The Most Outstanding Social Work and Financial Education Initiatives of 2021, According to CECA

The CECA Awards for Social Work and Financial Education recognized the most significant projects from the past year. A total of 72 initiatives were submitted for this call.

The various crises that have occurred in Spain over the last 15 years have left behind a landscape of social contrast in which some groups have not fully recovered. The future is not particularly bright due to geopolitical uncertainty, an impending recession, and inflation that is difficult to curb. In the face of this perfect storm, action can only be taken with determination, and one of the appropriate tools to do so is cooperation through foundations and collaborative entities, as they are responsible for extending a helping hand to people living in a delicate and constant situation in our country. Precisely to recognize the work of these organizations, the awards delivered annually by the association of savings banks and banks CECA were created.

As has happened in previous years, the awards gala was organized by El Confidencial in collaboration with the entity itself, and held in the association’s auditorium in central Madrid. A total of 72 projects were presented, distributed among 53 in social work and 19 in financial education. In total, 20 entities were recognized in the first category and 10 in the second. The ceremony was led by Ona Carbonell, ambassador of CECA’s Social Work and Action, and Juan Carlos López, head of Sustainability, Social Work, and Financial Education for the organization. The expert jury responsible for awarding the 12 prizes was made up of representatives from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission, the Lealtad Foundation, Spainsif, Funcas, and this media outlet.

[FINALISTS | Click here to learn about all participating projects]

After the introduction by the masters of ceremonies, Carlos Sánchez, deputy director of El Confidencial, gave a welcome to the attendees, expressing his pride in participating in the jury and taking the opportunity to self-criticize: “Many times journalists are removed from social problems and focus excessively on the superstructures. Currently, society is navigating through a permanent crisis and all efforts should be aimed at improving the quality of life for people,” he emphasized.

Starting with the delivery of the 12 awards, Ona Carbonell and Juan Carlos López introduced the Social Work section with the category of Social Action. In this case, the highest recognition went to the project Cycle of Conferences on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, driven by the Fundación Ibercaja, while the finalist initiative was No Home Without Food, from the Fundación “la Caixa”. Next, the Culture and Heritage award went to Symphony, from Fundación “la Caixa”, while the finalist was Restoration of the Alcántara Bridge Tower, Toledo, from the Fundación Montemadrid.

[GALLERY | Click here to view the complete gallery of the event]

The category of Sports and Leisure celebrated the work undertaken in the Chess and Athletics Schools Program of the Fundación CajaCanarias. Meanwhile, the project Clear Spring, from the Fundación Ávila, took second place. In the Local Development and Job Creation category, the award went to the proposal Social Challenge, from the Fundación Caja Extremadura, with Dare to Jump, from the Fundación Ibercaja, as the finalist.

The last three awards in the Social Work block related to Education and Research, Environment, and the Special Jury Award. Thus, in the first category, the award went to Prevention and Early Detection of Relapse in Breast Cancer Patients Using Blood Samples, from the Fundación Unicaja, while the second place went to Schooling of Students from Cañada Real for the Second Cycle of Early Childhood Education ‘Course 2021/2022’, from the Fundación Montemadrid. In the sustainability section, the recognition was awarded to the Fundación Mediterráneo for its Green Employment Courses stemming from the ‘Diagnosis on Climate Change and Employment Opportunities in Alicante’, while the second went to the Environmental Education Center El Salugral, from the Fundación Caja Extremadura.

The Special Jury Award in Social Work spotlighted the Support Program for Social Initiative Projects from the Fundación ‘la Caixa’. Its Director of Relations with Social Entities, Joana Prats, emphasized that “it is very important to make this type of proposal visible because its purpose is to contribute to equal opportunities and improve people’s quality of life.” Regarding the awarded plan, which has been operational for two decades, she explained that “it complements the direct action of the foundation to build a better and fairer society. We have supported over 19,000 projects and reached over 8,000 beneficiaries, but we want to reach every corner of Spain.” To conclude her speech, she thanked the social sector entities for their participation and shared the award with them.

Finances: An Ongoing Challenge for Many Groups

Before starting the delivery of the recognitions in Financial Education, Ona Carbonell wanted to highlight the importance of this discipline in society and gave a very illustrative example: “We have launched a financial course for athletes. This group often earns a lot of money in a very short time and does not have the guidance to manage it properly, which often becomes a problem,” clarified the swimmer and Olympic medalist, who was recently named by the BBC among the hundred most influential and inspiring women in the world.

Since CECA’s aim is for financial education to be a transversal content across all stages of life, the awards are divided based on whether the chosen project is aimed at adults, seniors, or children. Additionally, there are two other categories for entrepreneurs and the special jury mention. Thus, the award for Adults (26-65 years) went to Fundación Montemadrid for its initiative Financial Education for Autonomy, while the second was awarded to Mucho por Hacer, from CaixaBank. The Seniors +65 award went to Fundación Vital for Digitization of the Álava Area, which beat Itinerant Classrooms, Rural Routes, from the Fundación Ibercaja. Regarding the award for Children and Youth (0-25 years), it was won by Financial Grand Prix: The Crazy Adventure of Saving, from Abanca/Afundación Obra Social Abanca, while the finalist was Are Your Accounts Adding Up?, from Fundación Cajasol.

The Entrepreneur award went to Sámara Emprende, from the Fundación Caja Extremadura, with the proposal CaixaBankLab Campus as the finalist. And the Special Jury Award in Financial Education was awarded to the XIII Financial Education Conferences for Youth and XIII Financial Olympiad, from Edufinet. For María del Mar Molina, a member of the project, “the seed we planted in 2005 has shaped what Edufinet now is, and that’s why we have managed to attract numerous institutions to join us along the way. Our commitment to young people, seniors, and other vulnerable groups is essential, and we currently have 244,000 beneficiaries and 19 million visits to our online platforms,” she stated.

“Defeats Teach More Than Victories”

Closing the gala were Marta Arce, a Paralympic judoka and collaborator with the Fundación ONCE, and Antonio Romero, Corporate Director of Associative Services and Resources at CECA. The former gave a motivational talk that was the most emotional moment of the entire ceremony, titled The Will is the Engine of My Dreams.

After congratulating all the awardees, the judoka wanted to highlight the work done by the entities: “As a person with a disability, these organizations have helped me a lot at certain moments in my life.” However, she also reminded everyone that “the risk of exclusion exists because there is still a dark part of the world that views things from a more cruel perspective. To counter this, I focus on helping because I do not want others to experience some of the situations I have faced.” Despite the adversities, she stated that she considers herself “very fortunate” because “success in life is not achieving everything, but being happy with day-to-day life.” Both Marta Arce and Ona Carbonell —both high-performance athlete mothers— agreed in stating that “defeats teach more than victories and are the shortest path to success.”

To conclude, Antonio Romero praised this vision that sports offer and linked it to the awarded entities throughout the day: “Determination is a fundamental characteristic that elite athletes and all members of the 72 initiatives presented in this edition of the awards possess. These recognitions have served to reflect on the needs of our country, and it has been extremely difficult to choose the winning projects.” Finally, the Corporate Director of Associative Services and Resources at CECA recalled that social work embodies a responsibility that is, without a doubt, one of the pillars of the welfare state,” he concluded.