ESAS SOSYAL PROGRAMS RECOGNIZED AT THE STEVIE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AWARDS

Esas Sosyal won the Silver Stevie in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category at the Stevie International Business Awards, the most coveted prize for achievement in business.

Esas Sosyal, which aims to offer equal opportunity to youth by combining Esas Holding’s values with the vision of Şevket Sabancı and his family to give back to society, continues to focus on the unemployment problem among educated youth and contributes to the country’s development through sustainable and measurable social investments. The objective of the Şevket Sabancı First Chance Program and the Hayırlı Sabancı English Chance Program, which Esas Sosyal launched with its diversity, equity, and inclusion approach, is to enable youth to join the workforce under equal conditions with their peers.

Esas Sosyal operates with the mission of eliminating the inequalities of opportunity that the graduates of lesser-known state universities, which the employers may not favor, encounter during their transition from school to professional life. Inline with this mission, Esas Sosyal runs Social Investment Programs to help young people build on their competencies, gain work experience, and improve their foreign language skills, and offers solution models to address the unemployment problem of educated youth.

Esas Sosyal was recognized with the Silver Stevie for its sustainable social investment programs in the ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ group of the communications category at the 19th Stevie International Business Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious prizes conferred for achievement in business. This year, more than 3,700 applications from 67 countries competed for the coveted awards.

With the addition of a Silver Stevie, which comes after the Sustainable Business Award, the Golden Compass UNDP Special Prize, and the PRIDA Award in the Leader Communication category for its work focused on creating social benefit, Esas Sosyal has added four awards to its roster of accolades in a year.

Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, Vice Chairperson, Esas Holding, noted that as a “value-driven, responsible holding,” they aim to bring some relief to young people who are embarking on their professional careers through Esas Sosyal, “We are proud to be recognized on national and international platforms for the social impact we create through Esas Sosyal’s programs. We are honored to win an award at the Stevie International Business Awards, the prestigious prize of the business world. We have also embedded our diversity, equity, and inclusion approach, which lies at the heart of our corporate culture, into our Social Investment Programs. We launched the Şevket Sabancı First Chance Program in 2016 to give graduates of lesser-known state universities, which the employers may not favor, an opportunity to gain work experience at NGOs. Then, in 2021, we launched the Hayırlı Sabancı English Chance Program, drawing from the feedback received from program participants and our ecosystem, to eliminate the English proficiency barriers that may hinder the youth’s job prospects. We support and enhance our programs with an ecosystem of more than 3,000 people, including NGO partners, HR professionals, mentors, trainers, participants, and alumni. I should add that more than 40 corporate supporters from 20 industries who have supported us and our mission for four years deserve a special thanks. We will continue to work hand in hand with all our supporters to eliminate the obstacles that young people face on their path to success.”

About Esas Sosyal:

Esas Sosyal, the social investment initiative of Esas Holding, a leading investment group in Turkey, was founded with the vision of the late Şevket Sabancı and his family to invest in society. Esas Sosyal, which has made sustainable and measurable social investments with the mission of providing equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion in youth employment since 2015, is led by Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, Vice Chair, Esas Holding. Esas Sosyal works to eliminate the obstacles that graduates of lesser known state universities, which employers may not favor, face as they transition to professional life. For this purpose, Esas Sosyal mobilizes a wide ecosystem of private sector and NGOs, business people, executives, and young people around its programs as a solution model for unemployment among educated youth.

www.esassosyal.org

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