Finances, innovation, energy efficiency and social responsibility. These are some of the fields in which the EDP Foundation will be training the managers of 32 solidary entities in the following months. In order to do so, it has launched the EDP Foundation Academy, an initiative aimed to ease the social development and strengthen the organizational abilities of the entities that the Foundation has supported through “EDP Solidaria” (Solidary EDP).

The EDP Foundation Academy has been presented in Oviedo by EDP Spain’s managing director, Rui Teixieira, and the director of the EDP Foundation, Vanda Martins, in an event attended by the Councilor of Services and Social Rights, Pilar Varela, and the managing director of Academic Planning and Educative Innovation, Francisco Laviana.

During the presentation, Rui Teixeira has emphasized “the positive impact of this new initiative that, through the training in different areas, is going to promote the transformation of our society.” In his opinion, “the EDP Foundation Academy reinforces our commitment with local communities and will contribute significantly to the development of entities with which we have been collaborating for years, and with which we share goals and priorities, like integration and people’s well-being.”

The 32 entities that have joined the Academy in this first edition develop their activity in Asturias (13), Madrid (17), Cantabria (1) and Barcelona (1).

Classes will be taught mainly by EDP professionals, and will take place both on-site and on-line, through the website www.fundacionedp.es. Sessions will be focused on subjects that reinforce and broaden the knowledge and competences of the participant entities. This way, they will be able to get a training in finances, human resources, communication and marketing, innovation, savings, energy efficiency, networking, legal and social impact issues, among other aspects.

The training program has three stages. The first, held between January and February this year, consisted in the identification of each entity’s needs in order to define the appropriate training plan.

The second stage is the training phase, and it will be developed between April and June. The sessions will be on-site, with the possibility to follow them on-line, where the entities will have available the needed tools to continue their learning.

The third stage, between April and June, and in September, will consist in individual mentoring between June and September, in order to strengthen even more their development.

The 32 entities have taken part actively in EDP Solidary, a program that aims to support social, cultural, environmental, educative and investigation projects. Since its launching in 2015, the EDP Foundation has allocated 1.9 million euros to the 67 projects selected in Spain.

The associations and foundations taking part in the EDP Foundation Academy are the following:

Asturias: Identidad para ellos y ellas, Asociación Galbán, Proyecto Hombre Asturias (Fundación CESPA, sedes Oviedo y Gijón), AFESA – Salud Mental, Teléfono de la Esperanza, Asociación Amigos Contra la Droga, Asociación Parkinson Asturias, APACI (Asociación de Cardiopatías Congénitas), Es Retina, Asociación Una Ciudad para Todos, Aspace y Asociación Asturiana de Esclerosis Múltiple.

Madrid: Asociación Nacional de Hogares de Niños Privados de Ambiente Familiar Nuevo, SERCADE, Asociación Asperger, Fundación Tomillo, Fundación de Solidaridad Amaranta, Confraternidad Carcelaria de España (CONCAES), Fundación Acción Contra el Hambre, Fundación Ayuda en Acción, Fundación Soñar Despierto, Asociación Ginkgo Biloba, Fundación Síndrome de Down, AFANIAS, Asociación Espiral Loranca, Apostólicas del Corazón de Jesús – Comunidad de Obras Sociales, Coordinadora Nacional de Artritis -ConArtritis, Asociación Madrileña de Inserción Social Aurrera y Fundación Balia.

Barcelona: Fundación Juntos Mejor para la Educación y el Desarrollo.

Cantabria: Fundación Síndrome de Down.