Toyota Hellas training

Toyota Hellas & NPO”Me Alla Matia” Aiming for Better Service for People with Disabilities

Athens, October 26, 2023: As part of Toyota Hellas’ commitment to equality, inclusion, and diversity, the company has taken another significant action. Specifically, in collaboration with NPO “Me Alla Matia,” Toyota Hellas provided an opportunity for its retail employees in Athens to attend a training program on familiarization and service for people with disabilities. This hands-on seminar allowed the company’s staff to gain knowledge on accessibility issues and expand their skills to offer equal service to everyone.

NPO “Me Alla Matia,” with experience in similar programs, coordinated a training seminar for the more effective provision of services to customers with disabilities, aiming to broaden inclusive practices for both the company and its employees and to further understand the needs of people with disabilities through experiential and interactive educational activities. Practically, the trainees were introduced to techniques for assisting visually impaired individuals, which they immediately applied during the training.

A pair of two female employees participated in an experiential activity wearing blindfolds to engage with techniques for guiding visually impaired individuals. A pair of employees, one woman and one man, participated in an experiential activity wearing blindfolds to engage with techniques for guiding visually impaired individuals. Through this collaboration, Toyota Hellas practically demonstrates its commitment to equality and inclusion by entrusting the training implementation to a very experienced organization with a vision to eliminate the underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the public sphere.

“We see in practice that Toyota Hellas prioritizes shaping an inclusive corporate culture and becoming accessible at every operational level for people with disabilities. With today’s familiarization action with disability, for better interaction and service of disabled customers, the foundation is being laid at Toyota Hellas so that its executives can co-shape and co-create with individuals with disabilities a human-centered corporate environment that equally accommodates everyone,” stated Mr. Vaggelis Avgoulas, lawyer, board member of the Athens Bar Association, and President of NPO “Me Alla Matia.”

The following trainers participated in the seminar:

• Vaggelis Avgoulas: blind lawyer, President of NPO “Me Alla Matia”
• Thaleia Kiousi: educator, Inclusion Programs Manager at “Me Alla Matia”
• Christos Meletis: wheelchair user, Social Worker
• Panagiotis Pitsiniagas: wheelchair user, Inclusion and Accessibility Consultant

In this direction, Toyota Hellas will conduct similar training sessions for retail employees in Thessaloniki in 2024.