The company in prison in a project that aims to promote recovery and integration social through work. The initiative was launched at the Bassone prison and is promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo, the leading Italian banking group positioned at the top of the world in terms of social impact and a European leader in sustainable finance, which has implemented an input of Don Gino Rigoldithe historic chaplain of Beccaria (over fifty years of service in the Milanese juvenile prison) and founder of Comunità Nuova.
Don Gino Rigoldi speaks about the importance of giving prisoners the elements of autonomy necessary for the future
In particular, the Sales & Marketing Department of Intesa Sanpaolo, led by Anna Roscio, has committed to promoting meetings between companies and workers trained at the laboratory created inside the prison.
Virtuous model
A virtuous model of collaboration between private and public entities with a view to the common good and which involves, in addition to the banking group, the District Prison and the Regional Office, the MekTech group, headquarters in Giussano, specialized in the design and construction of robotic systems and plants, and the Ozanam cooperative which promotes the insertion of people in difficulty into the world of work.
The voices of some of the prisoners involved in the project
The program allows eleven inmates to specialize in the creation of complex electrical panels commissioned by MekTech, offering technical training for the release of a certificate of participation in the electrician wiring technician course and a job, contributing to their path of social rehabilitation and reintegration into professional life. This is a professionalizing activity that will allow potential employment once the prisoner has finished serving his sentence.
Stefano Barrese illustrates the purpose of the project
“There is no better lever for social reintegration than work,” he said. Stephen Barresehead of the Banca dei Territori Division – this project is a sprout, the expectation is that it will become a tree. The people involved have joined with enthusiasm, the goal is to ensure that society perceives them as an opportunity and not as a burden”.
The Como project is part of a broader program of social commitment for the inclusion of the most vulnerable also in the world of work, for the reduction of inequalities and fight against poverty, which represent the pillars in the business plan strongly desired by CEO Carlo Messina.
From left, Don Gino Rigoldi, Stefano Barrese, the undersecretary Andrea Ostellari, Gaetano Sauli and Fabrizio Rinaldi, director at Bassone
The team in the newly refurbished laboratory
The initiative was made possible thanks to the involvement of Intesa Sanpaolo per il Sociale, within the Chief Social Impact Officer area led by Paolo Bonassi, the structure dedicated to combating poverty and promoting social inclusion that through collaborations initiated in the territory between different subjects, creates alliances and partnerships between the profit and non-profit, public and private sectors.
The agreement
MekTech, the company that has embraced the project and that was represented at the inauguration by CEO Gaetano Sauli, has committed to purchasing in the coming years the electrical panels made by the inmates and intended for the plants and robotic systems produced by the company. The collaboration with Ozanam, the Saronno Social Solidarity Cooperative, was fundamental. It was present yesterday with vice-president Edoardo Mazzucchelli who plays the role of “employer” of the inmates.
The Como prison coordinated the selection of inmates, in addition to having provided for the renovation and compliance, with ministerial funds, of the premises used for recreational and sports activities as well as the laboratory of approximately 180 square meters inside the prison. Intesa Sanpaolo supported the renovation and provided the equipment and work tools. The entire production process will take place in the laboratory, from the arrival of the components to the creation of the product packaged by the new technicians.
