Fundação Vasco Vieira de Almeida awarded a EUR 10,000 Prize to Associação 55+, whose mission is to empower and give a sense of purpose to 55+ year old people no longer in active employment. The Association helps 55+ year old Experts provide quality and reliable services and ensures that they lead a more active and healthier life, while remaining active in the community and earning extra income.

The prize will be used to bring the 55+ project to the entire national territory and promote the added value that people over 55 can bring to society.

 Associação VilacomVida and Cozinha com Alma were both awarded a Special Mention.

The event took place online on 27 January before a Jury that included João Vieira de Almeida (Managing Partner, VdA), Isabel Ferreira Pinto (CEO of Pingo Doce, Jerónimo Martins), Luís Pereira Coutinho (CEO, Banco CTT), Paulo Malta (Managing Partner, Innovsky), Pedro Rocha e Melo (Executive Director, José de Mello Capital), Soledade Carvalho Duarte (Managing Director, Invesco Transearch Portugal) and Vanda Jesus (Executive Director, Portugal Digital) and a virtual audience of close to 100 people.

The Encounter(s) with Impact Project is the offspring of VdA Got Social Talent – an in-house initiative developed by Fundação Vasco Vieira de Almeida to encourage VdA staff to design projects in line with Fundação Vasco Vieira de Almeida’s mission and strategy.

This project aims to set up a collaborative platform that brings together Social Economy companies and organizations to share resources and build projects together that have a positive impact on the Community and contribute towards the reorganization and survival of organizations struggling with project management and social business sustainability.

Each of the 13 Social Organizations that participated in the Encounter(s) with Impact 1st Edition was assisted by two mentors – young professional corporate management experts – to help mitigate the Covid-19 effects and launch their projects in order to fulfil their social mission.  7 Organizations (55+, Associação Conversa Amiga, Cozinha com Alma, Pão a Pão, Pousio – Arte e Cultura, Vencer Autismo e VilacomVida) were then shortlisted and afforded the opportunity to attend training Workshops.