UnicreditBank – things only change if we act together

The future is not a destination, but a series of continuous actions aiming towards one goal – enabling communities to progress by giving them the necessary tools to fulfill their full potential.

Education is key in each endeavour shaping the path of progress. UniCredit Bank is an active player in connecting the actual needs with opportunities, in line with its ESG and sustainability strategy. 

UniCredit Foundation – Strong support for youth and education in Europe 

UniCredit Foundation, in line with its purpose of unlocking the potential of Europe’s next generation, launched the “Call for Education” to support programs combating educational disadvantage in all countries where the Group operates: Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

UniCredit Foundation allocated a total contribution of 4 million euros in 2023 to identify and support programs for secondary school students (age range 11-19), implemented by non-profit organizations, with particular attention to tackling early school leaving, encouraging the university level or the acquisition of appropriate skills to enter the labor market. 

„Re-power your future” is an initiative developed by Junior Achievement and the UniCredit Foundation, carried out simultaneously for young people from 10 European countries who are in an essential position to continue their studies and at the beginning of their integration process on the labor market.

The countries participating in the project are Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. In Romania, the project is carried out in 310 schools and high schools with a technical profile, within which 7,500 students benefit from educational activities to explore their potential and shape their professional paths.

“In Romania, the school dropout rate remains high and precisely in this sense, together with Junior Achievement, we are starting to change the numbers. Every child who completes his education cycle means a victory for the society in which we live. The UniCredit Foundation’s involvement in these endeavours confirms that things only change if we act together. We are convinced that from year to year, we will have results that we will all see and feel.”

Mihaela Lupu, CEO of UniCredit Bank Romania

UniCredit and Teach for All – a long-term partnership for Europe’s future 

UniCredit Foundation and Teach For All (TFA) launched at the end of 2023 a three-year program based on a 5.5 million euro partnership to promote equality in education for young people in six European countries where banking is carried out: Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia.

In Romania, through the new partnership, the UniCredit Foundation and the partners from the local Teach For All network help in the evolution of training and development of more than 1,400 teachers, with an impact on more than 83,000 pupils and students by 2026. In addition, the network partners will collaborate over the next three years with more than 3,600 graduates and over 10,870 teachers as part of the entire education system. 

UniCredit Lab 2024 – Empowering the next generations of entrepreneurs 

UniCredit Lab 2024 (third edition) is a mentoring program for young entrepreneurs, within the Romanian Creative Week.

Approximately thirty early-stage entrepreneurs benefit from personalized consulting to develop their businesses through the UniCredit Lab/Speed Mentoring for Wannabe Entrepreneurs program.

Investors who built successful businesses from scratch and specialists in key business fields, with extensive professional experience, are working individually and in teams with the young entrepreneurs enrolled in the workshop in Iași.

“UniCredit Lab is an opportunity for us to interact directly with young entrepreneurs and give them the support they need to turn their ideas into successful businesses. We strongly believe in the potential of young people and we are dedicated to supporting them through educational programs such as UniCredit Lab – an event that has already become a tradition within the Romanian Creative Week. Thus, we continue to support the communities of creative entrepreneurs and we want to see as many innovative initiatives as possible transformed into successful businesses.”

Anca Ungureanu, Director of Identity & Communication at UniCredit Bank

Also at this year’s RCW was the UniCredit FinTech Hack, a 48-hour hackathon where mixed teams of Coding/Design/Marketing students worked together to develop innovative mobile banking solutions, which were then presented to a jury of fintech specialists and experts. The event benefited from the support of Centric IT Solutions, and UniCredit Bank offered prizes to the first three teams on the podium.

Education – the engine of progress fuelled by UniCredit Bank’s commitment to Europe’s future

Education is key in each endeavor shaping the path of progress and UniCredit Bank is an active player in connecting the actual needs with opportunities, in line with its ESG and sustainability strategy. The future is not a destination, but a series of continuous actions aiming towards one goal – enabling communities to progress by giving them the necessary tools to fulfill their full potential.

€2.5 million to support youth and education in Europe 

About 250 million young students in Europe leave school without basic reading, writing, and math skills, and secondary school graduates have a 58% employment rate versus 85% for those with university degrees. In line with UniCredit’s ambition to be the bank for Europe’s future, the UniCredit Foundation is unlocking the potential of Europe’s next generation by offering them equal educational opportunities and the necessary tools to achieve successful academic careers, allowing them to prosper. In 2023 UniCredit Foundation invited all NGOs active in Europe to an open call for projects offering a total grant of €2,500,000 to support projects aimed at combating school dropout, enhancing employability, and encouraging university attainment. 

