Paper Wings announces its first superhero winner
Updated: May 19, 2021
"Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. And, therefore, not only can it be, but it must be everyone's responsibility.” Nelson Mandela
Teresa Ferreira who is 18 years old, has been named the first Paper Wings program winner for 2020.
“Winning the Paper Wings initiative made me believe that it is possible to walk towards a good future with those who believe in us and our work and who give us the right opportunities at the right times," Teresa Ferreira.
The essence behind a Paper Wings program
Teresa was chosen after a careful, muli-stage selection process, standing out to our jury for her qualifications, commitment and vision.
At Paper Wings, we believe in a virtuous circle of learning, building, sharing, and learning more. Which is why, through Paper Wings, Teresa will have the opportunity to pursue a career at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, 100% paid for. She will also complete paid internships with Didimo and other startups every summer, where she will get valuable real-world experience. In addition, Teresa will have Veronica as an industry mentor, guiding her development throughout the tenure of the scholarship.
Did you know?
Paper Wings was created because of a real life experience. Veronica Orvalho, CEO and founder ofDidimo, started an internship at IBM at just 17-years of age. Can you imagine how it must have felt to be a 17-year-old trying to enter IBM without knowing how to write a line of code? But someone took a chance and gave her a lifetime opportunity. The learning experience was worth it, and Veronica has been giving it forward ever since. Paper Wings is the fullest realization of that vision, helping to lift and inspire the next generation of leaders.
The future is amazing!
We are extremely thrilled with the involvement of our 54 program committee members from all over Portugal, including high school teachers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, engineers, university professors, inventors and creators, who have pledged this commitment (and rapid review of proposals!) to this important initiative.
We are excited to start a journey with students who have an open mind, a curious nature, and an honest heart. Stay in the loop to another round of scholarships coming up in early 2021.
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Paper Wings offers special thanks to Lydia Silva for working side by side with Verónica crafting the program and to João Orvalho and Celina Kurz e Silva for shaping the original idea. Manu and Noémia Orvalho for the art work. We are grateful to Didimo Board members Dominic Gualtieri and Susan Standiford for advocating to sponsor the first scholarship and the support we've received from Câmara do Porto, Bynd and Ideas Glaciares. We appreciate the support and ideas of The Square for spreading the love around Portugal to reach as many students as possible. To VdA for the care and dedication in crafting all the legal agreements so this initiative could happen. And last but not least to the dedication and love with which the Program Committee (more than 50 loving souls) and the jury, who did the final evaluation and chose the finalist and runner ups: Lydia Silva, Lurdes Gramaxo, Isabel Giao Andrade, Dominic Gualtieri, Joe Santos, António Marquez, Celina Kruz e Silva and João Guedes.