EDP and Jimmy P challenge young people to choose a future without barriers or prejudices
Student in years 7 to 12 challenged to choose a profession. Schools mobilizing the most students will be rewarded with a Jimmy P concert.
EDP, in partnership with the musician Jimmy P, is today launching the "Tag your future" project, an initiative that targets students aged 12 to 18 in about a thousand schools throughout the country. The aim is to promote change in society towards greater diversity and inclusion.
Jimmy P is highlighting this cause through the single "Handz Up", to challenge young people to be daring in their dreams and to believe in a future without barriers or prejudices. In the videoclip of "Handz Up", which marks the launch of this EDP initiative, Jimmy P calls on young people not to give up but to believe in themselves: "Being different does not mean being inferior. It means know exactly who you are and understanding your true worth."
Schools and young people will be involved through a platform where their first challenge will be to register their involvement. The aim is for each young person to 'tag' their future and mark the profession of their dreams, without barriers or prejudices.
The schools mobilizing most successfully by 21 April will be announced in early May and will receive a concert by Jimmy P.
As a second challenge, in partnership with the Inspiring Future project, teachers will be invited to mobilize their students, in lessons, to discuss the limitations they face in everyday life and to reflect on possible solutions and identify the resources needed for this purpose. The winning initiatives will be supported by EDP through a group of mentors, including Jimmy P, to support its implementation.
Promoted by EDP, the "TAG YOUR FUTURE" project aims to help change mindsets as we know that young people make choices, in most cases, conditioned by barriers or prejudices that are imposed by their situation, background or personal characteristics.
"EDP believes that respect for human beings, which translates into individual diversity and representativeness in the communities in which they live and work, is a moral imperative and an ethical duty in its work as a socially responsible company. For us this approach has to be part of our culture and must also be used to change the culture that surrounds us.
EDP believes that by committing to future generations we will be able to play an active role in changing mindsets and in a growing awareness that the professions and skills they bring have no gender, colour or physical condition. Basically if we combine all our differences, the future will be ours!
By choosing Jimmy P as the ambassador for this project, we are seeking to get this message to young people through one of the main forms of communication - music-, says João Tavares, EDP's Assistant Director of Human Resources who manages Diversity and Inclusion.
For Jimmy P, the goal is to help young people fight to make their dreams come true by promoting diversity and inclusion where they spend most of their time - at school. "I fully identify with this project and I'm sending the message out through my music. I want young people to pursue their dreams, without fear. I dreamed of becoming a musician and I am a musician. I lived in France and then I came to Portugal to play football, but I prefer to make music a thousand times more than football. I didn't always have the support or approval of others, but I never let go of my dream", says Jimmy.