Me Alla Matia NPO

Our vision is to eliminate the underrepresentation of People with Disability in the public sphere.

Blind man reading a tactile book with a guide dog beside him in a cozy living room.

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NPO “Me Alla Matia” was founded in 2018 by the blind lawyer Vaggelis Avgoulas and a group of disabled people claiming inclusion. It was implemented as an afterthought of the fully accessible news portal meallamatia.gr. “Me Alla Matia” means “with a different point of view” in Greek; that is how we aspire to make the world see diversity.

We operate with the advisory support of focus groups of disabled people and specialized scientists so that all services are provided with the approval of end users.

Pillars of Actions

  • Design of Inclusion Strategies and provision of Accessibility Consulting
  • Empowerment of marginalized social groups
  • Implementation of school, corporate, cultural, and municipal programs aimed at familiarization with disability, inclusion, and accessibility
  • Accessibility assessment of physical and digital spaces
  • Inclusive cultural actions and awareness campaigns


Our Numbers

  • Around 950 free educational programs in schools, training over 80.250 students and 6.500 teachers.
  • More than 350 customized training & consulting programs were designed and coordinated for companies, agencies, and municipalities, training over 19.200 employers and employees in accessibility and inclusion.
  • meallamatia.gr has over 110,000 unique users and dynamic SoMe, such as Facebook, whose followers exceed 30.000.
  • Our #SpeakUp campaign features disabled people in short videos and has garnered over 20.5M views.
  • We service over 500 online help desk requests annually for disabled people and their families.

Collaborations

  • Growthfund: Strategic Partnership since 2021 for the development of an inclusive strategy for the subsidiaries of the company:
  • Lamda Development:
    • Implementation of educational programs in schools in collaboration with the Hellenic Paralympic Committee
    • Accessibility assessment at Golden Hall, Cosmos Mediterranean, The Mall Athens, Designer Outlet shopping centers
    • Disability awareness programs for employees at Golden Hall, Cosmos Mediterranean, The Mall Athens, Designer Outlet
    • App development of accessible point of interest for 8 Municipalities
  • Athina J. Martinou Foundation: Implementation of educational programs in schools in schools located on islands
  • PwC: Accessibility and Inclusion Consulting, which includes office accessibility assessments, disability awareness training for personnel, and Accessible Communication training for teams in Social Media, Communications, Marketing, Branding, Inclusion & Diversity (I&D), and Events
  • John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation:
  • Support for the implementation of the educational program “Des ti Zoi Me Alla Matia”
  • Production of 10 educational videos as part of #SpeakUp campaign
  • Otis Elevator Hellas: Inclusion Strategy and Accessibility Consulting
  • Nestlé:
  • Nescafe: Event for disability for all the working members.
  • Nespresso Greece : Workshop on Digital Accessibility
  • Municipality of Athens:
  • 7 Accessible routes in the neifhborhoods of the Municipality
  • Accessible Routes and construction of an accessible website in collaboration with “This is Athens” for the touristic promotion of the municipality
  • Municipality of Palaio Faliro: Study and creation of accessibility profiles for the City Hall, the CSC, the Children’s Library, the A’ Kapi and the DAK Sports Center.
  • Municipality of Ilion: Partnership with the municipal authority for quantitative and qualitative research on the needs of disabled citizens and educational inclusion programs for people working in citizen services, in kindergartens and schools in the area.
  • Praktiker: Accessibility consulting and training in serving disabled customers and accessible comunication
  • Costa Navarino: Training program on more effective service of disabled customers for the Dunes and W Employees
  • HCLDG: Training programs for municipal staff of Athens, Nikaia-Renti, Salamina, Aspropyrgos, Keratsini and Drapetsona nd for the teachers of local schools
  • Workshops for providing effective support to disabled people
  • Peloponnese Regional Authority
  • Municipality of Aigaleo: for reception staff of municipal services
  • Municipality of Athens, for social services employees and staff who support disabled people in the election process.
  • Municipality of Moschato-Tavros for municipal employees
  • Municipality of Trikala for municipal employees
  • Municipality of Katerini for staff of municipal services
  • Educational Programs for schools in the region of Municipality of Katerini, Cholargos- Papagos, Karditsa, Kefalonia, Mesologgi, Agrinio etc.
  • Pfizer:  Consulting and training programs aimed at familiarizing staff, promoting inclusive hiring of disabled employees, and ensuring accessibility of information.
  • efood: Accessibility testing by a focus group of persons with visual impairments to improve the accessibility of the application and the website.
  • Athens Brewery: Accessibility Assessment and Accessibility Profile at the company’s facilities in Patras and Thessaloniki.
  • Athens University of Economics and Business: Accessibility assessment and Accessibility Profile of the University’s main building
  • UEFA SUPER CUP: Accessibility Monitoring for 2024 and provision of a specialized personal assistant for disabled people for 2023.
  • ReGeneration: Accessibility consulting from 2019 to 2023 for the largest youth employment program
  • Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center: Promotion of positive models of inclusion and accessibility. Implementation of a monthly tour showcasing the Center’s accessibility.
  • Theoni Mineral Water: Production of seven informational videos about blindness
  • iMEdD (Incubator for Media Education and Development): Support for the “Live… Me AllaMatia” broadcasts
  • KEAT: Development of a strategic plan for accessible communication, organizational outreach, and dissemination of activities to the specialized audience of meallamatia.gr
  • Museum of Cycladic Art: Implementation of a thematic tour for visitors with visual impairments
  • Acropolis Museum: Support in producing exhibit descriptions for visitors with visual impairments
  • National Library of Greece: Evaluation of accessible equipment functionality and recommendations for improving the workstations at the SNFCC
  • Educational programs for:
  • Τhe Information Technology & Business Development Organization Accenture,
  • the Minerals Industry Imerys,
  • the law firm WFW,
  • Imperial Brands Hellas,
  • the Business Consulting company Deloitte,
  • Piraeus Bank,
  • Marks & Spencer,
  • the Legal Protection Organization Arag,
  • Eurobank,
  • Toyota Hellas in Athens and Thessaloniki,
  • the Stanley Athens Ηotel,
  • the pharmaceutical company Chiesi Hellas,
  • Optima Bank,
  • Cosmosport,
  • the pharmaceutical company GSK,
  • Heracles Group,
  • the Lasithi Bar Association,
  • Ortholife,
  • People for Business,
  • Inditex,
  • Topigs Norsvin,
  • Odeco,
  • Saracakis Group of Companies,
  • the Athens School of Fine Arts,
  • Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences,
  • the Athens University of Economics and Business,
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
  • Dinner in the Dark for:
  • Praktiker
  • Pfizer
  • Otis
  • SNFCC
  • IMERYS
  • Guide Point
  • Navigator
  • J T International
  • Mytilinaios
  • Alpha Bank
  • Λέσχη Lions
  • People for Business
  • Εκδόσεις Υδροπλάνο
  • Beyond Inclusion Project: Participation in the transnational European program for inclusion in employment.
  • Olympiacos F.C.: Support in audio description of matches for blind fans.
  • European Youth Parliament: Accessibility consulting and disability-awareness trainings.
  • Homo Evolution: Accessibility consulting for the “Say Yes!” campaign on marriage equality and for the LGBTQI+ Voice Up: Project Greece, implemented in collaboration with the European Parliament Office in Greece.
  • Anagennisi & Proodos: Educational programs on remote Greek islands as part of the “Sports Paths” initiative, exclusively sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
  • Association for Social Responsibility for Children and Youth – S.K.E.P.: Enhancement and accessibility evaluation of the website hoponinclusion.com.
  • knowl: Empowerment of disabled job candidates and employability support in the 1st cycle of the MellonAbilities program, designed in collaboration with MYTILINEOS S.A.
  • Hellenic Police Training & Further Education School: Disability-awareness training program for Police Officer Cadets.
  • Pastoral Training Foundation: Training cycle on disability under the auspices of the Archbishop.
  • An Archaeology of Disability: Creation of the accessible version of the website.
  • University of West Attica: Participation in the Counseling Day, as well as in the preparation of the student competition for designing a product for disabled people.

