A BOURNEMOUTH charity has been selected to present its ideas on an innovative employment programme to the Austrian Parliament.
SAMEE (Support and Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship) helps enable disabled people to start their own businesses.
The charity’s CEO, Sam Everard, will head to Vienna to be recognised on Thursday, March 6 as a Zero Project 2025 Awardee and a global disability champion.
Selected from 522 nominations across 90 countries, SAMEE is one of only two organisations from the UK, the BBC being the other awardee, to be recognised on the international stage.
The Zero Project is a global, research-driven initiative with a mission to work for a world with zero barriers.
It awards exemplary solutions for their innovation, impact, and scalability.
This year’s awards selection process amounted to more than 300 hours of review and fact-checking, and the involvement of more than 350 experts with and without disabilities from around the world.
The Zero Project Conference 2025 reunites changemakers with and without disabilities from every corner of the world to discuss and replicate innovative solutions.
It is the success of SAMEE in preparing young people with disabilities to become entrepreneurs that the Austrian parliament wants to learn more about.
SAMEE CEO Sam Everard will be presenting to the Austrian parliament as part of Zero Project 2025 Picture: SAMEE/Tracie Billington-Beardsley
The charity’s 50-week programme is designed for those eager to learn self-employment skills and explore their potential talents in business.
It includes vocational profiling, skill-based training units and tailored work placements. To date, twelve participants have completed training, with nine starting their own businesses and three securing part time jobs
As well as heading to the United Nations Office in Vienna for the Zero Project awards and conference, the SAMEE charity is one of only five innovative Zero Project Awardees to have been selected by members of the Austrian Parliament to present their solutions with a commitment in mind to supporting their implementation in Austria.
This event takes place at the historic Nationalratssaaal, the plenary room of the Parliament of Austria.
Sam Everard CEO of The SAMEE charity said: “To say we are honoured, humbled, shocked and proud is an understatement!
“I cannot put into words how proud I am of team SAMEE for co-developing this programme with our neurodivergent young people.
“SAMEE is the only UK representative to be chosen for this prestigious opportunity. I was nervous enough going to the UN but now presenting at the Austrian parliament too!”
Michael Fembek, CEO of the Zero Project said: “Zero Project Awardees are creating game-changing pathways to employment for persons with disabilities, advancing solutions that make workplaces inclusive, accessible, and supportive.”
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