New partnership for solidarity: the business school welcomes Amici di Emmaus to the campus

Never before has the concept of home been so important as in these times, as shown to us first by the Covid pandemic and now, even more dramatically, by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. This is why our business school has started a close collaboration with the Amici di Emmaus association, not only by ensuring them exclusive and dedicated spaces on our Campus where they can carry out all their activities − in practice, a place that they can really call home − but also by starting to plan specific new initiatives together. 

Amici di Emmaus works to build spaces of friendship

Amici di Emmaus was founded on 4 October 2022 to support from Italy the Emmaus NGO, which has been active in Ukraine − and in particular in Kharkiv − since 2011 and works to help young people with disabilities or with a difficult past to find their future. The invasion operation carried out by the armed forces of the Russian Federation had begun a few months earlier, but its terrible impact was obvious from the outset. With the help of a solidarity network, it was possible to transfer some of the NGO’s activities to our country − still with the aim of protecting the most vulnerable people − while part of the Organisation remained to continue its work in Ukraine. 

After the outbreak of the war, 150 Ukrainian refugees were helped in Italy: a craft workshop for people with disabilities was started; a community residence for 20 people was set up; 7 flats were arranged to receive refugees. And this is just a first assessment, but everything revolves around the home that, for Emmaus, means a place of family relationships: “It is that safe place – explains Elena Mazzola, President of the Emmaus NGO – where children can make the journey of self-discovery and become adults capable of taking responsibility for their own lives and for the world.” 

POLIMI GSoM's commitment to having a positive impact on society

Welcoming Amici di Emmaus onto our Campus was practically inevitable due to that sense of responsibility that drives us, in line with our will, our purpose, to be an agent of change and to have a positive impact on the community. You can’t stand passively by while such dramatic events are taking place without contributing with all the means you have at your disposal to help. But this collaboration is only the beginning of a closer relationship as new initiatives are being studied.