MONDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2019: PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – More than fifty non-government organisation (NGO) partners, guests and members of the media were in attendance at the Digicel Foundation’s 5th Annual General Meeting held on October 3, 2019 at the Digicel Hospitality Suite at the Queen’s Park Oval. With a global vision of “creating a world where no one gets left behind”, the Digicel Foundation has impacted the lives of over 73,000 persons with an investment of US$3.37million in Trinidad and Tobago.
Digicel Foundation CEO Penny Gomez presented an overview of the Foundation’s impact, spending and partnerships during 2018 to 2019 to the audience, which included special invited guests such as Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez, Digicel CEO Jabbor Kayumov and featured speaker; CSR Solutions CEO, Melanie Richards.
Ms. Gomez highlighted key achievements of 2018-2019 which included; supporting and celebrating Special Olympic athletes whose performance at the 2019 World Games netted a total of 56 medals; new public/private sector partnerships with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to strengthen the disaster risk reduction programme “Preparing You!”; investment of over US$101,000 in 22 new EPIC communities; US$10,000 partnership with Rebirth House to aid in drug addiction recovery projects and occupational therapy; and over US$57,000 through the Centres of Excellence programme to remodel three special education facilities.
In her address, featured speaker Ms. Melanie Richards focused on the positive effect of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the digital economy. She emphasized the importance of data in social change initiatives and applauded how Digicel has empowered the non-profit sector to use technology to change the way they impact their beneficiaries.
Ms Richards shared, “Due to the digital climate, technology is changing how we do what we do. However, why we do what we do is still at the heart of Corporate Social Responsibility. Doing good has gone digital and data underpins how we impact others in this digital era. The non-profit sector is using data to solve societal problems internationally and I’m glad to see that we are doing the same in Trinidad and Tobago.”
Visit digicelfoundaiton.org to get more information on the Digicel Trinidad and Tobago Foundation and how you can apply for funding.