over 1,800 people seeking help finding a job, trained more than 100 people in areas such as graphic design, programming and Microsoft Office, helped more than 80 people with disabilities find a job, and built partnerships with over 35 companies across different sectors.