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OAS/Trust for the Americas Now Accepting Applications for 2010 CCA Award

The Trust for the Americas at the Organization of American States (OAS) has begun accepting applications for the 2010 Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award (CCA) to be given at an event in the spring of 2011.

The private sector is playing an increasingly important role in developing solutions to overcome poverty in communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award encourages this trend by formally recognizing a company that has initiated an innovative program benefitting the community in which it operates and that can serve as a model to facilitate socially responsible practices and actions by other corporations.

The CCA Award has been given annually for the last six years by the Trust for the Americas. Past winners include Pfizer, for a program to increase income among poor families in the arid region of the state of Bahia, Brazil; Conoco Phillips, for a public, private and nonprofit collaboration benefitting small-scale fishermen in the Gulf of Paria, Venezuela; Chrysler, for a program that promoted sustainable development in the Brazilian rainforest; and Pantaleon, for a program to benefit workers’ families in Guatemala.

In 2009, ITAU Bank won the CCA Award for a program to promote education among low-income children in Brazil. Honorable mentions were presented to Freeport McMoran Grupo Financiero Ficohsa, for its program to provide connectivity to mining communities in Chile; and to Telefonica, for its Pronino program.

The 2010 Award Selection Committee will consider initiatives being implemented in Latin America or the Caribbean. Initiatives must be in one of the following categories:


1. Vulnerable Communities: An initiative that seeks to empower vulnerable communities such as youth at risk, children, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, migrants, and female heads of household, among others.

2. Economic Opportunity: An initiative that has the primary goal of promoting economic opportunity for disadvantaged populations by means of providing employment opportunities and/or building micro-enterprises.

3. Education: An initiative that promotes development through either formal or non-formal education through projects aimed at vocational training, skill development or scholarship programs.

4. Human Rights: An initiative that focuses on human rights for all members of society through the promotion of assistance to areas affected by conflict, worker’s labor privileges and migrant rights.

The Award Selection Committee composed of international experts in Corporate Social Responsibility and senior representatives from the private sector will review the award applications and choose three finalists in each category. The finalists will be invited to attend an awards ceremony in the spring, when a winner in each category will be announced. The awards will be presented by OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza. Applications for the award will be accepted by the Trust for the Americas through October 15, 2010.

To obtain an application, please visit http://www.trustfortheamericas.org

The Trust for the Americas is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization affiliated with the OAS. It was established in 1997 to promote private and public sector participation in projects that reflect the main goals of the hemispheric organization. The mission of the Trust is to execute capacity-building programs, for individuals and organizations. The Trust implements its programs through local partner organizations, with the support of over 200 public- and private-sector partners in more than 20 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more information on the award, contact Ermithe Emily Charlemont, Office Manager/Coordinator of CCA Award at The Trust for the Americas, by email at [email protected] or phone at (+1)202.458.3154.

Reference: E-311/10