More than 40 Banco Sabadell employees in Madrid and Barcelona are taking part as mentors in the fourth edition of B-Value, the innovation programme aimed at leaders of the third sector who work in non-profit organisations, which we are promoting together with Ship2B.

These employees will voluntarily share their extensive experience and expertise with these organisations, in order to advise them and assist them in areas such as communication, marketing, finance and legal advice. An event called ‘In Your Shoes’ was held in March, which consisted of a training session aimed at Banco Sabadell employees to introduce them to the reality of the third sector, to understand what is meant by social innovation and to help them ensure their mentoring focused on the right areas. It was an event that, according to the employees who took part, was incredibly useful “to overcome the fear of mentoring and the jitters than come from not being familiar with the sector; it really helped a lot to hear from someone who was a mentor last year. Sharing real-life stories is the best way of showing how enriching this experience can be.”

Despite the situation in which mentors and organisations found themselves due to Covid-19, mentoring sessions were successfully held online. In fact, this change was welcomed by both sides, as one mentor explained: “It was a really good chance to get a profound understanding of the real problems that these organisations face, and which have been exacerbated by the current health crisis and which go beyond overwhelmed ICUs”. It was a unique experience in which employees were able to connect, empathise and put themselves in the ‘shoes’ of these organisations, and they assured us that ‘they, the organisations, were really grateful for even for the tiniest bit of help. I never thought I would be able to contribute anything to experts in those fields. I felt very much supported and their relentless motivation made it a really enjoyable experience”. Banco Sabadell rated their experience as mentors in this fourth edition of B-Value as 8.6 out of 10. The 11 mentors of finalist organisations will continue advising and mentoring those organisations until the end of September.