One of ilegra’s pillars is encouraging the development and training of its personnel, which has led to important achievements and initiatives. The team’s knowledge is always put to work for client projects, to conceive innovative solutions and think ahead of software. The company bet on its expertise, to be used for promoting design-oriented social innovation, believing that the generated results can impact society, furthering social innovation and responsibility. The ilegra design team conducted two workshops at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), aiming to come up with new ideas for fundraising and creative ways to make the institution’s social projects more visible.
The goal was to disseminate the in-house design team’s skills through consulting, looking for a social project to help with ideation techniques. The methodology used by the ilegra team is easily deployable, from an innovative technology solution design project that is in your day-to-day, to promoting design-oriented social innovation. The YMCA was chosen based on prior knowledge and physical proximity between the company’s base and the Association in Porto Alegre.
As initial focus, the YMCA’s image and visibility as an NGO were reworked – given that it is better known for the private services (gym, school) it offers. How to raise awareness of these social projects was the focus of the first workshop, which featured the work of volunteers and employees from different areas of the YMCA. The second meeting addressed fundraising, with debate about funding today, online tools and use of techniques for generating ideas and prototyping.
To the ilegra designer responsible for conceiving and carrying out the initiative, Lais Célem, the experience was intense and very fruitful. “Firstly, we had to think completely outside the box and our universe, which was an interesting exercise. And working on behalf of an important cause had an impact on us. The YMCA assists nearly two thousand people in socially vulnerable situations. It’s a project that has great potential to become well-known. Our colleagues were very happy to participate,” she says. Before the event, there were three meetings and Lais paid a visit to one of the YMCA social projects. “It’s a lot of work that requires a lot of time, but it’s rewarding,” Célem concludes.
Angela Aguiar, Social Development Manager at YMCA, says it was a happy meeting. “ilegra came in with its experience, seeking to better understand this third sector scenario, and we brought our expertise and the idea that we are always pursuing training and qualification,” she says.
The YMCA, according to Angela, is pursuing many partnerships that strive to go beyond funding, along a line of socialization of knowledge, which is very welcome in the social sphere. “We wave a flag of transforming society that certainly involves financing, but also behavior and culture change. This partnership with ilegra added knowledge and strengthened the intellectual capital of the YMCA team, and I can say that the YMCA has also left a legacy with ilegra,” she says. “We impacted more than thirty people, and as Moacir Sclyar already said, the best aid is that which stimulates a person’s dignity. It was the first step to strengthening the partnership in the future, perhaps even with new prospects,” she adds.
About the YMCA – The Young Men’s Christian Association is a non-profit ecumenical and philanthropic institution that provides social assistance and educational activities, bringing people together regardless of race, social status, religious, political or any other type of belief. Present on five continents, it is located in 119 countries, has 11,220 bases of operations, more than 58 million members, over 96,000 employees and upwards of 725,000 volunteers. Throughout its history, the YMCA has made countless contributions to humanity, such as the creation of volleyball, basketball and indoor soccer, in addition to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946.