[November 26, 2012]

Partnership with abc* Foundation Boosts Three Organizations' Missions in the Americas

The Americas Business Council (abc*) Foundation, a nonprofit organization that brings high-impact leaders and organizations together to confront the most pressing social and environmental issues in the Americas, has selected Fairtrasa, Naya Jeevan and Planeta Océano as its new partner organizations to support for the next two years. These three organizations were selected as the new abc* Foundation partners following the 2012 abc* Continuity Forum where these organizations presented alongside 29 other social entrepreneurs at the largest gathering of its type in the region. View a video announcement of the partner selection here www.vimeo.com/abcfoundation.

As abc* Foundation partners, these three organizations will receive funding and two years of advisory, media and marketing support to help grow and fulfill their expanded objectives, defined in partnership with the abc* Foundation. They join several other successful social entrepreneurs and their organizations which have been growing with abc* Foundation support for the past year.

"During three days of presentations and discussion at the 2012 abc* Continuity Forum, 32 social entrepreneurs shared their brilliant ideas and growth plans with an audience of changemakers from throughout the Americas. Today, three of those social entrepreneurs will start a renewed journey to make a positive impact in our region of the world," said Camilo Galvis, abc* Foundation executive director.

The three organizations selected as abc* Foundation partners were chosen for their potential to increase the scale of their missions and expand their work in the communities they serve with new outside advisory and financial support. During the coming months, the abc* Foundation and the partner organizations' principals will identify more aggressive goals and benchmarks toward which both parties will work to achieve.

"Being an abc* Foundation partner means accepting a new challenge - a challenge to take on more ambitious goals and set the bar higher for yourself and your organization," Galvis said. "We have lots to look forward to, and I'm confident that working together we will elevate philanthropy and social good programs in te Americas."

About the new abc* Foundation partners

FAIRTRASA helps underprivileged, small-scale farmers in third-world countries escape poverty and improve their lives by providing them with technical support and access to international markets. The company helps to ensure that farmers are paid fair prices for their produce, which can often be up to 10 times higher than local market prices, and help them increase their yields to become self-sufficient and grow beyond subsistence level. www.fairtrasa.com

NAYA JEEVAN is a nonprofit micro-insurance company dedicated to rejuvenating the lives of the urban poor by providing them with access to quality and affordable healthcare, insurance and socio-economic opportunities. The company negotiates and buys group health plans from insurance companies at below-market rates and leverages corporate distribution networks, supply chains and human resources to distribute, market and co-finance the plans. www.njfk.org

PLANETA OCÉANO is committed to conserving and restoring coastal and marine environments - vital life support systems - that are threatened by overexploitation, pollution, habitat degradation and climate change. Planeta Océano centers its efforts, which primarily occur in low-income areas in Peru, on three main pillars of action: research, environmental education and awareness, and sustainable development of coastal communities. www.planetaoceano.org

About the 2012 abc* Continuity Forum

The 2012 abc* Continuity Forum, held Nov. 12-14 at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove hotel, provided a platform for the most innovative social entrepreneurs in the region to share their organizations' work with others who are motivated to make a positive change in the region.

The 2012 abc* Continuity Forum featured keynote speeches from Kofi Annan, former secretary-general of the United Nations; Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and founder and chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education; Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc.; Chris Hughes (News - Alert), co-founder of Facebook; Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva.org; Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States; Bea Perez, chief sustainability officer at The Coca-Cola Company; David Gallo, director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; David de Rothschild, founder of Sculpt The Future Foundation; Roland Fryer, Harvard economist; and Hunter Lovins, president and founder of Natural Capital Solutions.

The 2012 abc* Continuity Forum partnered with Ashoka, the world's largest association of social entrepreneurs, and Innovadores de America, an organization that awards individuals for superior social, scientific, business and cultural achievements in Latin America. From more than 500 candidate organizations, 117 initiatives were rigorously pre-screened and reviewed by the abc* Foundation. Thirty-two organizations were carefully selected to present at the 2012 abc* Continuity Forum.

The Ashoka Fellows and Innovadores de America organizations presented programs already underway in the Americas which have the potential to create positive transformation in the region. Over three days of the forum, more than 350 people attended the presentations and keynote speeches.

The abc* Continuity Forum is an initiative of the abc* Foundation and is led by Emilio Azcárraga, chairman of Grupo Televisa; Angélica Fuentes, CEO of Grupo Omnilife; Jorge Vergara, president and founder of Grupo Omnilife and owner of the Las Chivas football team; Guillermo Romo, president of Grupo Mega; and Mario Scarpetta, director of Inversiones Argos.

Past abc* Continuity Forum distinguished speakers include Al Gore, Alan Greenspan, David Axelrod, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, Mikhail Gorbachev and Sir Richard Branson.

The 2012 abc* Continuity Forum was sponsored in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Open English and the ICO Group; partners included Univision, Televisa, PODER Magazine and the National Geographic Society.

About The Americas Business Council Foundation

For more information, visit www.abcfound.org. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) www.twitter.com/abc_foundation and like us on Facebook (News - Alert) www.facebook.com/abcfoundation.

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