INSPER NEWS

The awarding event had Marcos Lisboa and Zeina Latif in attendance and selected three inspiring projects by Insper Community’s alumni

The José Eduardo Ermírio de Moraes Award is a partnership between Insper and the José Ermírio de Moraes family. It honors the alumnus José Eduardo Ermírio de Moraes (1983–2013), whose trajectory was marked by business protagonism and entrepreneurial spirit. In its 2nd edition, on November 11, the award celebrated once again entrepreneurial projects by our school’s students and alumni.

The award’s purpose is to recognize the role of Insper Community’s students and alumni who are leaders in inspiring projects and make a difference in the fields of economics, finance, business management, and entrepreneurship. These initiatives transform the business environment and the Brazilian society.

At the opening of the event, the president of Insper, Marcos Lisboa, celebrated the Ermírio de Moraes family’s initiative and generosity, who managed to turn a great pain into an engine for social transformation. “Holding this award today with you is not only rewarding but also a message that there are ways to go on without succumbing.”

José Ermírio de Moraes, the father of José Eduardo, also spoke and addressed his gratitude for the award’s growth. This year, it had more projects registered than in its first edition. “We have an obligation to prepare this new generation of young people through education to change Brazil.” Insper is a leading institution; it encourages and challenges our young people to innovate in a positive way”.

José Eduardo’s mother, Liana de Moraes, thanked Insper for the partnership and for making this tribute to her son possible. “This award represents a whole year of great dedication on the part of everyone involved. For us, it is not easy to decide and choose the winners, as the projects are excellent and the competitors are skillful,” said Liana.

Winning projects

For Marcelo Orticelli, Dean of Executive Education and Development at Insper, the realization of the award’s second edition is particularly important for setting forth the initiative’s recurrence. “Creating a project like this has great merit and keeping that creation alive is a huge challenge. Therefore, reaching the second edition is an added joy”.

This year, the award was divided into three competitive categories: Early Stage, Innovation in Times of Crisis, and Excellence and Impact. “The category names reflect what makes sense for each year, and in a challenging year like 2020, the award proved current and connected to our reality”, explained Marcelo. Altogether, 66 projects were registered, all with great relevance to society.

Among all the projects participating in the award, two finalists were selected for each category. The projects were evaluated by two boards, composed of representatives from Insper and the José Ermírio de Moraes Neto family. The boards had specialists in the fields of finance, management, entrepreneurship, high-impact projects, and public policy.

Even the projects that were not winners in their categories gain with the participation in the award, for its a space for disseminating and assessing their actions. “We had learned about investments made in some initiatives participating in the first edition because of the award. It helps to strengthen, in society, the culture and values on which we work at the school,” said Marcelo.

Get to know the winners:

Early Stage: Gabriel Ribeiro Borges (Executive MBA – 2017) -– ConnectData
Excellence and Impact: Ralf Henrique Frinzi Toenjes (Business Administration – 2015) – Ver+ Program
Innovation in Times of Crisis: Isabel Bichucher Opice (Economics – 2010) – Coronacidades.org

Watch the video with the six finalist projects of the 2nd José Eduardo Ermírio de Moraes Award:

Webinar on prospects for 2021

To close the award event, the president of Insper, Marcos Lisboa, and economist Zeina Latif took part in the webinar: “Analysis of the current economic scenario and prospects for 2021.” The discussion was guided by the questions asked by each of the six finalists of the award.
Watch the full video of the award ceremony here!