Connecting Energies, a reboot for our solidarity initiative

Launched in February 2020, Connecting Energies is the Group’s first international volunteer program, and is also run in collaboration with external partners already active in the field, such as specialized NGOs. The idea was to offer our colleagues a dual opportunity: on the one hand, a chance to help support vulnerable communities in the countries in which we operate; on the other, an opportunity for personal growth through these cross-cultural encounters. The first part of the program, which was carried out digitally, concludes with company volunteers having dedicated more than 3000 hours to vulnerable people and communities, a strategy which continues to expand and open up new challenges for the future. The Enel Grids division has been involved in the project since June 2022 and will launch the new phase in person in 2023. Suelen Quadri, Head of Sustainability for Enel Green Power in Africa, Asia and Oceania, tells us about her experience of working on the development of the international corporate volunteer program Connecting Energies: “Through this program, we strive to set up initiatives that focus on different aspects at the same time: the values of solidarity, the chance to get involved by using one’s professional and interpersonal skills, as well as the chance to build a relationship between volunteer and beneficiary that’s of importance not only to the person who is experiencing a difficult situation at that time, but also to the person who is conscious of acting as the instrument through which those difficulties can be more easily overcome.” Martina Stucchi, Head of People Empowerment Competence Center Global Industry, adds: “Connecting Energies is a symbol of the cultural evolution that we’re fostering in the Group. We promote collaboration, generosity, sharing of knowledge, a shift from ‘I’ to ‘we’, and transitioning from an “ego-system” to an “eco-system” in which we’re all aware of how interconnected we are, and of the fact that the more we give, the more we receive. In this way, a virtuous circle of professional and personal growth and exchange can be generated. By participating in Connecting Energies, we bring our Open Power values – trust, responsibility, innovation and proactivity – to life.” Our projects around the world In Connecting Energies, we launched a project called Renew-ABLE against Covid, devoted to the economic and health emergency caused by Covid. It was set up in collaboration with the RES4Africa Foundation (Renewable Energy Solutions for Africa) and Electrical Workers Without Borders. The aim was to involve our colleagues in the supervision of young African talents in the planning of small renewable energy plants for health centers and schools in Kenya and Cameroon. One of the participants, Alessio Cinquini from Global CSV & Sustainability Projects says: “The project not only enabled me to support small local businesses in a practical way, it also gave me the chance to see projects that generate value for these communities actually put into practice.” SOS Mentoring – set up in Italy, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Spain and Greece – also addresses the fallout from the pandemic, by helping small business owners find the right solutions and strategies to relaunch or reinvent their commercial enterprises which were affected by the crisis. “I decided to become a volunteer so that I could share my knowledge and provide support to a young entrepreneur whose goal was to develop his own business and his skill set, in order to succeed and thereby create a better future for himself,” says Nelly Huapaya Arteta from the O&M Power Plant in Lima, Peru. In Colombia, by means of our Digital Literacy project, our colleagues who volunteered provided teachers in public schools with the right digital tools to convert their lessons into remote learning format. Another initiative, Educando con energia (Educating with Energy), provides career guidance for young people in local communities: the volunteers shared with the students the work and study experiences that led them to enter the world of energy. In Africa, through the Microgrid Academy, our colleagues provided their support in vocational training courses aimed at teaching skills related to renewable energies to young technicians, engineers and professionals. But the energy of volunteering doesn’t stop here. It will be renewed by the passion of other people and by new projects that will be implemented in different parts of the world during the new phase of Connecting Energies in 2023.

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Connecting Energies, a reboot for our solidarity initiative

Connecting Energies, a reboot for our solidarity initiative

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