The CEOE Foundation, the Créate Foundation and CEAJE join forces to promote entrepreneurship and innovation from an early age throughout the education system

This alliance has taken shape with the signing of a collaboration agreement during an event held at the headquarters of CEOE.

The agreement was signed by the president of Fundación CEOE, Fátima Báñez; the president of Fundación Créate, Jesús Sainz, and the president of CEAJE, Fermín Albaladejo.

Spain needs young people trained in entrepreneurial skills and attitudes, who are capable of innovating and are in touch with the needs of an ever-changing labour market.

Last Friday, the CEOE Foundation, the Créate Foundation, and the Spanish Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs’ Associations (CEAJE) signed a collaboration agreement to join forces in promoting entrepreneurship from an early age within the framework of the Spanish education system.

The agreement was signed by the president of the CEOE Foundation, Fátima Báñez; the president of Fundación Créate, Jesús Sainz, and the president of CEAJE, Fermín Albaladejo, during an event held at the Confederation’s headquarters, marking the alliance that will see these three organisations working together in the future.

As stated in the agreement, the Créate Foundation, CEAJE and the CEOE Foundation “share the strategic goal of fostering entrepreneurship and business innovation from an educational point of view, through the promotion, in schools, of programmes that contribute to developing proactivity and the capacity to create entrepreneurial projects, stimulating their long-term vision and providing them with tools that help them to choose an appropriate career path, favouring the individual development of children and young people”.

In the opinion of the three organisations, this is a strategic alliance in support of entrepreneurial education, of people, of companies and of Spanish competitiveness. It will favour an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit through the implementation of tools and methodologies aimed at generating habits of proactive citizenship in the youngest members of society, based on equal opportunities.

This agreement is a joint project between three institutions that have been working toward this goal for some time and are now joining forces so that Spain can improve its individual and collective results. Thus, the opportunity arises to scale up to national level the programmes and projects that the Créate Foundation has been successfully developing for a decade with the support of business and public administrations.

Likewise, as the three organisations explained during the signing of the agreement, special importance will be given to the training and support of teachers, since they are a key element in promoting the entrepreneurial spirit in Spain from an early age.

The president of the Créate Foundation, Jesús Sainz, stressed that “it is essential to educate our young people in the skills and attitudes of 21st century citizens, such as resilience, creative problem solving, teamwork and the ability to make decisions and take risks. With this training integrated into their lives, they will have the tools to face any challenge and contribute to their environment, directly influencing the stability and competitiveness of the country”.

In this regard, the president of the CEOE Foundation, Fátima Báñez, highlighted the value of promoting strategic alliances such as the one established with the signing of this agreement, because “it will allow the entrepreneurial culture to be accessible to the youngest children and they will learn about ways to pursue their life projects which, historically in our country, have not been sufficiently promoted in the classroom”. As Fátima Báñez pointed out, “the aim is for the business and education worlds to go increasingly hand in hand, so that our young people and adolescents are able to unleash all the talent they possess”.

In turn, the president of CEAJE, Fermín Albaladejo, recalled that “CEAJE has always defended the importance of education in terms of entrepreneurship for young people, creating a taste for the corporate world and contributing to Spain becoming a country of entrepreneurs”. The president of CEAJE added that it is an agreement that “favours a more efficient education, and most importantly, one that is connected to the needs of future employment”. A project that the three institutions have been working on for some time, to join forces and “fight for a common goal”.

The Créate Foundation has measured the impact of its programmes on students with the following results: 57.9% increase in initiative and leadership, 60% increase in creativity when seeking opportunities, 61.8% increase in being persistent with tasks, and 65.5% increase in self-confidence and lack of fear to take risks.

This alliance, and the sum of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the public and private partners, thanks to the capillarity of CEAJE and the CEOE Foundation, will take this project much further.

About the Créate Foundation

The Créate Foundation is a non-profit organisation that researches, develops, and implements innovative methodologies, techniques, and tools for use in schools and other learning environments.  It focuses mainly on teachers and its goal is to promote entrepreneurship.

It offers programmes in schools for students of all ages, from 4th grade to Vocational Training, which include training and support for teachers, learning resources, and events with the whole community, such as Final e-FP, e-Challenge, Mad Startup School, South Summit Kids, Drawing ED or MiniMaratón Madrid.

Over the last 10 years, the Créate Foundation has trained 1,656 teachers from 412 schools in Spain and Latin America, bringing entrepreneurial education to more than 45,000 young people.

About the CEOE Foundation

The CEOE Foundation is an institution that is open to society and the business world. It is very permeable and willing to collaborate with the different social agents to improve social welfare, training for employability and access to knowledge. The Foundation places special emphasis on promoting entrepreneurship among young Spaniards.

About CEAJE

The Spanish Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs’ Associations (CEAJE) is the employers’ representative organization for all young entrepreneurs in Spain under the age of 41. It is a non-profit and independent organisation and it is integrated in different national and international institutions that make its work stronger.