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Liberty Puerto Rico announced it has made a special $1 million donation to invest in high-impact initiatives that contribute to the socio-economic development of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
As part of the celebration as the “New Liberty,” the donation was made through the Liberty Foundation as a “gesture of gratitude for the trust and support customers, employees, and communities have given the company,” Liberty CEO Naji Khoury said.
Liberty also announced that 2020 Olympic gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn would be the new ambassador for the company and the Liberty Foundation.
The $1 million grant benefits initiatives in entrepreneurship, women empowerment, education, and environmental protection, said Khoury, who is also chairman of the foundation.
The donation will have a multi-year direct impact among the different initiatives and stands as an additional contribution to the Foundation’s usual yearly donation program, he added.
“This social investment will help promote sustainable and empowerment projects that focus on socio-economic development and have a positive impact among underserved populations throughout Puerto Rico and the USVI,” said Khoury. “Connecting with our communities and supporting them is an essential part of Liberty’s culture.”
Liberty Foundation will be partnering with Grupo Guayacán to launch a project that will offer mentoring services and seed capital for startups in the areas of education, health/social well-being, arts and culture, and environment protection, which are the Foundation’s pillars, the nonprofit’s Executive Director Yadira Valdivia said.
Guayacán will receive a $500,000 donation to provide small businesses in Puerto Rico with the education, tools, coaching, and mentoring opportunities needed to take their ventures to the next level, she added, during a news conference at Liberty’s Hato Rey headquarters.
To support women empowerment, Liberty Foundation will join efforts with Centro para Puerto Rico, a program of the Fundación Sila M. Calderón (FSMC), to develop the “Centro de Transformación y Ayuda a Sobrevivientes de Violencia” (CE-TRANSFORMA).
A combined donation of $65,000 and Liberty internet services will help 300 gender violence survivors by giving them access to psychological, legal, and advocacy support services. Social workers and facilitators will also help some of them reach economic independence to break out of the violence cycle.
“The fight against gender-based violence is a very important matter for Liberty. We lost an employee last November and we have become an active participant in the cause ever since,” noted Khoury.
Regarding education efforts, Liberty Foundation is strengthening its partnership with Instituto Nueva Escuela with a $200,000 grant that will contribute to the project that will transform 50 additional public schools into Montessori schools over the next five years.
This project seeks to improve the quality of public education in Puerto Rico through the Montessori methodology, which has proven successful in promoting academic excellence and transforming the school community in the 46 public schools where it has been implemented so far.
“Providing a quality education to all of our students is key to accelerating socio-economic development in Puerto Rico. We believe this initiative can help students receive a quality education and thus become productive citizens that will make a better future for Puerto Rico a reality,” said Khoury.
Liberty Foundation will also continue supporting environmental protection efforts through its partnership with Para La Naturaleza. This institution will receive a $150,000 grant to promote agroecology and environmental sustainability.
Para la Naturaleza will work on community gardens, demonstrative garden plots, and outdoor trail projects in various municipalities around the island including, Culebra and Vieques.
Helping communities in the USVI
Khoury also announced that the company made a special donation of $100,000 to six community organizations in the USVI through the Liberty Foundation. This donation will also drive sustainable socio-economic development in the USVI and will focus on gender violence survivors, youth, and children.
The organizations that received funds from this social investment are the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix, the Family Resource Center in St. Thomas, The Virgin Islands Children’s Museum in St. Thomas, The Children’s Museum of St. Croix, My Brother’s Workshops, and The Caribbean Centers for Boys & Girls of the Virgin Islands in St. Croix.
“With the greater reach we have now, we are committed to helping more communities across the USVI and making a significant contribution in the markets we serve,” Khoury said.
New ambassador
In addition to the investment to promote economic development, Khoury introduced Olympic gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn as the new ambassador for Liberty and Liberty Foundation.
The Puerto Rican track athlete signed a multi-year partnership to collaborate in several social impact initiatives with the company.
As part of this partnership, Liberty Foundation will establish the Jasmine Camacho-Quinn Athletics Scholarship Fund for undergraduate college applicants from Puerto Rico who compete in track disciplines.
In addition, Camacho-Quinn will promote and participate in initiatives that will connect her more with communities on the island, such as track clinics and special presentations to motivate young people to set goals and work hard to reach them.
“Jasmine represents many of the qualities that we value, such as a fighting spirit, pride in her heritage and perseverance, among others. As we have done, Jasmine overcame hurdles, got back up, and came back stronger than ever to win,” said Khoury.
“We believe this is an excellent opportunity to strengthen the track discipline locally and at the same time promote Puerto Rico as a power player in the sports arena,” he said.
“I’m excited to work with Liberty and Liberty Foundation to create new development opportunities for track athletes throughout the island,” said Camacho-Quinn. “I like to keep strengthening my ties with Puerto Rico and this is an excellent opportunity to be closer to my people.”
As originally reported by: News is my Business
