Let us do what needs to be done

Luciane Pedro has been in the group for 15 years. She has a Social Communication degree as well as a Psychology degree. She started her career in communication and marketing. She then discovered how important impacting and strategic social responsibility could be.  

Let’s listen to her story of how she changes the world for the better.

In my first role at ENGIE, I was responsible for communication and public relations but I also managed donations and sponsorships. At the beginning, it was an add-on to my numerous responsibilities, but I soon realized  the transformational power of Donations and sponsorships and ended up loving it. 
Throughout the years the organization has evolved and now I work exclusively with Corporate Social Responsibility. We´ve extended our reach to all regions of Brazil where we have business. It makes me really happy to see how far we´ve gone during the last 14 years and I´m really proud to be leading such an important function. 
I believe in people. I really believe that good people account for the biggest share of the world.  I love to solve problems. To me, there´s no procrastination or overthinking, it´s always: “Let us do what needs to be done”. And the “Women in our neighbourhood” project is all about doing what needs to be done.

So, tell us about this project. 

This project, conceived and implemented by our own CSR team at ENGIE Brazil, believes that investing in women from the neighboring communities of our plants in Brazil is one of the answers to face several social issues, which were made worse by the pandemic. Reports indicate that the coronavirus crisis has increased inequalities and violence against women worldwide. While they had to provide extra care to their families, many women had their sources of income reduced or eliminated. The crisis took jobs, businesses, opportunities and brought the danger of domestic violence closer to women.
The “Women of Our Neighborhood” project provides funding and tailor-made programs to support and encourage small women's businesses, while also providing education, health and protection against domestic violence. It promotes a network of social initiatives to boost income generation actions led by women from more than 100 municipalities where we operate in Brazil. 
We are directly supporting, with financial resources, small enterprises in 20 Brazilian states. Since 2020, 61 ventures from the most varied segments (food, clothing, crafts, beauty, education) have been supported, directly benefiting more than 100 women.
In September last year, we launched a programme called – ‘Parcerias do Bem’, which could be translated as “Goodwill Partnerships”.  We presented the project to our clients and got support from Whirlpool, who offered cooking devices or oven to these women. 
In the field of education, we have partnered with an organization called EduK, providing 38 free online courses, with a strong emphasis on personal skills and business management.
On domestic violence, we partnered with the Maria da Penha Institute (IMP), an organization that was founded and is chaired by Ms. Maria da Penha. To get an idea of the relevance of the IMP, the Brazilian law against violence against women is called “Lei Maria da Penha”. This partnership produces videos, booklets and a mini-course with content related to combating violence against women. The aim is for this material to reach as many people as possible, providing guidance and serving as guides for a more dignified life.
For health, partnerships are being carried out with volunteer doctors from all over the country, so that health efforts and preventive exams are delivered, supporting women in the most socially unprotected locations.
The project is not only about sponsorship, it’s much more than that.  It is about a community of women that are connected through WhatsApp or mails, with different events, addressing different issues. This community also started things on their own, like meetings of women that sell regional things. “I sell bags and you sell or cook cakes”. It’s a network to help each other.
I think that the big challenge for us now is to keep the women motivated.

In this video we did at the end of the year, the women are  commenting about their personal experience and it is really moving because you see their devotion.  

That’s amazing! How is it that ENGIE funds social responsibility initiatives like this? 

The Women in Our Neighborhood project contributes to empower women and foster gender balance, strengthens ENGIE’s position in favor of diversity, attraction and retention of job vacancies. Thanks to these actions, we attract more female consumers, decision makers and purchasing influencers.
It also strengthens ENGIE’s image in communities, in addition to generating value for our business, with our investors, suppliers and customers.
As for me, working in this area makes me happy as a professional and as a person – because it fills my personal purpose, which is making the life of people better. 
I am happy to be in a company that sees my job and the job of my team as essential and recognises that we need to care for the communities. We are in this community, we earn money here and, therefore it’s good business , to uplift the communities we operate in. The impact of our operations needs to be addressed. I am really happy that our CEO here in Brazil sees this value and believes in it. He is a strong ambassador and an enthusiast  for the project.  

Is there a message you wish to share ?

In such difficult times, I believe in the multiplier power of social activities, as we are all protagonists of the future we build. And, if there is only a single thing we have learned from this pandemic, it is that no one can do anything alone.
What makes us more human is our choice to do good. It is from the good that comes our best energy, so that future generations can have a better world to live in.
This project is for women, and this is something that inspires me, that makes me proud. I would like to quote Bruna Kadletz – a woman entrepreneur supported by the project : “For all the women who have a dream of starting a project, of taking an idea off the paper and realizing that idea to transform their life, what I can say here is that you must believe in your potential, that you must believe in your brilliance”.