The VIVE Project,
The VIVE Project implemented since 2016 thanks to Walmart Foundation\’s support, has trained over 54,000 Mexican women in technical and life skills to help them attain better economic opportunities. Nearly 20% of our graduates were aided by our team in their pursuit of employment or to start their own business. However, in March 2020 we faced a global challenge that required us to rethink not only our training scheme but also the strategy through which we provide additional support to our most vulnerable communities, without having direct contact with neither our beneficiaries nor our allies. As a response to the COVID contingency, VIVE moved all of its activities onto accessible virtual platforms, included social media to foster direct interaction with our target population and designed Monitoring & Evaluation tools to help us draft out our plan.
Through the application of these surveys, we discovered that one of the most pressing challenges for our alumni community is the overall negative effects of the contraction of the national economy. According to official data, more than a million jobs have been lost in three months across Mexico, and it is also a very difficult time for micro and small businesses to prosper, many of them going out-of-business. In order to strengthen our employability component, we created a Talent Pool that will gather relevant information about our beneficiaries needs and profiles to approach them to potential employees that fit their eligibility criteria and advise them during the selection process.
The VIVE-Trust Talent pool, in Spanish Banco de Talento VIVE-Trust,was launched in a virtual event on July 9th through the official Facebook page of the project (@ProyectoVIVEMx) and included a step-by-step tutorial on how to register as well as an invitation to all women to join VIVE in order to access this tool and other benefits of the program. Likewise, the first video of the Virtual Job Fair, a complementary project to the talent pool, was presented during the event and it presented the route to employment in Manpower Group. The core of this event was an interview to Eduardo Almanza, Regional Manager of Training and Employability at Manpower Group, a long-time ally of the VIVE project.
Mr. Almanza assured the audience of over 160 viewers that there are jobs available during the pandemic and that most companies are working hand-in-hand with the government to ensure the safe return to economic activities. He also emphasized the affinity of the VIVE training with market needs, stating that employers are seeking for people who have strong life skills, such as leadership and teamwork. Eduardo also reflected on the gender gap there is in the work force and how confidence is key for women to attain the positions they want. He advised women to recognize their strengths, identify the opportunity that would best fit their interest and ultimately, go out and try, given that the only way we can accomplish our goals is by trying as many times as necessary. The complete interview is available in Spanish on our YouTube channel.
Registry to the VIVE-Trust Pool Talent is completely free and voluntary, and can be accessed by clicking on the following link: http://bancodetalento.trust-oea.org/ The only requirement is that the interested person has successfully graduated from any VIVE training course, including those from our Virtual Classroom (Aula Virtual). For more information on how to register or to join the initiative as a potential employee, please write to oportunidades@trust-oea.org
About the VIVE Project:
VIVE Project: VIVE in Spanish means \”Come, be inspired and sell\”. The Walmart Foundation supports this project implemented in Mexico by The Trust for the Americas, in partnership with the ManpowerGroup Foundation. Since 2016, VIVE seeks to increase the economic empowerment of Mexican women through training in technical skills such as sales, retail, customer service, and life skills like entrepreneurship, effective communication and leadership. The training is aimed at low-income women over 15 years old from communities in vulnerable situations. VIVE has had a presence in 184 municipalities, in 28 Mexican states. During 2018, The Trust added to the curriculum the course on prevention of violence against girls and women. In this way, the project\’s objective is that participants increase their chances of accessing formal economic opportunities in these areas, as well as helping to prevent gender violence.
About Walmart:
Together, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation generally provide more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind to support programs that align with its philanthropic priorities. Walmart Foundation focuses on areas where they can do the most good – combining the unique strengths of the business alongside philanthropy. The ability to draw on Walmart\’s business strengths, providing more than just funding, helps Walmart\’s philanthropy to deliver greater societal impact. Today, Walmart.org, through the combined philanthropic efforts of both Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, creates opportunities for people to live better every day.
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