2024 | Trade - Hospitality

Nathalie Kasselis and her employer Hotel Etico Australia are participating in our 2024 pilot program for Employer Supported Scholarships. Read more about this pilot.

When I received my BBM scholarship in 2024, I wanted to explore one key question: what does meaningful, inclusive employment for people with disability look like in different parts of the world?

Over the course of my scholarship, I was able to travel through France, Italy and New Zealand, visit incredible places and meet incredible people.

My first stop was Café Joyeux in France, a social enterprise that trains and employs people with intellectual disability in hospitality. Here, I met Claire, Tristan and Tatiana.

Here you can see some visual aids used to support learning. For instance, instead of table numbers, they use LEGO pieces and match each order to the table.

From France, I travelled to Italy to visit Albergo Etico, a hospitality model that also operates in Australia and is doing some pretty incredible things in our country. I was really interested in going back to where it originated.

My first stop was at a small hotel in Fénis, a tiny town in the Aosta Valley. It was so beautiful and was definitely my favourite place. I felt so at home in the mountains and would start each morning with a run through the town, making sure to pick up juicy persimmons along the way.

Here, I met trainees working across all areas of the small hotel, which became really busy during the snow season, as the Aosta Valley borders Switzerland. I loved interviewing them and hearing about their experiences.

You can see me here speaking with Gagnin, who has been there for three years, and Cinzia, who has been there for four years and works in housekeeping.

I was especially inspired by Ingrid, the educator and one of the trainers, who constantly adapted and made adjustments to suit trainees’ learning needs. Inclusion isn’t always about big interventions. Often, it’s the small, thoughtful adjustments that make the biggest difference.

Next, I visited Asti, where I saw Albergo Etico’s academy model. Here, all the trainees lived together while learning independent living skills. Seeing the dynamic among them was so rewarding. There was such a strong sense of belonging and community.

I also visited Antonio’s restaurant, Tacabanda, in an underground wine cellar. Jessica, who you can see working in the kitchen and on the floor, has been working at Tacabanda for 15 years. It really reinforced how powerful it can be when people are given the chance to work.

I then visited Genoa, which is a historic coastal city. Here, I met Lara and Andrea, who both work in housekeeping.

Across Italy, one of the biggest things that surprised me was the cultural difference compared with Australia. Everything felt much more relaxed and there was a strong sense of familial connection within every workplace I visited.

My final Italian stop was Rome, where I saw a model that felt more aligned with the Australian approach, where Albergo Etico is a pathway, not a destination. Albergo Etico in Rome partners closely with hospitality schools, with the goal of training people for employment in other hotels. It was interesting to see how, even within Italy, different locations interpreted the Albergo Etico philosophy differently.

After Italy, I travelled to New Zealand, where I visited Flourish Café, which runs a program that provides on-the-job training to people with disability. I visited its café at the Air New Zealand headquarters, where I met Damien and Indy.

Despite the very different economic and political landscapes operating within each of these countries, the message from everyone I met was the same: when people are given opportunities, high expectations and the right support, they can thrive.