- Enrique Alba, CEO of Iberdrola México, collected the award at an event headed by HM Felipe VI.
- Impulso STEM has awarded scholarships to 58 young people in Oaxaca to this date and called for 23 new positions for this year.
Santo Domingo, March 27, 2023.- The energy company Iberdrola México received in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) this Friday the Award for Best Practices in relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for its Impulso STEM program, which promotes the study of scientific and technological programs in the state of Oaxaca, mainly among women, since 2019.
During the 15th Ibero-American Business Meeting, Enrique Alba, CEO of Iberdrola México, received the award from the Ibero-American Secretary General, the Chilean Andrés Allamand, and the director general of the Ibero-American Foundation for Quality Management (Fundibeq), Juan Luis Martín Cuesta, at a ceremony headed by the King of Spain, Philip VI, and the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.
“Iberdrola México is proud to receive this award that reflects our unwavering commitment to the social dividend and our support of the communities where we have a presence through programs that help to improve people’s lives. With Impulso STEM (STEM Boost), we are looking for talented young people in the state of Oaxaca to develop all their capabilities and become the protagonists and change agents required in the south-southeast of Mexico through science and technology, while it is a program aimed at empowering women”, said Alba in the closing of this forum within the 28th Ibero-American Summit of Chiefs of State and Government.
This recognition adds up to the company’s success in 2021 when two projects -Luces de Esperanza (Lights of Hope) and the Pandemic Mitigation and Safe Back to Work Plan- were also considered by Fundibeq as Best Practices in relation to SDGs.
Furthermore, Iberdrola México received the Ibero-American Quality Award in 2021 and 2019, following the National Quality Award in Mexico.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT WITH EQUITY
In México only 3 out of 10 professionals who chose careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are women, according to a report by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).
Impulso STEM promotes the study by women of this type of program and thus breaks the gender and wage gap still existing in Mexico. In addition, professors and counselors are trained to foster interest in young people studying an engineering program, seeking to positively impact 12,000 young people in the region.
In its first three generations, a total of 58 students have received a scholarship from this program of Iberdrola México, with a budget of 15 million pesos up to 2024. The fourth call was opened in February 2023 and contemplates granting 23 scholarships to young people in Oaxaca. With this program, Iberdrola México strengthens its commitment to the communities where it operates and helps to attain the SDGs: quality education (4), gender equity (5), and partnerships for the goals (17).