Signify, Salesianos Santiago El Mayor and Nacho Santías have won the Aliados 2022 Awards, organised by the Aliados por la Integración Foundation. These awards recognise companies, entities and individuals who share the fundamental values of social inclusion and who contribute to building a better, fairer and more egalitarian society.
The jury of this second edition - the first was held in 2019 before the pandemic - has considered Signify as "Best Inclusive Company" for its diversity and inclusion programmes, which are firmly rooted in the organisation's culture and represent a business imperative for the company. The company has, over the years, fostered hiring policies that do not take into account gender, race, religion, sex, age or disability, while at the same time developing an inclusive environment where each individual can be themselves and have a sense of belonging, with continuous training and professional development programmes.
In the "Best Inclusive Action" category, the award went to Salesianos Santiago El Mayor, in recognition of its 'Opening Doors' programme, which it believes represents a practical example of solidarity focused on offering opportunities to those who need them most. This initiative, which arose after the complications caused by the pandemic for the more than 13,000 children and young people cared for by the Salesian Inspectorate of Santiago el Mayor, aims to cover the basic needs of families in vulnerable situations, promote training and employment programmes for young people and reinforce educational plans for children and adolescents.
Finally, in the "Inspiring Leadership" category, the award went to Nacho Santías, a young man with cerebral palsy who has become the voice of families fighting to prevent the closure of special education centres. It all started two years ago with a homemade video he posted on his Instagram account (@nacho_el_guay) explaining what he considers to be "madness" and "injustice". A video that has now got more than 5 million views on Instagram.
The three winners received an exclusive award designed by the sculptor César Delgado, who has been partially blind since the age of 13 and totally blind since the age of 17 and an example of self-improvement, having achieved multiple professional, artistic, sporting and personal triumphs.
On the other hand, the musical note of the awards ceremony, held today in Madrid, was provided by the Coro Canto Abierto, an initiative of the Fundación Música Creativa that promotes the artistic development of people with intellectual disabilities and pervasive developmental disorder.
During the closing ceremony, the president of the Executive Committee of Fundación Aliados por la Integración, Almudena Fontecha, stressed that "life has placed us on the side of the scale that should help to bring about transformation", and then stated that "it is increasingly clear to us that we cannot be economically sustainable if we are not socially sustainable".