UniCredit and Teach for All – a long-term partnership for Europe’s future 

The global partnership with Teach has impacted nearly 60.000 students across Europe, involving nearly 700 teachers (and over 2.300 alumni) in nearly 1.000 schools. UniCredit continues to fuel the pan-European partnership with Teach for All with a €2 million donation. The current program is present in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Slovakia and will soon be extended to Serbia.

In Romania, the local partner is Teach for Romania which will support 11 teachers active in 9 public schools and will enable them to become the leaders the students nowadays need, giving them a holistic development path to follow. 

”In Romania, 6 out of 10 children coming from vulnerable communities face real difficulties in writing or reading. Add this to the very poor infrastructure of teaching personnel and other challenges and one would immediately foresee the urgent need for action. Through our partnership with Teach for Romania, we offer a leadership program for people who want to be involved in reshaping the meaning of education in Romania. For 2 years, this program gives them all the necessary tools so that they can become the future shapers of the next generation of students, keeping them involved in future roles as alumni of Teach for Romania. This is only one story from our broader goal to empower communities to progress.” states Anca Ungureanu, Head of Identity and Communication UniCredit Bank Romania. 

Education through gaming

We all have mixed feelings when talking about gaming. However, we believe that gaming can be a perfect tool to empower future generations of students to learn and experience school in a way that is more appealing in a hyper-digitalized world. 

Together with the Romanian Game Developers Association, UniCredit Bank launched the program Games in Schools, an educational endeavor meant to offer teachers in over 20 schools around Romania alternative teaching tools with the final aim to make learning more fun and attractive. One such tool is the European textbook Games in Schools developed by the European School Network and ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe) which informs teachers of the educational benefits of gaming and ways to use gaming as both motivational and educational resources during classes.

Empowering the next generations of entrepreneurs 

The first steps for a successful enterprise are to be learnt from the early years. With this in mind, for the third year in a row, together with The Social Incubator Association, UniCredit Bank supports a program that helps students with a technical education background to learn how to access financing to follow their vocation, but also how to spend them wisely. Over 2,900 students in 6 counties benefit from the training.

On a different note, innovation and creativity are key drivers for economic progress. That is why, UniCredit Bank has been a supporter of creative entrepreneurs, offering them a tailored training program where they can learn in a very focused manner about the legal and financial tools necessary to set up a business, but also an overview of how they can connect their talent with the potential consumers. The program was pioneered during Romanian Creative Week in Iasi in 2022 and reported a tremendous success.

UniCredit Bank has also designed a specific banking product called The Creative Pack precisely to match the needs of existing creative entrepreneurs or wannabes. The larger approach of UniCredit Bank to support the creative business sector in Romania has recently been distinguished by Sabre Awards as a finalist in The Balkans regional category, awarding excellence in communication and public relations worldwide.

UNICREDIT and BRAND MINDS, uniting the business world with Global Thinkers in 2022

UniCredit, one of the main financial institutions, providing services and quality products for all client categories in Romania, has joined BRAND MINDS for its 2022 edition, as the main partner of the event.

Digitalisation and commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are key enablers for UniCredit’s service. They help the Bank deliver excellence to stakeholders and create a sustainable future for clients, communities and Bank’s people.

What UniCredit Bank offers to its partners is trust, a cornerstone of doing business and the pillar of all business partnerships.

UniCredit Bank has been BRAND MINDS’ trusted partner every year since its first edition and we are thrilled to have them joining us in empowering business education, this year, as well!

UniCredit Bank & BRAND MINDS – A common VISION

“Our decision to become the main partner of BRAND MINDS, the Central and Eastern European Business Summit, was based on sharing strong common values and vision with respect to promoting innovation, to unlock individuals’ and businesses’ potential and to empower communities to progress.”

UniCredit Bank

Anca Ungureanu, Head of Identity and Communication UniCredit Bank:

“In 2022 UniCredit Romania will be, for the fourth year in a row, the main partner of BRAND MINDS, one of the most relevant business summits in Central and Eastern Europe and the most impressive event of its type in Romania.

We are proud and happy to have been part of this growing experience from its very beginning, building a partnership that grew stronger with each day on the basis of our common values and vision.

In BRAND MINDS, we have found a partner who shares our perspective of always serving the customers in the very best way, promoting innovation and digitalization and empower communities to progress.

On behalf of the whole UniCredit Romania team, I send my congratulations to the BRAND MINDS’ team and wish them another successful event in 2022!”