Bank Millennium Foundation programs
Social programs are chiefly run through the Bank Millennium Foundation and pertain to three areas: financial education, culture and volunteerism. Supporting innovation and economic events as well as supporting academic education are an important area of the Bank’s commitment.
The social programs run by the Bank Millennium Foundation focus on three areas:
Financial education
Financial ABCs +
The Bank Millennium Foundation’s flagship education program is called Financial ABCs. This proprietary financial education program for preschool children launched in 2016 has been crafted and is delivered by Bank employees in collaboration with a non-governmental organization. Its objective is to explain to these young children some basic financial concepts through fun and games.
During the 236 workshops held during the program, nearly 6,000 children from 70 preschools across Poland took part in this training. Special educational materials in the form of books were put together for the program whose main character is Sebastian. There are also booklets for coloring and stickers. Parents – Bank Millennium employees helped create these materials. The booklets will also be available in children’s corners in the Bank’s branches. This program is run under the honorable patronage of the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights and has been endorsed by Professor Marek Belka, Ph.D. Hab., the Governor of the National Bank of Poland from 2010 to 2016.
BAKCYL +
BAKCYL – an interbank financial educational program for middle school students run in collaboration with the Warsaw Institute of Banking. BAKCYL volunteers whose day jobs are as employees of partner banks deliver lessons to middle school students on four subjects: Your money, Borrow wisely, Smart investing and Finance for your entire life. This series of four lessons is a compendium of knowledge on finance for young people who are embarking on their journey into adulthood.
From the project’s outset in 2013, some 1,719 lessons have been delivered to more than 40.3 thousand participants. Bank Millennium has been participating in this project since 2014. 38 volunteers have gotten involved and delivered 209 lessons in schools from 9 regions in Poland.
Economic Knowledge Olympics +
The Economic Knowledge Olympics, whose patron is the Bank Millennium Foundation is a contest organized by the Polish Economic Society. The purpose of this event is to provide economic education to young people and disseminate knowledge about the modern economy. This contest is interdisciplinary. Its topical scope extends to many subjects covered in secondary schools, including the foundations of economics and entrepreneurship, statistics, the principles of accounting, marketing, finance and banking. More than 12 thousand secondary school students from across Poland took part in the 29th Olympics.
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Culture
Our programs aim to advance knowledge about types of art and how to invest in art and to promote the accomplishments of young Polish artists. In 2016, the Bank Millennium Foundation served as a patron to two educational events:
Warsaw Art Fair
Warsaw Art Fair – an important artistic event attracting a broad group of art lovers. This year, roughly 50 handpicked Polish and international galleries and antique shops exhibited nearly 1,000 works of art. This is the only event during which one may view and buy works of contemporary classics and successful young artists. Artistic workshops for children and expert lectures on the art market and investing in art accompanied this event.
Youthful Art Compass
Youthful Art Compass – is a regular ranking of young Polish artists. The fundamental role played by Compass, in addition to education, is to engage in efforts to build a professional art market in Poland. Collectors, artists, owners of galleries and auction houses and investors treat this ranking as a source of valuable information about the position of young artists. The Bank Millennium Foundation also funded an award for the winner of the ranking.
Bartosz Kokosiński – Youthful Art Compass laureate
Educational articles in the national media accompanied these two events, thereby making it possible to reach a higher number of recipients.
Employee volunteerism
The Foundation runs a program called Millantrop in which grants are awarded through contests for Bank employees to run social campaigns. Projects concerning financial education and entrepreneurial development, intergenerational projects, projects for children and youth, projects supporting persons at risk of social exclusion and environmental protection may be submitted under this contest. Those campaigns in which many volunteers are involved, with the highest number of beneficiaries and with a long-term impact on the local community have the greatest chances of winning. In 2016, the Foundation awarded 4 grants to carry out volunteer projects.
Projects in the Bank Millennium Foundation’s grant contest
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Number of volunteers
Number of beneficiaries
Hours spent on the project
154
1950
117
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| Number of volunteers | Number of beneficiaries | Hours spent on the project |
|---|---|---|
| 154 | 1950 | 117 |
Volunteerism 55+
Bank employees aged over 55 took part in the Engine for Change (Lokomotywa Zmian) program carried out by the Volunteerism Center Association.
The purpose of the program was to activate and develop its participants and use their experience for public activism purposes.
Program participants were offered training and consulting that inspired them to devise a concept and a method for implementing their idea for public activism in volunteerism. The project ended in 2016 with the execution of 3 social programs.