The first national meeting of UniGens, the association of volunteer employees and former employees of UniCredit which supports UniCredit Social Impact Banking initiatives through mentoring and training activities, offering the skills of its associated with individuals at risk of exclusion, with micro-enterprises and with deserving social enterprises.
Social Impact Banking, already active in Italy and currently being extended to the main countries in which the Group operates, is the Bank's program which aims to promote activities with a positive social impact through three strands of intervention: microcredit, impact financing and financial education and inclusion.
During the event “Let's build the future we dream of together!”, Jean Pierre Mustier, CEO of UniCredit greeted the more than six hundred volunteers in the audience, commenting: “To do good, we must do good. UniCredit is committed to building a more equitable and open society: for this reason we are committed to identifying, financing and promoting programs with a positive social impact. I think the role of volunteers is fundamental and that their commitment is a key element for the social development of our territories. UniGens exists thanks to the dedication of the people born in a positive work environment like ours, where everyone's commitment is important”.
During the meeting, the winning schools of the "Start-up your life Edition 2018" competition were also awarded, in which around 150 schools participating in the homonymous program launched by UniCredit as part of the "Alternanza Scuola Lavoro" initiative of the Ministry of 'Education, University and Research with the aim of raising financial awareness and encouraging entrepreneurial spirit in schools. In addition to a few hundred employees, UniGens volunteers were among the trainers that UniCredit made available to the schools involved.
The winners of the competition, which involved the creation of a project work relating to the conception, design and development of a new payment instrument or service, were:
– the G. Pessina State Professional Institute of Como, with "Easy Shopping" an app that supports people with limited cognitive abilities in the purchase of consumer goods and services of minimal economic value (for example mobile phone top-up, cinema ticket, clothing, cosmetics, food, …)
– the Aristotele Scientific High School in Rome, with the “Teen Holiday Card” project, an innovative payment mechanism for young groups of travelers based on the idea of an electronic cash fund, accessible thanks to an app. As a reward, they will receive the setting up of a multimedia classroom with twenty circular economy PCs and printers.
Special mentions were also awarded to ten institutes to which five circular economy PCs will be donated:
– A. Monti di Chieri (TO) and 8 March – K. Lorenz of Mirano (VE) for the originality of the project
– Curie Vittorini from Grugliasco (TO) and Moreschi from Milan for creativity
– Marinelli of Udine and G. Caselli of Siena for the completeness of the treatment
– Luigi Sturzo from Castellammare di Stabia (NA) and E. Fermi from Ragusa for consistency with the aims and theme of the 2018 contest
– Telesio of Cosenza and G. Asproni of Iglesias (CA) for the breadth in the declination of the concept of innovation.
