At Advantere, we speak often about purpose-driven leadership. This week, we had the opportunity to live it — together.
For five days, 100% of the Advantere team stepped outside our usual roles to participate in a corporate volunteering programme with Fundación Integra. Working in pairs and aligned with our individual strengths, we supported a group of 14 participants in their final preparation for professional reintegration.
It was not charity. It was action. Structured, demanding, and deeply human.
Working Toward Something Bigger Than Ourselves
Throughout the week, we delivered workshops focused on employability, interview preparation, personal branding, financial literacy, and digital awareness — all part of Fundación Integra’s Escuela de Fortalecimiento, a structured pathway that supports individuals in situations of severe social exclusion and people with disabilities as they move toward employment.
Each session lasted two hours and was delivered by two corporate volunteers, following a professional methodology designed to channel each participant’s capabilities toward real employment opportunities.
What united us most was the clarity of the objective. For once, our daily tasks were not about institutional growth or programme delivery. They were about something that transcended us: helping someone regain control of their life through employment.
A Systemic Model of Social Impact
Fundación Integra has spent 24 years creating second chances through employment. In 2025 alone:
- 1,900 people in social exclusion accessed employment through their support
- 1,661 found jobs independently after being assisted
- More than 27,000 employment contracts have been facilitated since 2001
- Every euro invested generates €9 in social return
This is not isolated help. It is systemic impact.
The Foundation acts as a strategic partner for companies, integrating social criteria into business models and ESG strategies. More than 80 companies are currently part of its network, and over 450 social entities collaborate nationwide.
Employment, in this context, means stability, economic independence, restored confidence, and new support networks.
Learning From Those We Serve
The feedback from participants was both humbling and powerful.
“Practicing the interview helped remove my fears, because I struggle to know how to sell myself.”
“The way they explained everything was close and clear.”
“It has been the best workshop so far. I want to keep practicing interviews.”
Participants rated the workshops with an average score of 10.
But what we received in return cannot be measured in numbers.
What It Meant for Our Team
At the breakfast session we held afterwards to share reflections, several ideas emerged repeatedly:
Gratitude for our own circumstances.
Awareness that talent exists everywhere — circumstances do not define capacity.
Recognition that diversity is not theoretical; it is lived reality.
A deeper sense of unity as a team.
Working toward a shared objective that went beyond Advantere strengthened our cohesion. We saw how our different profiles — analytical, communicative, strategic, operational — complemented one another in service of a common goal.
It reminded us that leadership begins with listening, respect, and the willingness to engage beyond comfort zones.
More Than Volunteering
Corporate volunteering, when done with structure and intention, becomes more than an act of goodwill. It becomes part of a company’s social footprint.
Fundación Integra’s model demonstrates that employment is the most powerful tool for social integration. And as an institution committed to reinventing higher education, we believe leadership must be experienced — not only taught.
For that reason, this collaboration will not be a one-time initiative.
In our internal reflection, 100% of the Advantere team expressed their willingness to repeat the experience.
Because true impact transforms both sides.
And because helping someone access employment is not simply supporting a career.
It is helping them start a new life.
