At the last annual convention of the International Association of Speaker Bureaus (IASB) held in Las Vegas in April 2017, Thinking Heads was recognized with the Community Service Award for our collaboration with the “Cultural Classrooms” Solidarios NGOs.

The Community Service Award celebrates the efforts of its members from around the world to connect and collaborate with local social action organizations. In the case of Solidarios, Thinking Heads speakers have the possibility of sharing their knowledge and experience voluntarily in prisons in order to create spaces for reflection and mutual enrichment.

There are currently more than 61,000 imprisoned people in Spain. Being imprisoned causes serious harm to the person who lives it, in addition to the social stigma of having been imprisoned. If, in addition, there is a lack of family relationships and support systems, the principle of reintegration is undermined. Many of the people who go to jail lived previous situations of social exclusion that the prison contributes to aggravate.

It is for this reason that the NGO Solidarios organizes every week what they call “Cultural Classrooms”, bringing to prison people from the world of literature, music, sport, etc. Volunteers promote and participate in these kinds of experiences that allow them to approach to the intern personally, increase their self-esteem, share their thoughts and update on issues of economy, culture, technology, among others.

We would like to thank speakers Carlos Rodríguez Braun, Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, Miguel Sebastián and Félix Muñoz for their participation in this initiative together with the NGO Solidarios. From Thinking Heads we are already working on the program for the academic year 2017-2018. In case you wish to participate, you just have to contact us.