A social enterprise creating inclusive jobs in the digital marketing sector

SOFAN in Chile trains individuals with disabilities in ICT via the SOFIA program. By 2024, 136 participants graduated, with 61 securing jobs using tailored, accessible resources.

SOFAN is a social enterprise based in the Chilean city of Yungai, established to provide digital services to companies and for training individuals with disabilities for ICT-related employment. In 2021 it initiated the SOFIA programme, which offers free online training, employer connections, and individual support. The programme teaches ICT and socio-emotional skills, utilizing sign language, easy language, and audio description. By mid-2024, 136 participants had graduated, and 61 had found jobs, with most still employed.

Problems Targeted

Young individuals with disabilities encounter challenges entering the labour market due to limited inclusion knowledge, inadequate accessibility, and insufficient job placement services.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

SOFAN is a social enterprise founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in Yungay, in Chile’s Ñuble region. Its mission is to provide communication services, digital marketing, and consulting to companies and public institutions, while also offering accessible training programmes for individuals with disabilities. The organization manages beneficiary care through a psychologist, two graphic designers, and a general producer who also serves as the accessibility manager. In 2021, SOFAN launched the SOFIA programme to promote the integration of young people with disabilities, aged 18 to 29, into the labour market. This programme includes free, accessible online training workshops designed to develop digital and socio-emotional skills, partnerships with public and private institutions to enhance labour inclusion, and personalized psychosocial support during and after the training process. The SOFIA programme is accessible to individuals with various types of disabilities, providing features such as sign language interpretation, audio description, and easy language options. Between 2021 and 2024 the programme graduated 136 participants, with 61 securing employment. Notably, 30 of these individuals gained their first work experience, and 52 per cent of those employed remained in their jobs in 2024.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

In 2024 the SOFIA programme received funding from a Chilean foundation, Fundación MC. About 60 per cent of SOFAN’s funding is obtained from operational revenues generated by workshops, courses, and counselling services, while the remaining 40 per cent is sourced from grants and public funding. (Zero Project Awardee 2025)

Pictures

SOFAN provides digital services to companies and training for ICT-related employment.

SOFAN provides digital services to companies and training for ICT-related employment.

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