Fondazione L’Albero della Vita
Think Human Foundation
Mission & History
L’Albero della Vita ETS, founded in 1997, aims to protect children in challenging situations and transform adversity into opportunities. Operating in Italy and globally, it ensures children grow in safe, nurturing environments, promoting the development of minors, families, and communities. Initially established as a Voluntary Association in 1997, it expanded with the creation of a Social Cooperative and La Bussola, its first community for minors, in 1998. In 2004, the foundation was officially formed, launching Distance Support programs in India and Peru, leveraging education as a developmental tool.
On December 14, 2009, it became a Non-Governmental Organisation, leading initiatives supporting children in 11 countries and forming NGOs in Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In 2017, aligned with Echo, the EU’s humanitarian agency, it boosted the international emergency response sector. During the 2020 Covid Emergency, it adapted interventions to address various needs in Italy and beyond. By 2021-2022, foster care was initiated in Kenya, while European programs focused on inclusion, anti-discrimination, and aiding Ukrainian refugees. In 2023, the foundation achieved ETS status by registering in the Single Third Sector Register.
Country Information
The project in Italy, focused on Milan, involves youth aged 10-17 from disadvantaged backgrounds across several cities. It addresses educational poverty, which restricts the development of essential skills crucial for future well-being and success. In 2023, Italy’s school dropout rate was 11.5%, exceeding the EU’s 9% target by 2030. STEM education reveals social, regional, and gender disparities, with underprivileged youth struggling significantly, and only 12.5% of girls interested in STEM compared to 26% of boys. In 2024, 250 beneficiaries participated in workshops and STEM labs to combat dropout rates and educational inequalities, with similar numbers projected for 2025.
The Need
The social need targeted is to prevent and marginalize the risk of social exclusion for children and youth (10 to 17 aged) coming from unprivileged contexts where they cannot exploit their full potential. The main issue is the development of cognitive, social, and relational skills that are fundamental for this young generation.
Educational poverty implies several limits to the development of cognitive, social, and relational skills that are fundamental for future well-being, working success, and for allowing active participation in the economy and, more generally speaking, in new generations’ society.
The Project We Fund
We believe that children and youth equipped with strong social and emotional skills can excel academically, lead fulfilling personal and professional lives, and positively impact their communities. These skills empower them to analyze situations, tackle problems, communicate effectively, demonstrate empathy, and confidently break out of their comfort zones, even amidst challenging circumstances. FADV operates in disadvantaged areas where children and youth are unable to reach their full potential due to educational poverty, which affects millions globally. The “Talent Education” project seeks to nurture their skills, talents, and aspirations.
Our aim is to ensure that every child has the right environment to fully express and cultivate their potential, and that every adult recognizes their strengths, roles, and responsibilities towards others. “Talent Education” is implemented through three distinct types of workshops: INSPIRING workshops focusing on mastering soft and life skills to build resilience; ORIENTATION focus groups that enhance trust through interaction with successful professionals; and STEM Labs, which foster essential future skills while addressing background and gender stereotypes.
The Result
Children and adolescents, especially girls, requiring support come from challenging family backgrounds. These beneficiaries, aged 10 to 17, reside in underprivileged neighborhoods across six Italian cities: Milan, Naples, Genoa, Catanzaro, Perugia, and Palermo, with a particular focus on Milan. The conditions of these young individuals align with Italy’s primary child poverty indicators: they live in inadequate and overcrowded housing and lack access to nutritious meals.
