Initiatives with a mission: How EPAM Bulgaria supports local education

Education meets innovation at EPAM Bulgaria, where we take dreams and turn them into reality. And our people are what make it happen. EPAMers are committed to making a tangible impact on the local community through the work we do every day by following our mission: to create a positive impact on society.

Our corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are more than just initiatives; they are our vision. At EPAM Bulgaria, we champion environmental protection, support global and local communities, craft educational and extracurricular programs for children and young people, and much more. "[Through this work], we aim to create a bridge between business and education by engaging in every stage of the educational journey of young people to move forward, ready for a more connected and digital future, shares Vladimir Natchev, Country Head EPAM Bulgaria.

All CSR initiatives in the company start as employee ideas. Together, we make them a reality and unleash their potential, receiving support from other enthusiasts who recognize our joint mission as theirs.

These projects have always been a big part of our history and are embedded in our DNA as a company that builds an environment for development and innovation.

That is why we are happy to share that our efforts were awarded the SEE Innovation, Technology, and Sourcing Award this year. Such awards make us even more proud of our team, especially since our efforts led to significant changes.

'eKIDS' interactive program teaches kids as young as preschool about engineering

We created the EPAM eKids program, which provides programming training for children with the interactive computer language – Scratch, which is free and part of the program in our education system. Its main functions are already familiar to students. Still, with the help of our dedicated volunteers, children can go into detail and discover new features and opportunities, program their projects, and develop the knowledge and skills they need.

"For digital skills like programming, there is no age. The inspiring examples are endless – seeing children with shining eyes who pass on their first completed and working Scratch projects, meeting teachers with many years of experience who are looking at the Scratch platform for the first time and with a little help from us – organizing Scratch lessons themselves, reaching the point where students who have passed the Scratch Trainer course themselves, start teaching the little ones. This is exactly what drives us to find time and energy for our volunteer initiatives."

Zdravko Duchev, Software Engineer Manager and Head of Volunteer Education Programs

Primary and high school students explore the vast possibilities of software engineering

The eKids project does not stop with preschoolers. It is constantly growing and developing. EPAM has been among the main technological partners of Burgas Municipality and Burgas Professional High School since its inception in 2018 to build an educational institution where students can receive modern education to develop more practical projects. Our company supports the school with the equipment of halls and laboratories; we help teachers build their business expertise and conduct additional classes and initiatives for children.

'Coding Kids' platform teaches hard and soft skills

In 2021, together with the Municipality of Burgas and the Professional High School for Computer Programming in Burgas, we launched the Coding Kids project. Within the initiative, students from eleventh grade take on the role of educators and teach Scratch to their younger peers. In this way, students can acquire new knowledge and skills related to programming, and high schoolers work on their soft skills, which are extremely important when entering the business world.

In 2022, we organized two free editions of Coding Kids. In the pilot, 160+ children participated; in the next, over 550 participated.

Students and representatives of the high school, as well as members from the Municipality of Burgas, participated in the event Port to the Future - Science & Tech Fair, organized by EPAM, where a discussion panel on "Education of the Future" and full-day open-access workshops on programming and robotics were held. The participants had the opportunity to learn more about the professions of the future and to meet specialists from our team who talked about how they chose a career related to technology.

EPAM supported Sofia's Vocational High School of Telecommunications in the past year. Our partnership included mentoring under the European "Student Practices – 2" project. The project's main objective is to increase the number of students in schools to acquire professional qualifications and training to be adapted to the needs of the labor market. Once again, our colleagues were mentors for the young people who are now entering the world of technology. During the project, they introduced them to the work of QA specialists, talking more about developing technological products and providing software solutions.

Creating sustainable relationships between universities, lecturers, students and IT business

EPAM Bulgaria is also among the main partners of Sofia University and, in particular, the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics. Our company exclusively supports students majoring in Data Analytics, and in 2023, we welcomed the program's second class. Building long-term cooperation relationships is a natural continuation of efforts to promote digital innovation in the education system.

We chose to support the new specialty "Data Analytics" because it develops some of the most valuable experts in the industry at the moment. We believe that together with the teachers at the university, we can build an environment in which students can progress quickly and effectively in their educational and career paths.

"EPAM aims to build an effective and up-to-date learning process that pays special attention to the needs of students and teachers to improve current methods of machine learning, AI and other digital innovations. Our colleagues mentor and prepare future staff to enter the business environment seamlessly and allow them to work on real projects. The company provides scholarships for outstanding students and is committed to donating advanced equipment, which already equips four halls at FMI."

Dean Palezhev, Data Analytics Consulting Manager

All students can participate in a variety of joint initiatives, career guidance days and EPAM lectures. We also organize conferences like Drive-in Conf, connecting visitors with IT professionals. All these steps are part of our mission to support the leaders of the future with the knowledge and skills they need today.

"I was enthusiastic about being part of the EPAM program due to the company's impressive position in the bioinformatics industry. By developing many innovative projects that combine data analytics and healthcare, EPAM is at the forefront of revolutionizing this aspect of the industry and impacting countless lives. By joining the company's team, I expanded my knowledge and experience."

Mihaela Paprinova, Student in Data Analysis

So, our colleagues' small steps and big ideas grow into large-scale projects with hundreds of participants! We work to benefit all young people because we know that every beginning is difficult, but the path is easier with an experienced mentor and support.

We want to support their career in the field of technology because we are aware of the responsibility we have to society. We know that we can contribute to developing worthy individuals and leaders.

If you want to learn more about EPAM's CSR programs, please visit https://www.epam.com/about/who-we-are/corporate-responsibility.