ASAP works actively in Empujar Program. What is it about?
Empujar Program was created with the intention of training 5th year students from vulnerable contexts so that they can be inserted into the labor market. The boys who go through the program stay for two years in the PIL, Labor Intermediation Program, which is like a job bank. Vistage, an American company, that what it does is gather businessmen in groups. I have been part of a Vistage group for 11 years and one day, at a company year-end party, with a community that currently has 2,500 entrepreneurs, one of them spoke of the difficulties that companies often have to get trained staff, and he suggested that we do something for that. So the idea was to train the boys so that they can be inserted into the labor market. And obviously the idea was to help a vulnerable sector of society.

The Empujar Program is several years old, and the format has changed. Today, the format is a 3-month soft skills training course, they teach some HR, Safety and Hygiene, some logistics, they are taught how to put together a CV, and they are taught job skills issues. Then, the boys are inside the job market. It is aimed at students between the ages of 18 and 24 who have finished or are finishing high school. There are 4 courses per year in different venues. On average, 70% of the boys who go through the program are working.

How do they recruit the students?
When it is decided that there will be a new headquarters, the schools in the area are visited, talks are given to disseminate the program, then the boys present their candidacy and a selection is made. You choose the guys who are interested and able to continue with the program.

The program now has 9 locations, and one of them is ASAP. The idea is to have national coverage. The trainers are a group of volunteers. The Push program has very few employees. Of course, the guides in each group are qualified teachers but this moves with the effort of volunteers and the contribution of the companies that collaborate.

The boys are accompanied throughout the study program by a mentor. We are in need of volunteers all the time. The more the program grows, the more volunteers you need. Not only as mentors, but also giving talks on the different disciplines for the boys to know. I currently have 3 students from the program working in the company.

And how did your participation come about?
One day the director of the program came to ASAP to give a talk about PUSHING and I liked the idea of ​​collaborating and participating in the program. For the first four years I was a mentor and promoter, and then I developed the Fundraising part of the foundation, which is the hardest part.

At the end of 2020, Mariana Frenkel, the Director, called me to have ASAP host the program.

Were you able to link companies in the gaming sector within this program?
It is very difficult with international companies, because decisions are not made here. But Mariano Mariño is a contributor to the program, Marcela Santamaría, Director at NeoGame, was a contributor and also a mentor, and now participates in a new program, called Capital Semilla, where 30 boys presented their own projects, and 10 of them will receive the capital to develop them.