Along with our organization, Colegios de Fomento distinguished the Federación Española de Bancos de Alimentos (Spanish Federation of Food Banks) and the NGO Harambee.
On Saturday 12 March, Fundación Telefónica received the Fomento Award 2016 along with the Spanish Federation of Food Banks and the NGO Harambee. These awards recognize the work of people or organizations which help to improve society and represent the learning values which their schools promote. The award ceremony took place at the IFEMA Convention Centre in Madrid with more than one thousand people in attendance.
Fomento de Centros de Enseñanza decided to give the award to Fundación Telefónica for being “a technically and socially innovative institution in the world of education which works to promote quality education as a means of social change.” José María Álvarez Pallete, Chief Executive Officer of Fundación Telefónica, and Emilio Gilolmo, Executive Vice-President, were selected to collect the award. “The future needs values. Values are carried in your heart,” stressed Álvarez Pallete.
Colegios de Fomento also distinguished the Spanish Federation of Food Banks for their commitment to society, developing “a model to help those most in need, and managing to mobilize thousands of volunteers in a quiet, efficient delivery process.”
Fomento also recognized the work undertaken by the NGO Harambee since 2002 in Sub-Saharan Africa where it has launched more than 50 projects (39 of them educational) in 17 countries and raised awareness of Africa all over the world.
At the ceremony held in the IFEMA Convention Centre, Colegios de Fomento staff who have served for 25 years and the six top-scoring students in University Entrance exams were also recognized. Since they were established in 2010, the Fomento awards have recognized the social commitment of various people and institutions in the areas of education, culture, science, art and sport, such as the Reina Sofía Foundation,, Cáritas, Irene Villa, Vicente del Bosque, the conductor Inma Shara, Ignacio Cirac, Director of the Max Planck Institute and the Prince of Asturias Awards, amongst others.
Fomento de Centros de Enseñanza is an educational organization driven by a group of parents and educators who in 1963 established a series of schools in which family involvement is considered essential. Personalized education is the most characteristic feature of their educational system. There are currently 35 schools in the organization in 11 Autonomous Communities, with 2,500 teachers, more than 24,000 pupils and 80,000 former pupils.
