Suzano, a global benchmark in the manufacture of bioproducts developed from cultivated eucalyptus, celebrated, last month, the graduation of the first class of forestry assistants made 100% of women in Três Lagoas. The 18 new forestry assistants received a certificate of completion of the course offered through the company’s Cultivar Program, which aims to drive socioeconomic development and equal opportunity by supporting local labor.
“Suzano recognizes its leading role in promoting equal opportunity in the workplace and, consequently, in the evolution of society. We have made a public commitment to becoming an even more diverse and inclusive company, which includes increasing the number of women in our operations and in leadership positions, both in our forestry and in our industrial areas. And training a class exclusively made up of women reaffirms this commitment,” said Mônica Catânia, a People and Management manager at Suzano’s Três Lagoas site.
In addition to promoting diversity within the industrial and forestry areas, training a group made up of women also supports the company’s commitment to reducing social inequality and lifting 200,000 people out of poverty in the regions where it operates by 2030. “At Suzano, we have a Culture Drive that says that ‘it's only good for us, if it’s good for the world’ and having more women—many of them heads of families—in our workforce is a way to ensure a fairer society with less socioeconomic inequality in the future. That is way we care about training women for the job market,” added Catânia.
Of the women who took the course, 70% were between 20 and 40 years old; 85% were Black or mixed race; 25% had not finished middle school; 25% had not graduated from high school and 50% had a high school diploma.
New Possibilities
One of the graduates was Thays Aline de Souza Santos, 33 years old. Despite knowing about Suzano, she had no experience in the forestry sector and found out about the opportunity through social media. Through a link in the company’s page, she was able to register and take one of the spots in the class. Thays highlighted another unique feature of this class: the fact that it was exclusively made up of women. “I thought it was very important for the course to be aimed at women. Women have more to do and cannot always count on this type of support in the job market. The course really helped all the students; many of them are heads of families and needed an opportunity like this. Suzano is to be congratulated for helping us enter this field. I think we are all leaving with the expectation of working and being hired. I want to follow this path and develop my skills together with the company,” she said.
Another participant who celebrated completing the course was Amanda Alves Avelino da Silva, a 25-year-old mother of two. She said she was happy to be able to participate in this course offered to women. “I used to work in a nursery, but I never got to go into the field. I always wanted to take a course in this area to learn more. And that’s when this incredible opportunity for professional growth came up. For us, willpower is everything. Even those of us who thought they wouldn’t make it persisted and are now coming out as qualified professionals,” she added.
All students received a course completion certificate and are qualified to work in the sector as forestry assistants.
About Suzano
Suzano is the world’s largest pulp producer, one of the largest paper producers in Latin America, a leader in the toilet paper segment in Brazil and a benchmark for the development of sustainable and innovative solutions from renewable sources. Our products and solutions are part of the lives of more than 2 billion people in more than 100 countries and include pulp, printing and writing paper, paper straws and cups, paper packaging, toilet paper and absorbent products, in addition to new bioproducts developed to meet global demand. The pursuit of sustainability through innovation guides our purpose of “Renewing life inspired by trees” and our efforts to address the challenges faced by society and the planet. With 100 years of history, we have shares listed on stock exchanges in Brazil (SUZB3) and the United States (SUZ).