Autoocupació’s SOS Mentoring program, honored at the “la Caixa” Foundation Social Innovation Awards

• The jury has recognized ten projects that provide innovative solutions to transform the lives of people in vulnerable situations.
• SOS Mentoring has saved 1,048 small businesses and 3,668 jobs from the consequences of the pandemic.

Barcelona, January 18, 2023. The “la Caixa” Foundation has granted the Social Innovation award to Autoocupació’s SOS Mentoring program, which saved 1,048 small businesses and 3,668 jobs from the consequences of the pandemic. During the awards ceremony for the 7th edition of these awards, held at CaixaForum Madrid last Wednesday, January 11, 10 social projects were recognized for providing creative, transformative, efficient, and sustainable responses to emerging challenges facing society in areas such as mental health, employability, and social exclusion, among others. SOS Mentoring is a volunteering program designed to help entrepreneurs cope with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, through the support of business owners, executives, and professionals who shared their time and experience as volunteer mentors. Volunteer mentors helped self-employed individuals and micro-enterprises in the sectors most affected by the pandemic, such as hospitality, culture, tourism, and retail, to identify their challenges, analyze alternatives, and make decisions to prevent closure and safeguard their jobs. Guillem Arís, director of Autoocupació, highlighted that “SOS Mentoring has demonstrated the business community’s commitment to helping the most vulnerable businesses overcome an unprecedented crisis” and dedicated the award to the 724 volunteers who participated as mentors. Autoocupació had the support of many public and private institutions to implement SOS Mentoring in Catalonia, including the “la Caixa” Foundation, Barcelona Activa, the Provincial Councils of Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona, the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, Endesa, Google, Banc Sabadell, and Teknia Group. SOS Mentoring was also implemented in 12 autonomous communities in Spain and 24 countries worldwide thanks to the Youth Business Spain and Youth Business International networks. This award joins those already achieved by the SOS Mentoring program, such as the Barcelona Mai S’atura recognition from the Barcelona City Council and the second Volunteer Award from the Generalitat de Catalunya.