History

Main Events in Brief

2017

  • In December, EPIC became member of Monitoring Committee of Operational Programme Human Resources at the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic.
  • In October, we organized a workshop in Rimavska Sobota as part of Social Entrepreneurship in Sparsely Populated Areas (SOCENT SPAs) project.
  • In June, EPIC participated at international conference on direction of social entrepreneurship in Bratislava.
  • We celebrated 5 years of existence in Slovakia together with our Australian colleagues.
  • In May, we organized an educational program in Rajecke Teplice as part of Capacities of youth workers on the field of youth employment services project.
  • EPIC hosted SOCENT SPAs partner organizations from Finland, Germany and Spain.
  • In March, together with DELL, we launched two-month educational and development program for young people with disabilities.
  • Between February 27th and March 3rd, we organized fourth workshop on municipal social business at the University of Economics in Bratislava.
  • Together with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, we became Slovak partners of European project SOCENT SPAs implemented through programme Interreg Europe, financed by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
  • In January, EPIC organized initial meeting about Youth Guarantee on the local level project in Zvolen.

2016

  • In November, EPIC helped organize Open Day at DELL for young people with disabilities.
  • Between November 7th and November 11th, we organized third workshop on municipal social business at the University of Economics in Kosice.
  • In cooperation with Alliance for Youth and American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia, EPIC organized annual business breakfast focused on Sharing and exploring business sector´s best practices in employing people with disabilities.
  • In September, as part of Strengthening the capacities of individuals through establishment of the municipality social business project, we organized an international conference in Spissky Hrhov.
  • In July, as part of LERI (Local Engagement for Roma Inclusion) project, in cooperation with OcU Hrabusice, we organized a summer camp for local children.
  • In May, EPIC together with Romano Missio (Helsinki, Finland) and Association of Roma Minority Representatives and Spokespeople of Nógrád County (Hungary) organized youth exchange aimed at motivating Roma youth to actively participate at local level.
  • EPIC in cooperation with Alliance for Youth and Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia organized a workshop on university career centres.
  • In January, EPIC received accreditation from IUVENTA Slovak Youth Institute to be able to participate in European Voluntary Service.

2015

  • In 2015, we became successors of a unique project Deafinitely Clean started by psychology student Katka Pazmanyova.
  • In October, together with American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia we organized business breakfast focused on “Attracting the Best Young Talent to Your Business“.

EPIC successfully finished “Strengthening Individual Capacities Through Municipality Social Businesses” project.

  • EPIC organized “Final Presentation of Business Plans” with the aim of evaluating benefits of the project and cooperation with mayors, volunteers and students and presenting the business plans created throughout the project.
  • In February, we organized a roundtable discussion Australian model of Supported Wage System (SWS) and its applicability in Slovakia.

2014

  • In September, we launched the Simulator of work interviews program and the project “Strengthening Individual Capacities Through Municipality Social Businesses”.
  • We continued implementing our ongoing projects. We extended our cooperation with IBM and in the area of employment of disadvantaged people in municipal social businesses we organized a lecture on Municipal Social Business – Possibility of Local Development.

2013

  • We started to implement a project of Swiss-Slovak Cooperation Support of Municipality Social Businesses Established with the View to Increase Employment of People Disadvantaged in the Labour Market. We identified suitable locations, appropriate business opportunities in municipalities and involved volunteers into the activities. We established cooperation with 11 municipalities and two NGOs in 13 locations. We offered pro bono assistance to the participants from our 12 volunteers with experience in the business sector.
  • We launched a project The tools to increase employability of people with health disability. We became a member of the international consortium of organizations under the leadership of the local government of Aarhus, the Danish municipality that implements the “EURES First Job” program. We identified people with low qualifications who are interested in working in another European country.
  • Our experts are members of multiple working groups of the Slovak governments Plenipotentiary for Marginalized Roma Communities aimed at programming financial assistance from the European Union in 2014-2020. Activities in development of public policies aimed at social integration of marginalized Roma communities were implemented in cooperation with Roma Institute and the Slovak Governance Institute.
  • Regarding unemployment among young people, we were recognized employment experts in developing the National Strategy for Youth prepared by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
  • Our staff increased to 5 people.

2012

  • EPIC non-profit organization became a member of American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia and the Social Innovation Europe network.
  • EPIC non-profit organization was registered in Slovakia in 2012. We started to implement activities aimed at supporting employment of people with health disabilities. Our main activities included information dissemination among employers about employing persons with a health disability, drafting legislative solutions and creating employment programs with specific employers for persons with a health disability.