Fundación Cibervoluntarios (Cybervolunteers Foundation), the Spanish partner for mYouth, is a atypical non-profit organization made up of social entrepreneurs whose vision is to use new technologies as a means for social innovation and citizen empowerment, alleviating this way social gaps i.e. the Foundation work to increase the rights, opportunities, and capabilities of each person within their environment, through the social use of technological tools and applications within their reach.

To achieve this goal, the Foundation counts with the cyber-volunteers. Curious, proactive persons willing to learn, with a passion for sharing and enthusiasm about ICTs, who offer part of their time and knowledge to teach other people the possibilities of the use of technology tools and applications to improve their lives in a simple and useful way. They do it through both online and onsite courses, lectures, workshops, events… etc.

They direct their action to groups of people that may be excluded from information society based on gender, age, professional and social environment, lack of time, knowledge, skills, motivation and/or material or economic resources… and they manage to adapt the use of technological applications to alleviate these social gaps at working, participation or health levels, among others. A challenge, 12 years of work that without going any further than last year received from the hands of the Prince and Princess of Asturias a recognition for “the creation of new forms of participation and social innovation in support of groups at risk of exclusion”, and the economic and social recognition of Google.org, for being one of 50 entities that are changing the world, the first and currently the only organization recognized with such merit in Spain.( http://bit.ly/sM5CLM)

Cybervolunteers Foundation started their workout in December 2001 and, after 3 years as an association, in 2005 we became a Foundation under the protectorate of the Ministry of Culture of the Spanish Government. They have been working for more than 12 years with the main goal: to empower people through the social use of ICTs.

The Cybervolunteers are social change agents conscious of the power of new technologies to bring about this change and empower people. We use technologies from a social perspective and we contribute to eliminating other gaps through awareness, information, and training (in the classroom and online) and satisfying the needs of each individual or social group which we work with. So our actions are highlighted by social innovation, by the use of new tools to solve old problems in a different way, because new technologies should not create more gaps, but to help eliminate existing ones. Further info: www.cibervoluntarios.org

Cibervoluntarios develops activities to promote digital skills for a wide range of people (with special needs, with fewer education, with employability needs…) in a wide range of nonformal education activities. They have participated in several European projects (FP7, Leonardo, Grundtvig, Youth in Action). The Spanish partner would be both as Living Lab (testing different technological tools/applications/services/products) or offering their know-how (in technological volunteerism, citizen empowerment, social innovation through ICTs, digital literacy…) between others.

On behalf the organization, and with engagements in mYouth, Yolanda Rueda (Social entrepreneur, Founder and current President of the Cibervoluntarios Foundation), Alejandra Betegon (Expert in Education, and first-year PhD in Educational Theory and Social Pedagogy, UNED), and Angel Sola (DBA in Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Malaga and PhD in Advertising and Institutional Communication at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Contact person: Jorge Rastrila Caballero
Email: jorge.rastrilla@cibervoluntarios.org
Tel: +34 915422900
Web: www.cibervoluntarios.org
Organization: Cibervoluntarios
Address: Paseo de los Olmos, 20, 1º oficina 5, 28005 Madrid
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cibervoluntarios