2023
https://odyssea.com/en/
Level 1 (1-9)
9
1.800
17 Nikiforou Mandilara, Athens
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About Odyssea
Odyssea is a non-profit organization that supports young, vulnerable people accessing vocational training and employment. We provide tailored vocational and life-skills training and employability services that bridge them with the world of work to realize their potential. Our mission is to ensure that young people have equal opportunities in society by harnessing the power of knowledge for employment and personal development. Odyssea’s operations include four main programs: Academy includes vocational training courses in various subjects, soft and digital skills training. The courses are intensive and hands-on, taking place at our state-of-the-art training centre, awarded the New European Bauhaus 2022 prize. Employability enables self-reliance and accelerates efforts towards a more inclusive society through employment. We believe proper, long-lasting integration for vulnerable groups can only be achieved when they are assimilated across social and economic strands of life. The fastest and most efficient way to do this is through sustainable employment. Entrepreneurship services linked to either business incubation or acceleration provide support to, among others, legal, financial, management, ideation, and sustainability matters and also create networks of collaborations for SMEs. Relief services are offered to the most vulnerable through our Mobile Medical Unit, the Social Kitchen for the homeless and the provision of boxes with fundamental goods to families living under the poverty line.
The main target groups are young NEETs, vulnerable women, low-income people, refugees/migrants, youth with disabilities. Until today, Odyssea has supported more than 3,500 people. Unlike most medium-level non-profits, Odyssea is a data-driven organization which has designed, developed and implemented the Odyssea Platform, a custom digital tool to organize and monitor our work and measure our impact. An evidence-based decision-making model which can share valuable data and good practices in real-time with our donors, the job market and other stakeholders of the ecosystem. (https://platform.odyssea.com/welcome) Odyssea has also released an innovative job searching platform for 10x employability for vulnerable job seekers and hiring companies. The platform encompasses AI technology, gamified psychometrics, a community of endorsers, video presentations, automated CV generator features and other cutting-edge tech tools. (https://talent.odyssea.com/home) Odyssea is actively engaged in EU programmes, both in their implementation and in leading the proposal writing. We are partnering with 53 well-recognized organizations and are members of the EAEA, the EfVET and the EVBB, while cooperation with EU institutions is a high priority, especially after the 2022 NEB award of the EC.
Achievements
1. Our state-of-the-art Academy (https://odyssea.com/en/academy/academy-campus/) is a 600m2 facility specially designed to simulate real-life professional workspaces. The training spaces are fully equipped yet flexible enough to remodel instantly once the need for a new course arises. Academy has been awarded the New European Bauhaus Prize under “Prioritising the places and people that need it the most“ (more than 1,100 applications from the EU and the only Greek entry!)
2. The most concrete confirmation of the quality of our work is the employment rate of our graduates, which is an average of 42%. Taking into consideration the Greek unemployment rate and the pandemic’s effects, this is an accomplishment we are particularly proud of. 70% of the employed beneficiaries state a medium to very high satisfaction in their new workplace, and more than half keep their job for at least a year.
3. Odyssea upscales its services, in quality and quantity, drastically increasing the number of beneficiaries (2,500 only in 2023) while simultaneously preparing to cover a wider area beyond the city of Athens and the national borders. With the development of automated processes and platforms, Odyssea can expand the target group without compromising the services’ quality.
4. Odyssea addresses and prioritises the most prominent challenges of our times across the ecosystem: equal representation of women and men among its beneficiaries (starting from 10% of women), projects on blue and circular economy, and digital transformation and innovative methodologies.
