Mackenzie is a private, confessional, philanthropic and non-profit educational institution, which has the Presbyterian Church of Brazil as its perpetual sponsoring associate. Its services are offered regardless of creed, ethnicity, disability status or socio-economic condition. During its 147 years of existence, the institution has significantly contributed to national scientific and academic development by way of various pedagogical innovations. Such pioneering has afforded Mackenzie broad public recognition as one of the foremost teaching and research institutions in Brazil.

Aiming at the integral development of its students, Mackenzie trains them with excellence, starting with preschool and going all the way to postgraduate studies that range from specialization (lato sensu), to masters and doctoral programs, as well as several levels of distance higher education.

IPM is the maintaining institution of the Mackenzie educational complex. The Presbyterian Church of Brazil, the Perpetual Sponsoring Associate of IPM, is represented in the Institute by the Board of Curators. The governance structure of IPM is expressed by the Board of Directors and by the Executive Administration.

Mackenzie’s Institutional Identity is comprised of its Confessionality, Mission, Vision, Principles and Values, as described below:

Confessionality

We believe that God is the reference of all reality and His Kingdom is manifested in all areas. This reality must be understood by the Creation-Fall-Redemption structure revealed in the Holy Bible.

Mission

To educate human beings created in the image of God for the full exercise of citizenship, in a setting of Reformed Christian faith.

Vision

To be recognized by society as a Confessional Presbyterian and philanthropic institution, dedicated to the divine and human sciences and committed to social and environmental responsibility, in continuous search for academic and management excellence.

Principles and values

• In personal conduct: dignity, character, integrity and displaying a Mackenzie “school spirit”.

• In professional activity: ethics, competence, creativity, discipline, dedication and willingness to volunteer.

• In interpersonal relationships: loyalty, mutual respect, understanding, honesty and humbleness.

• In decision-making processes: consensus seeking, justice, truth and equal opportunity for all.

• In relationships between collegiate bodies, units and departments: cooperation, team spirit, professionalism and adequate communication.

• In relationships with other institutions: responsibility, independence and transparency.

• In society: participation and services to the community.

• And in all circumstances: to act with love, which is the bond of perfection.

Christian Confessionality takes the Scriptures as lenses to bring focus to all that pertains to human knowledge. With the threefold perspective of creation, fall and redemption, Confessionality avoids the dichotomies of secular thought and promotes a worldview that is transcendent and applied transversally (touches on the whole range of areas of knowledge), permeating (penetrates to the root of things) and transparent (it is forthright and also it is not opaque – its perspective enriches the vision of its objects, improves contrasts and expands details).

Hence, our Confessionality allows us to offer certain "gifts" to those whom Mackenzie wishes to serve in the name of Christ. Knowledge of the redemptive grace of God in Christ, of course, is the greatest gift offered in the proclamation of the gospel and the lordship of Christ. But this proclamation extends and flows into broader aspects as a testimony that the lordship of Christ extends over every aspect of life, as a challenge to unbelief and hopelessness, and as the possibility of a redemptive vision of human knowledge and positive action in this world that lies in darkness but longs ardently for redemption (Romans 8).

The Chancellor acts to assert the confessional identity of Mackenzie at Mackenzie Presbyterian University and in all other units of maintained by Mackenzie Presbyterian Institute so as to ensure the institution’s Confessionality and to preserve the objectives and interests of its Perpetual Sponsoring Associate, the Presbyterian Church of Brazil.

A Capelania Mackenzie é um serviço de apoio e assistência espiritual, centrada nas verdades bíblicas, comprometida com a formação integral do ser humano no resgate dos valores construtivos, transmitindo palavra de orientação e encorajamento às pessoas em momentos especiais ou de crise, desafiando, mediante a pregação do evangelho e o engajamento da Cosmovisão Cristã, a comunidade mackenzista. Algumas atividades são desenvolvidas primariamente pelas Capelanias do Mackenzie; outras são desenvolvidas por grupos de alunos, com apoio e parceria da Capelania.