Lorena, 21, and Samuel, 20, are Youth Leaders from El Salvador. Lorena has been a Special Olympics volunteer and Unified partner for 2 years, and Samuel is an athlete who has represented El Salvador in many international competitions. They are both experienced leaders in their community and love to connect with other youth.
Lorena and Samuel have seen that people with intellectual disabilities do not have many job opportunities in their community, they believe that people with ID have all the necessary skills to work but are afraid of even applying to jobs because of discrimination. Lorena and Samuel plan to prepare, motivate, and train people with intellectual disabilities to apply for and succeed in all kinds of employment.
Lorena and Samuel will organize 2 forums and employability counseling to motivate and inform people with ID on topics like recruitment, socialization, and entrepreneurship. They will also launch a virtual campaign to raise awareness among local businesses about the rights of people with disabilities to work, and the benefits of being an inclusive company.
Over the course of 9 months, Lorena and Samuel hope to motivate many people with intellectual disabilities to get involved in social spaces like job fairs and business, feel empowered and confident, and be leaders of social change!