Create awareness
To officially launch our partnership with Specialisterne, the Brunel Foundation organised an event on the 26th of September in Amsterdam. The event allowed the first group of Brunellers and Specialisterne to get to know each other and create awareness about autism. Brunellers from different business lines and staff departments joined experts, NGOs and Specialisterne for a day filled with presentations, theatre and workshops surrounding the central theme of Autism in the workplace.
Specialisterne- Brunel launch event
The day started with an interactive theatre performance by BINT. The show centred on working with autism using recognizable (and hilarious) office scenes. In combination with learning and information, the audience was familiarized with some of the common benefits and pitfalls related to working with autism.
After lunch, the attendees were split into groups to participate in one of four workshops. These workshops were all aimed at familiarising our colleagues with autism and creating awareness towards the challenges and opportunities peoples with autism face in the workforce.
In the meantime, Brunel colleagues not participating in the workshops could meet downstairs at a mobile barista and discuss, connect and get involved with experts and the event.
This is just the start of our fruitful partnership with Specialisterne and more initiatives will follow. The goal of Specialisterne is to enable one million jobs for people with autism and similar challenges through social entrepreneurship, corporate sector engagement and a global change in mind-set. It's all about equal opportunities and at Brunel we want to contribute to this goal and help people with a distance to the labour market get the job they want and deserve. Let's close the distance to the labour market!