The Iruaritz Lezama Foundation is a non-profit foundation that focuses on the training and development of young people for the labour market. This foundation is an instrument for the achievement of social goods, especially those that the welfare state can hardly provide.
The founder is Don Luis de Lezama, a Catholic priest of the church of Santa María la Blanca located in the Montecarmelo district of Madrid. He is a promoter of innovation in education through the Santa María la Blanca School and the founding entrepreneur of the famous Lezama Group, with restaurants in Madrid, the Basque Country, Seville, Washington DC and others, which employs more than 600 young people, in addition to a Hotel Management School in Seville from which more than 5000 students have graduated with university degrees.
The Lezama Group has been working in the hospitality industry for 45 years and has positioned itself as an international reference in the hospitality sector helping young people to become professionals and become the best in the industry worldwide.
The Santa María la Blanca School opened, with an educational system, the EBI System, which today houses 2,500 students. The College is considered one of the most innovative schools in the world and has been recognized as a success by the OECD for its excellent results. The educational system, EBI, was designated as a model of transformation at the World Leading Schools Congress, held in Washington in 2017.
The mission of the Iruaritz Lezama Foundation is to develop its activity both nationally and internationally, in the areas of catering, training and advice, basing all its activities on two pillars
- Traditional cuisine with a touch of innovation.
- Training.