At a Glance
Location: Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
Impact Areas: Training, Placement
People Supported:
At-risk youth, People with disabilities
Joined NESsT Portfolio:
2020
Overview
Brazilian companies invest a lot of money and time into sourcing and retaining talent. Even though employers are keen to recruit young professionals, HR teams find it difficult to identify young adults with the right skills-set. Moreover, typical hiring processes are likely to overlook youth from underserved communities. This creates many barriers for young aspiring professionals who are eager to pursue economic mobility and personal development.
In 2018, NESsT partnered with Instituto Aliança, an established nonprofit in Brazil, to launch Instituto Aliança Empregos, a social enterprise that prepares young adults from low-income backgrounds for employment. Students of the program complete 300-hour/4-month courses that complement their secondary school education so that they can dive right into internships and paid employment opportunities with renowned Brazilian and multi-national companies.
The course empowers students by amplifying their soft skills while also fostering direct relationships with employers. Employers in Brazil have demonstrated an interest in recruiting graduates because of their training in emotional resilience, teamwork and collaboration, and other leadership skills necessary for career advancement. For the employer, this training helps the company to improve employee retention and to successfully onboard motivated individuals into their workforce.
Escola Social do Varejo, the initiative that Instituto Aliança used to validate its programm.
Results & Impact to date
1,171
low-income youth trained
516
low-income youth connected to employment opportunities
$5.8 M USD
raised in donations for the retail curriculum, validated over 6 years
“Our work with youth is to enable them to become autonomous, supportive of others, and technically competent. The training culminates in the strengthening of their identity as they define their career plans so that they can achieve their life goals.”
NESsT Investment
Over the course of a year, NESsT and Instituto Aliança Empregos (IAÊ) partnered to conduct an expansive market study to assess the demand for Brazilian employers to source talent from employment readiness programs — a deviation from their usual approach of sourcing from university graduates and internal recruiting initiatives.
As part of the NESsT Portfolio, IAÊ will focus on scaling placements through the enhancement of its recruitment services by using tech-enabled solutions that meet both the needs of employers and the educational requirements of its students.
NESsT, in partnership with Fundaçāo Arymax, will support IAÊ with product positioning, risk management, sales, financial modeling and operational infrastructure that can monitor sales and customer feedback, as well as impact measurement. In response to the massive economic downfall experienced by the retail and hospitality sectors as a result of COVID-19, NESsT is supporting IAE in accelerating the launch of their technology platform and curriculum that can better serve the growing number of technology-based corporations that have an increased need for talent.