Partners

Distinctions

⭐ Marketing Promotional Awards 2023:
A gold award for our cooperation with Praktiker Hellas in the
“Open Home” project

⭐ Architectural accessibility competition
“Open Home 2023”: participation in the assessing committee

Bravo Dialogue & Awards 2023:
Distinction for the #SpeakUp campaign in the “SOCIETY” category

PSAPP Awards 2023:
Distinction for the audio description service of matches for the blind for Olympiacos FC.

⭐ Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2022, 2023: participation in the assessing committee

⭐ Trainers as Inclusion Experts in Spotlight

⭐ Best City Awards 2022: A bronze award for the Municipality of Paleo Faliro and our collaboration entitled “Accessibility Assessment and Creation of an Accessibility Profile for the Municipality of Paleo Faliro”

⭐ Hosting of our project in the Career Guide 2023, distributed along with the Kathimerini newspaper on the last Sunday of June.

⭐ Ministry of Culture: A capital grant for the social action “I Belong” in 2021 and “Diversit-ART” in 2023.

⭐ Region of Attica: Funding and sponsorship for 2 social concerts in Megara and Aegaleo; co-organization of the live-streaming concert “Anassa mou ki Aeras”

⭐ US Embassy: Connecting with President Biden’s Special Advisor on Disability and Inclusion, Sarah Minkara

⭐ Patient Partnerships Awards 2021: A gold award for our partnership with Novartis (Disability Initiatives Category)

⭐ Speeches:

 

Registrations & Licenses (documents in Greek)

  • Special Register of Voluntary Non-Governmental Organizations (ID 1611) of the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs (23/2/2022)
  • National Register of Non-Profit Private Sector Bodies Providing Social Care Services (ID 1729) of the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs (23/2/2022)
  • Register of Cultural Institutions (ID 17398) of the Ministry of Culture & Sports
  • General Commercial Register (146708101000)
  • Trademark (Trademark Number: N248775) of the Ministry of Economy & Development for Class 35 (advertising services) and 41 (news, journalism, and training services)
  • Permit for the implementation of our educational program by the Ministry of Education (Φ.2.1/ΜΓ/57752/108499/Δ7)
  • General Registry of Social and Solidarity Economy Entities (Registry Number: 000255012011)
  • Special Registry for Civil Society Organizations of the Ministry of Interior (18/11/2024)
  • Alignment of training with the ISO 21902_2021 “Tourism & Related Services – Accessible Tourism for All – Requirements & Recommendations”
Programs
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#SpeakUp Campaign
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ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

We offer a variety of educational programs implemented by specialized professionals acting in 3 main pillars:

business training and consulting in inclusion and accessibility strategies

breaking down stereotypes & promoting inclusive culture

training and services aiming at a more “humane municipality