What is your super hero name?
Thalita Gelenske Cunha (Founder and CEO of Blend Edu)
What is your superpower?
Blend Edu is a startup that offers training and educational experiences to promote diversity and inclusion in Brazilian companies, addressing the dimensions of gender, race, disability, LGBTQ, etc. Our work was already featured in many Brazilian media, such as Época Negócios, HSM Management, Projeto Draft, Jornal O Dia, Revista PEGN, etc. In our portfolio there are companies like 3M, Tim, GE, Movile, TechnipFMC, Grupo Fleury, Reserva, Prumo Logística, brMalls an others.
Now, our goal is to launch the largest virtual learning community in Brazil, bringing together companies that are willing to collaborate in order to foster diversity in the workplace.
What SDG is your organization integrating into its core competency?
SDG 5 and 10: Blend Edu supports companies in the creation of inclusive cultures and diversity programs, providing equal opportunities to women, people with disabilities, LGBT community, black people, refugees, etc.
SDG 17: Diversidade SA (the virtual learning community we have created) is a collaborative digital environment, so companies can share best practices, materials and training sessions. Our goal is to use this community to foster impactful partnerships to address diversity.
Every hero has a villain – what challenges do you or your targeted group face?
There’s a common belief that Brazil is a diverse country: our population has 51.4% of women, 52.9% of black people, 23% of people with disabilities and it’s estimated that 8.7% are LGBTQ. However, when looking at the executive positions of the 500 largest companies, we see it’s only composed of 13% women, 4% black people and 0.6% people with disabilities. This glass ceiling is the top of the iceberg, which demonstrates that companies fail to create an inclusive environment. That is why Blend Edu wants to foster a collective effort in order to offer equal opportunities for all.
What are you doing to overcome your villain?
Blend Edu works with a unique and innovative value proposition. We use methodologies such as blended learning, edutainment, gamification, learning experiences, and technologies (digital products) in order to really create disruptive products and services.
With Diversidade SA (virtual learning platform), our goal is to unify in one single (digital) collaborative environment the best content about diversity (live webinars, best practices, discussion forums, etc.), making it available to companies from different sectors and industries, generating exponential impact and networked learning.
Who is your hero and why?
I’m a huge fan of Barack and Michelle Obama and the values they stand for. I admire how, after the presidency, they are investing their money and energy in the Obama Foundation, empowering and engaging the youth to make an impact, create communities and leave a legacy.
Fact Box
- Company name: Blend Edu
- Company type: For-profit social business
- Company Stage: Operating
- SDG Focus: #5 , #10, #17
- What do you need to succeed?: Funding (smart money) in order to launch the virtual learning community (Diversidade SA).
- Technology used: Learning platform
- Number of employees: 3
- Country: Brazil
- Website: www.blend-edu.com
Visit our SDG Tech Awards Denmark 2019 page, where we celebrated other SDG Super Heroes and sustainable solutions in technology!