The Coca-Cola Brazil Institute (ICCB) and Suzano have just announced an unprecedented partnership to reduce inequality and accelerate the economic empowerment of young adults in situations of social vulnerability, through training and the creation of employment opportunities.
The initiative plans to train 70,000 young adults through the Coletivo Jovem Platform, and connect 15,000 of them with the job market by 2025, in strategic towns for Suzano, such as Americana, Botucatu, Campinas, Itu, Jacareí, Limeira, Mogi das Cruzes, Ribeirão Preto, Santos, São José dos Campos, Sorocaba and Suzano (state of São Paulo); Açailândia, Imperatriz and São Luís (state of Maranhão); Uberlândia (state of Minas Gerais); Campo Grande (state of Mato Grosso do Sul); Maracanaú (state of Ceará); and Belém (state of Pará). In addition, the company is committed to directly hiring some of the participants to work in its operations and encouraging partners in its value chain to do the same in support of the cause.
The partnership with Suzano, in addition to expanding ICCB’s impact, will support the company’s journey to increase diversity and racial and social inclusion. Suzano will contribute R$4 million over two years, adding to the more than R$100 million already invested by ICCB in similar projects in the last 10 years.
Daniela Redondo, executive director of the Coca-Cola Brazil Institute, commented about the opportunities unlocked by the partnership. “Suzano will help accelerate our efforts to impact 5 million young adults by 2030. We believe that to move the needle on inequality and contribute for the country’s socioeconomic development, we must focus on young adults, adding different gender and racial perspectives to our action, and encourage business initiatives that accelerate their hiring. And this partnership with Suzano is a new step on this journey.”
“We strive to join forces and engage with companies that have values and objectives similar to ours—in this case, to drive social development through income generation and education in different regions of the country, helping create a better future for current and future generations. This partnership with ICCB is aligned with one of the 15 long-term goals that are part of our Commitments to Renewing Life: to lift 200,000 people out of poverty in the areas where we operate by 2030,” said Fernando Bertolucci, executive director of Technology, Innovation and Sustainability at Suzano.
Starting this month, the partnership will begin to work to provide more job opportunities for young people in the regions where Suzano operates. In addition, the project includes investments in ICCB’s social technology to scale training opportunities and connect them with employability. This is a continuous and collaborative effort to leverage the strengths of young Brazilians to address serious social and economic issues in the country.
About the Coca-Cola Brazil Institute
The Coca-Cola Brazil Institute (ICCB) is a public interest civil society organization whose purpose is to be an agent of social transformation to reduce inequality and contribute for the country’s socioeconomic development, enhanced by partnerships and the Coca-Cola System. Recognized for our social technology and capacity to scale, we made a public commitment to drive economic empowerment through the creation of opportunities in the job market for 5 million young adults, primarily Black individuals and women in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability in the country, by 2030. To date, ICCB has impacted more than 562,000 people.
About Suzano
Suzano is the world’s largest pulp producer, one of the largest paper producers in Latin America and a benchmark for the development of sustainable and innovative solutions from renewable sources. The company’s products, which are part of the lives of more than 2 billion people in more than 100 countries, include pulp, printing and writing paper, paper straws and cups, paper packaging, sanitary pads and toilet paper, among others. Suzano is guided by its purpose of “Renewing life inspired by trees.” The company pursues sustainability through innovation to address the challenges faced by society. With 99 years of history, the company has shares listed on stock exchanges in Brazil (SUZB3) and the United States (SUZ).