Sam is the Founder and Chief Executive of the award-winning SAMEE charity which has two main projects, one of which is to provide self-employment skills workshops for children of school age.

SAMEE (Support and Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship) was founded to offer pre-start business support for disadvantaged and disabled people.  From there, a great need was identified for young people leaving school without qualifications but who had a skill or talent that could be explored to create an income.  They were simply not informed about how to go self-employed.

The SAMEE charity solves this challenge through its innovative WISE project Enterprise Skills Days workshops which develop entrepreneurial thinking, problem solving skills and financial literacy.  By inviting volunteer employer mentors from the local business community to assist the students, the SAMEE team are able to harness the strengths of young people that are not engaging with education and those with special educational needs and disabilities that are feeling socially isolated.

The Shackleton Leadership Award will enable Sam and her team to deliver WISE project programmes to 200 more disabled and disadvantaged young people in schools across Dorset, helping to raise self-employment awareness, develop entrepreneurial skills and promote the social inclusion as students mix and work together harmoniously and encourage an increased respect for young people with disabilities.