“Creating Opportunities for Our Talents”: Companies Join Bioteka’s STEM Program for Children from Vulnerable Groups

20. March 2025.

Through the educational fundraising program Leave a Good Mark, Bioteka is working intensively on launching its two-year STEM education program for 40 children from vulnerable groups in Zagreb. To ensure that this program remains free for young participants, we are conducting the fundraising campaign “Creating Opportunities for Our Talents”, aiming to raise the necessary funds for its implementation. We are currently in active discussions with the business sector, encouraging targeted companies to join and support this STEM program.

For the third year in a row, Erste Bank, in collaboration with partners—Solidarna Foundation, Social Prudence Consulting, Panda Communications, and Erste Foundation—has been organizing Leave a Good Mark, an educational and mentoring support program for non-profit organizations.

The Leave a Good Mark program began in September 2024, and at the end of the year, Bioteka was selected among the top three organizations alongside the Autism Association Pogled and the Environmental Protection Association Eko-pan, thanks to our campaign proposal “Creating Opportunities for Our Talents”. These three organizations have received additional individual mentoring and organizational support for implementing their winning campaigns, which began in early 2025 and is still ongoing.

In addition to providing children with access to quality education, our project will ensure 50% participation of girls, actively contributing to closing the gender gap in STEM fields. Many talented and curious children lack opportunities to develop their skills due to their family and social circumstances.

Immediately after receiving the award in December, we began collecting donations, and so far, over 90 citizens and 10 companies have joined, recognizing the importance of investing in young STEM talents. Thanks to their donations and sponsorships, we have already raised €8,841.01.

Our goal is to raise €42,500.00 by the end of the campaign in June 2025. This amount will fund a two-year STEM education program for 40 children during the 2025/26 and 2026/27 school years.

In the coming months, we will focus on further fundraising from citizens and companies, particularly those in the STEM sector that prioritize education and talent development as part of their corporate social responsibility. Through various fundraising activities, we believe we will reach our goal by June and provide children with the education they deserve!

At this stage of the campaign, we are particularly focused on collaborating with interested companies, and we invite corporate representatives to reach out if they are interested in partnership opportunities. Every contribution, big or small, helps us create opportunities for talented children.

For additional information or to discuss a donation, contact us at: kristina.duvnjak@bioteka.hr or +385 95 2911 984.

Although we will launch an intensive crowdfunding campaign at the end of May, citizens can already donate today by making a payment to the Erste&Steiermärkische Bank account:
IBAN: HR3024020061101169872.

With this campaign, Bioteka proudly celebrates 15 years of dedicated work! Over the years, we have tirelessly paved the way for a better future—encouraging STEM career development, providing children and young people across the country with opportunities for quality education, reducing the gender gap in STEM, supporting gifted children in reaching their potential, and strengthening teacher support systems to create a more modern and inspiring learning environment.

Join us on our journey, support the campaign, and help us inspire future STEM professionals!

Only together can we ensure the next generation of engineers, scientists, and innovators—let’s give them the education they deserve!

Thank you for your support!