Corporate Social Responsibility Award

The Trust was created in part to assist the Organization of American States (OAS) in actively engaging the private sector to promote development and justice in the Hemisphere. Corporations, both old and new, are seeing the benefits of social investment in the countries and regions where they operate. Sustainable social investment strengthens the social fabric of a community and leads to a strong economy and increased opportunity for all. Through its Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award program, its private sector signature programs, and the active engagement of the private sector members of its Board, the Trust continues the pursuit of this important mandate.

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TRUST FOR THE AMERICAS/OAS

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR

THE CORPORATE CITIZEN OF AMERICAS AWARD 2007

The Trust for the Americas and OAS will present the major award at the gala, the Trust/OAS 2007 Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award.

In the last decade, corporations have played an increasing role in developing solutions to overcome poverty in communities throughout the Americas .  The Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award encourages this trend by formally recognizing a company that has initiated an innovative program which benefits the community in which it operates and can serve as a model to facilitate socially responsible practices and actions by other corporations.

Last year, the Trust Selection Committee selected Conoco Phillips as the Winner of the 2005 Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award for its “Empowering Guiria Fishermen to Become Entrepreneurs”, a successful public, private and not-for profit collaboration benefiting small-scale fishermen in the Gulf of Paria, Venezuela.

Furthermore, during the Gala 2005 the Trust Selection Committee selected two corporations for giving a distinction. They both obtained an Honorable Mention in the 2005 Corporate Citizen of the Americas. Falconbridge Dominicana receipt the mention for the work done by the Falconbridge Foundation and Starbucks Coffee Company was for the competition for the “Conservation of Coffee ^TM partnership between Starbucks and Conservational International.

The Trust’s Award Selection Committee for the last competition was comprised of distinguished leaders in the public and private sector from throughout the Hemisphere: Mrs. Amanda Blakeley, CSR Expert from the World Bank, Mrs. June Langston DeHart, Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Washington, D.C.; Mr. James Fendell, President, Association of American Chambers of Commerce of Latin America and Mrs. Sandra Honore, Former Chief of Staff of the Organization of American States and Mr. Peter Tinoco, President of the Cisneros Foundation in Venezuela

This 2007 the Trust Selection Committee will select the award recipient and alternates. The Trust Selection Committee will review the qualifying nominees and select up to three finalists, to include one winner and two honorable mentions. It will include former officials from Latin America , CEO’s of multinational corporations and experts in the field of corporate social responsibility. Nominations and applications for the Award will be accepted by the Trust for the Americas until April 12^th, 2007. To obtain an application, please refer to the Trust for the Americas website at www.trustfortheamericas.org, or send inquiries by email to aalvarez@oas.org or trustint2@oas.org

The event will be part of the thirty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly of OAS and it will bring together distinguished guests, including U.S. government officials, former heads of state, representatives from countries throughout the hemisphere and important business and community leaders, to celebrate and encourage the continued commitment of the private sector to the betterment of the lives of all peoples of the Americas. 

WHAT:           Gala for the Americas

WHEN:           June 2007 in the margins of the XXXVII General Assembly

                        of the Organization of America States

WHERE:         Panama City

For more information contact:

    Andrea Alvarez M.

PR& Marketing Director

Aalvarez@oas.org

202 458 3747

Melissa Verduzco

PR & Marketing Assistant

trustint2@oas.org

202 458 6145