The award recognized the social impact of the Formare Program operated by Iochpe-Maxion, which has seven units within the company’s factories in the cities of Cruzeiro (SP), Limeira (SP), Hortolândia (SP), Contagem (MG), Sete Lagoas (MG), in addition to the states of Chihuahua and San Luis Potosí, in Mexico. The program, developed by Fundação Iochpe, focuses on professional qualification for young people in situations of economic and social vulnerability, enrolled in high school in public schools, and takes place within partner companies, with their own employees acting as volunteer educators.

The BNDES´ “Todos pela Sustentabilidade” Award is an initiative that aims to recognize the actions of companies that sponsor socio-environmental projects, in favor of an environment of philanthropy, that contribute to the structured and perennial development of projects, leveraging the power of impact and transformation in society.

For over 30 years, Iochpe-Maxion has supported Fundação Iochpe, a non-profit organization, through a monthly financial allocation, which is used for its general maintenance and to cover the main indirect costs of the educational programs developed by the Foundation in Brazil and Mexico, especially the Formare Program. In addition to these resources, the company is responsible for the costs of executing the program in its factories.

The Formare Program, a reference in Brazil as a social initiative in the field of vocational education, has already trained more than 25,000 young people in situations of economic and social vulnerability, with a rate of 90% insertion in the labor market. The program courses are certified by the UTFPR (Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná). In addition to Formare, the Foundation also develops two other programs:

• Mentorare: an online platform for people with the same profile as Formare who are invited to a journey of self-knowledge to build a life and work project through self-instructional and mentored trails; and
• eFormare: an online platform whose purpose is to bring the quality of the Formare Program to a greater number of young people, in a 100% distance or hybrid vocational training model.

Currently, there are 65 Formare units in Brazil and Mexico, through partnerships with companies, totaling more than a thousand students every year and more than four thousand volunteer educators, which makes Formare one of the largest Brazilian corporate social volunteer programs.

Fundação Iochpe is also the sponsor of Instituto Arte na Escola, the largest national organization that encourages and strengthens the teaching of Arts in Brazil. With a focus on Brazilian Contemporary Art, Instituto Arte na Escola operates through three pillars:

• Continuing training for teachers of Basic Education (from Early Childhood Education to Youth and Adult Education) in partnership with 32 Brazilian universities spread throughout the national territory;
• Professional recognition, through the Arte na Escola Cidadã Award in partnership with UNESCO since 2000, which identifies and rewards the most innovative art teachers in the country; and