Volunteer Program

Created to increase the participation and engagement of Galvani employees in actions that promote and strengthen social change in the communities where the company works, the Volunteer Program was launched in the Jaguaré (neighborhood of São Paulo).

At the Galvani headquarters in São Paulo, we helped implement the Volunteer Committee, with which we’ve had several meetings over the year. Together with the Institute, the volunteer employees selected Associação Aquarela as a partner for the development of volunteer activities in the Jaguaré community.

The chosen NGO works in the area of non-formal education. It provides supplementary education during the vacant hours of local the local school. The aim is to educate children, improve their coexistence and teach them about their rights and duties. Currently, the organization serves up to 100 children in the community, divided in age groups: from 6 to 9 years old and from 9 to 12 years old.

In the second half of 2016, we held the “Oficina de Valores”, aimed at the children of Associação Aquarela. The instructor was Reinaldo Correia, Galvani electrical designer and member of the Volunteer Committee. The course addressed, through fun and experiential dynamics, topics such as focus and determination, friendship, respect for others and conscious consumption. In total, there were seven sessions that triggered debate, encouraged dialogue and provided time for reflection.

In addition to the “Oficina de Valores”, the partnership with Aquarela also involved volunteer employees in building a vertical garden and a mural at the NGO headquarters. Everyone was engaged in the Cadastro de Nota Fiscal Paulista campaign. Four ballot boxes were distributed at Galvani's headquarters in São Paulo and the income from the campaign will be given to Aquarela. A total of 12,000 BRL were collected through the registration of 177 tax receipts.

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

The Lina Galvani Institute has always believed in sharing experiences as a means for us to grow together. Sharing knowledge in the fields of community development, public management and social investment is extremely important. First, because the exchange of experiences between different players inspires ideas, provides examples and expands the debate in the area. Second, because it finds shortcuts: successful actions in certain locations can be replicated or adapted to others, just as mistakes from previous experiences are learned and avoided in new projects.

In 2016, we had several opportunities to pass on part of our knowledge gathered in 13 years of operation. Check out the highlights of these initiatives:

9th GIFE Congress

In the 9th Congress of the GIFE (Group of Institutes, Foundations and Companies), we conducted the “Partnership with the Public Power: Challenges and Opportunities” discussion. Sérgio Kuroda, then Community Development Manager of the Institute, Bruno Gomes, Project Director of Agenda Pública, Mônica Bachiega, sustainability coordinator of Galvani Fertilizantes and Ricardo Batista, of the National Committee of Mayors, discussed the importance of including the public power as a strategic and fundamental partner in community development actions, taking as a basis for discussion our project to strengthen public management in Campo Alegre de Lourdes (BA).

Social Investment Week

In this activity, simultaneous with the 9th GIFE Congress, Cecília Galvani, CEO of the Institute, participated in the “Family Social Investment and Social Legacy” debate, held by FGV-EAESP. The meeting addressed matters such as the challenges of family social investment, the relationship between family and business, and how to leverage the legacy of social investment.

Mining &/X Communities Seminar

At the seminar held by Brasil Mineral magazine, the most important publication in the sector, Cecília Galvani, our CEO, was a member of the “Local Development Driven by Foundations and Institutes” round-table, which also had representatives from the Votorantim Institute and the José Carvalho Foundation. Cecília gave an overview of how the Lina Galvani Institute works, its management model - and its peculiarities for being a family business institute. She then focused on the work done in the community of Angico dos Dias, Bahia, the place where the Institute has been working for the longest time and has a greater diversity of projects.

We are proud to be a reference for this debate on the national situation between mining companies and communities. It was a great opportunity to learn about other projects and discussions that have already been happening in other spheres and that now gain more repercussion

Valéria Lapa, Manager of Institutional Relations and Communities of the Institute

360° Ethos Conference

In this edition of the conference, new experiences, different ideas, connections, and interactions have challenged participants to review their vision of business and global change, prepare for innovation, and connect cases to the reality of their companies. We participated in the “Corporate Investment in the Promotion of Sustainable Local Development”, round-table, moderated by Avesso Sustentabilidade. It also brought together representatives of Klabin and Suzano Papel e Celulose. Tatiana Mischan, Corporate Manager of the Institute, explained how we work in the field, presented the Institute's performance indicators and spoke about our project to strengthen public management in the communities

You can read more at this press article here.

We discussed how to build a relationship with the communities, how to carry out local diagnosis, how to foster networking and in the improvement of the communities' capacities so that they can build projects and seek improvement in an independent fashion.

Tatiana Mischan, Corporate Manager of the Institute

TRAINING OF LOCAL AGENTS

Local players are our main bridge with communities and regional enablers. We consider their constant training essential for the progress of the Institute's work and their development as transforming agents in the places where they live.

In 2016, we provided a training week for Cristina Cardoso, our agent in Serra do Salitre (MG), and José Filho, our agent in Angico dos Dias, Campo Alegre de Lourdes (BA). For a week, in São Paulo, they had training activities that included visits to social projects and to the partners of the Institute, a great opportunity to exchange experiences.

The agents could take a closer look at the work done by Instituto Elos in poor communities of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo state. And at the headquarters of Agenda Pública, our partner, they learned more about public policies and the importance of social participation in the decisions of the public power. The training also included a meeting with consultant Carlos Alberto Lopes, from Senac São Paulo, in which they reflected on their community and the role they play in promoting local change.

Training is important because then we learn more about the objectives of the Institute in the communities. Through education, workshops, talks with partners and other groups, we receive new information that we bring to our communities. It empowers us to do our best to support the Institute's local initiatives.

José Filho, local agent in Campo Alegre de Lourdes

THE INSTITUTE AND GALVANI

As a Family Business Institute born within the Galvani Group, our history is intrinsically related to that company and, most recently, to that of Yara, a Norwegian company that acquired 60% of Galvani's shares in 2014 and since then has been carrying out an integration process between both companies.

In 2016, we worked to strengthen the link between the Lina Galvani Institute and the Galvani and Yara companies, enhance their dialogue and improve the contact with the communities where we operate.

During the year, we worked together to build the Work Cooperation Agreement, a set of agreements and procedures for the relationship with the communities, including actions already implemented and those that are simple to implement, in addition to a routine of joint actions and a plan for new activities in 2017.

At the beginning of 2016, Juliana Marques, Corporate Communications Manager of Galvani and Yara, joined the Board of the Lina Galvani Institute. Moreover, we resumed integration meetings between the Institute and the company's Sustainability, Communication and Relationship with Communities areas. Finally, we held two editions of Café Com o Instituto, meetings in which we shared information about our work with Galvani leaders.