FPdGi Awards

Teach a Man to Fish, 2017 Princess of Girona Foundation International Organisation Award

The winning organisation was chosen for its capacity to create an innovative and scalable educational project capable of breaking the cycle of poverty by fostering entrepreneurship and the personal autonomy of young people of different ages in educational centres in the developing world.

24/04/2017

The British organisation Teach a Man to Fish has won the first FPdGi International Organisation Award, which replaces the Organisation Award that until now had focused exclusively on Spanish entities. The winner’s name was announced on Monday in an event held at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. 

The jury announced its decision highlighting Teach a Man to Fish’s capacity to create an innovative educational project capable of breaking the cycle of poverty by fostering entrepreneurship and the personal autonomy of young people of different ages in educational centres in the developing world. The winning organisation is based in the United Kingdom and after a track record of ten years it is now present in more than 45 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Each year, its projects have an impact on 50,000 students, 1,000 schools and 3,500 teachers. This organisation has received various international awards. 

Nicholas Kafka, CEO and founder of Teach a Man to Fish, speaking by telephone from London, where the organisation is based, said “we are very honoured to receive this award which, I am absolutely sure, will boost our projects and allow us to reach many more young people, above all in Latin America”. Teach a Man to Fish is expanding its activity in Latin America, particularly in Argentina, in addition to its already established projects in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay. 

The Foundation awards this new prize with the aim of recognising the work of entities and organisations based in any country within the European Union which work for young people in the areas of improving employability, workplace integration, innovation in education, fostering academic success and developing scientific vocations. 

The jury was formed of Elisa Durán,deputy general director of the “La Caixa” Foundation; Ignasi Carreras,director of ESADE’s Institute for Social Innovation; Eberhard Lueder, head of Social Inclusion at the Red Cross EU Office; Begoña Etxebarría,managingdirector of the Novia Salcedo Foundation (2013 FPdGi Organisation Award winner); and Patricia de Roda García, director general of the Lealtad Foundation. 

Teach a Man to Fish

Teach a Man to Fish, founded in London in 2006, is an international charity organisation that fights poverty in the world. The ultimate aim of Teach a Man to Fish is to carry out actions that have a long-term impact against poverty by supporting educational projects in less developed countries. The organisation works with local partners and schools to provide tools that allow them to teach young people in these countries practical and business skills, and to generate income that will enable these and future projects to become established.

The event 

 The announcement event for the 2017 Princess of Girona Foundation International Organisation Award began with a visit to the Toy Museum in Figueres. Two hours later a parallel activity was held, involving a workshop designed by entrepreneur Xavier Verdaguer (Imagine Creative Center) who set the participants the following challenge: “Subsidy, philanthropy, crowdfunding: how can we make the third sector viable?”. The young people taking part divided up into teams and worked against the clock with just 100 minutes to design a project that would successfully resolve the problem they had been presented with. The winners of this ‘ideas marathon’ were the Win Win Solidarity team, who thought up a system of donations to social entities through a QR code.

After the workshop ended, presenter Àngel Llàcer led a panel discussion about funding the third sector with the participation of some of the previous winners of the Princess of Girona Foundation Awards: Héctor Colunga (2015 FPdGi Social Award), Felipe Campos (2013 FPdGi Social Award) and Carmen García de Andrés representing the Tomillo Foundation which won the 2016 Organisation Award.

 The FPdGi Awards tour

The FPdGi Awards tour kicked off on 16 March in Córdoba with the announcement of the Arts and Literature Award, which went to artist Juan Zamora for his aesthetic approach and choice of basic materials which allow him to create a polyphony of meanings not bound to just one culture. Zamora, who defines himself as a “nomadic and multifaceted artist”, combines digital visual art with sculpture, installations and drawing.

The route then moved on to Barcelona, where civil engineer Héctor Gómez Díaz was presented with the 2017 Scientific Research Award for his contribution to the development of mathematical modelling and algorithms for numerical simulation in computational engineering that can be applied to provide personalised predictions of prostate cancer growth.

The third stop was Soria, in an event presided over by Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, where Miriam Reyes Oliva won the Social Award for her personal career focused on solidarity and social impact by seeking equal opportunities and solutions in the complex area of autism.

The announcement of the Business Award, which went to Damià Tormo Carulla for combining a brilliant scientific career with being an entrepreneur and investor capable of connecting the world of research with successful entrepreneurial initiative in Spain, took place in Santander on 13 April.

After stopping in Córdoba, Barcelona, Soria and Santander, the FPdGi Awards tourhas ended its journey in Figueres with the announcement of the winner of the International Organisation category. The Princess of Girona Foundation Awards, with a prize of €10,000 and a reproduction of a sculpture by Juan Muñoz, recognise the innovative and exemplary work of young people aged between 16 and 35 years, and that of an organisation in the European Union working for young people. The awards will be presented on 29 June in a ceremony presided over by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain at the Girona Conference Centre.

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