Partnership between the Brunel Foundation and Villa Abel - Every talent deserves to be seen
Our value ‘passion for people’ guides all our actions and decision-making. We at Brunel are fully committed to creating better and more sustainable career opportunities for (future) professionals, so we are excited to announce that the Brunel Foundation is partnering with Villa Abel, a Dutch foundation that offers guidance to bachelor and master’s level students who are on the autism spectrum.
Students with autism have an increased risk of dropping out or suffering significant delays in their studies, and this has major consequences for their future and developmental prospects. To complete their studies successfully and smooth their transition to the labor market, they need extra support and guidance. Villa Abel supports students from all kinds of educational backgrounds by offering life-wide learning flanked by individual and group counseling around study, living and personal development. The organization currently has offices in Rotterdam and Leiden, but its aim is to eventually open a Villa Abel location in every major university town.
Villa Abel sees itself as a bridge between education and care. It is committed to achieving student autonomy (talent development), an inclusive society (safe participation) and successful and engaging learning experiences, all of which fully aligns with the goals of the Brunel Foundation.
Project: Villa Abel Academy
While Villa Abel can do a lot for students, they do not live in isolation. Taking their environment into account is essential to healthy student development. Parents, student counselors, teachers and social workers or other involved parties are often either reluctant to take action or unable to cope with autistic behavior. The Academy wants to change this and make a broad range of specialist knowledge available to a wide audience.
The Villa Abel Academy is a new initiative that offers education, training, courses and (fellowship) meetings at the intersection of autism and higher education. Its primary target group comprises students in higher education who are on the autism spectrum and the people around them.
Joint goal
Both foundations are dedicated to bringing greater visibility to the often invisible talents of people on the autism spectrum. Moreover, the Villa Abel Academy fits in well with the Brunel Foundation’s mission of supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by ensuring inclusive education and learning opportunities for all. Besides removing barriers to learning, we also help people on the autism spectrum to find and keep a job after completing their studies.
For more information about Villa Abel, visit www.villaabel.nl
Go here to listen to the Villa Abel Podcast (in Dutch) with Tyler Koppe, Recruitment Consultant at Brunel, about Autism and the Labor Market.