Scholarships to change lives
Many students in vulnerable situations struggle to complete their studies, making life goals harder to achieve. EPIS (Entrepreneurs for Social Inclusion is the English translation of “Empresários Pela Inclusão Social”, in Portuguese), is an association focused on support programs to promote academic success and the integration of these young people into society. Here are two stories showing how they are making a difference.
Promoting Social Inclusion in Portugal
EPIS association was founded in 2006 with a clear goal: fight school failure and dropout rates, and integrate vulnerable young people into society. Its work encompasses children and young people from ages 3 to 18, promoting their skills, academic progress, and labour market integration.
The Social Scholarships are one of EPIS’s key programs since 2011, providing scholarships to disadvantaged students at high school and college levels and supporting best practices of sustainability and citizenship in primary and secondary schools. It also includes internships to train and integrate those with special needs.
To achieve its social inclusion goals in Portugal, EPIS relies heavily on the support of social investors and individual donors.
Eating well at school: the IAS project – Healthy Eating Index
For change to happen, it is vital to pay attention to your surroundings. At the Technological, Artistic and Professional School of Pombal, in central Portugal, the school community did just that – and realized that the food choices the students made in the canteen could be much healthier. Fruits and vegetables rarely appeared on the trays; unlike dessert, soup was not an option; many students ate outside the school, where unhealthy options prevailed.
To turn concern into action, the school created a working group consisting of two students per class, guided by a team of teachers, and developed the IAS – Índice de Alimentação Saudável, translating to Healthy Eating Index. This was one of the winning projects of the EPIS 2024 Social Scholarship in the “Sustainability and Active Citizenship” category, sponsored by the Jerónimo Martins Group.
Raquel Simões and Íris Gaspar, two of the students responsible for the IAS project, from the Pombal Technological, Artistic and Professional School.
The goal of IAS is to encourage healthier eating habits in the school. It works like a game: each week, every class nominates a tutor to record their classmates’ meals. This record automatically adds or subtracts points based on food choices. If a student chooses soup and water, they earn 5 points for each of this healthy food choices. If they choose dessert, they lose 5 points. The score for each class is calculated based on these individual scores, and the class with the best result at the end of the month receives a symbolic prize.
The IAS project also features workshops and lectures on healthy eating with nutritionists and health specialists. A greenhouse and an organic garden are available for students to grow what they eat in the canteen. The project also promotes the reduction of food waste and recycling practices.
The scholarship will allow the Technological, Artistic, and Professional School of Pombal to continue investing in the project and organise more training sessions on healthy eating. The prize also includes a scholarship for one of the students who participated in bringing IAS to life, based on their academic merit and most vulnerable situation.
Two students responsible for the IAS, Raquel Simões and Íris Gaspar, share how the project is changing healthy eating at their school. Discover this story in the video below.
Bruna Monteiro, closer to her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher
About 140 kilometres separate Bruna Monteiro from her future. This is the distance the 18-year-old travels every day from where she lives, on the outskirts of Lisbon, to Setúbal, where she attends university. It’s a commute of over two hours each way, and when fatigue starts to set in, determination must prevail. She has never missed a class, keeps good grades and is doing everything she can to make her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher a reality.
This dream will be possible because Bruna Monteiro is one of the winners of the EPIS academic merit scholarship sponsored by the Jerónimo Martins Group. The prize is a fundamental help in paying tuition fees and investing in school materials, representing financial relief for her family.
Bruna Monteiro, undergraduate student and winner of a scholarship in the "Jerónimo Martins Merit Scholarships" category.
The 14th EPIS Social Scholarships Ceremony took place in December 2024, at the Champalimaud Foundation auditorium in Lisbon. In front of a room full of family members with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, hundreds of students saw their efforts throughout the year recognised. Raquel Simões, Íris Gaspar, and Bruna Monteiro were three of those who took to the stage.
Watch the video below and get to know their stories.
Jerónimo Martins sponsors social inclusion
The Jerónimo Martins Group is one of the founding members of EPIS. As one of its main social investors, the Group supports the “Sustainability and Active Citizenship” category, which since 2020 has recognised five school projects focused on raising awareness and transforming behaviours related to healthy eating, the environment, and community support.
The Group awards scholarships for academic merit to students attending from secondary school to a master’s degree, under the special category “Jerónimo Martins Scholarships”. In 2024, 28 scholarships were awarded, doubling the value of the investment compared to previous years.
