CSR Through Intersectoral Partnership in the Field of Education: The Case of “Pescar”

The demonstrations before and during the Soccer World Championship in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016 highlighted the striking disparity prevalent in Brazil’s educational system, especially between the quality of private and government-owned schools and universities. These differences also contribute to unequal opportunities in the lives of many children and teenagers from families living in social risk areas such as favelas. The core idea of the Project Pescar is to offer one-year vocational training in companies and organizations, including professional development. The goal is to provide participants with an opportunity to transform their lives by offering a way out of poverty. The innovative aspect of the Pescar concept is, in contrast to intrasectoral CSR, that the Foundation Project Pescar, as a part of the non-profit sector, and corporations, as part of the business sector, are jointly taking over responsibility. Presenting and discussing the findings of my case study of the Project Pescar will be the focus of this article. This includes outlining possible answers to the questions in what way participating in the one-year training changed the participants’ lives. I will then review the potentials and challenges of CSR through intersectoral partnership for the Foundation Project Pescar and the companies involved, and will identify factors of success for CSR through intersectoral partnership in the field of education. The core concept of the Project Pescar network has begun to increasingly disseminate to other countries; for example, Peru, Paraguay and Angola, which illustrates that Brazil and CSR are no longer opposites.