2009 Education Leadership Award Dinner

In Honor of The Coca-Cola Company, represented by Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent, and FEMSA, represented by Chairman and CEO José Antonio Fernández Carbajal

June 2009 

Worldfund, the premier US-based non-profit organization whose mission is to reduce poverty in Latin America by supporting and delivering quality education throughout the region, celebrated its seventh anniversary during its annual gala Education Leadership Dinner in New York. The gala raised $1.5 million and sold out, despite the challenging economic environment. Over 450 business and education leaders from the U.S. and Latin America attended the event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in support of Worldfund's mission.

Worldfund's founder and president, Luanne Zurlo, remarked that "corporate and individual partnerships have allowed Worldfund to reach over a quarter million students in 10 countries since 2003."  Zurlo emphasized education as an urgent economic and humanitarian issue in Latin America as millions are being left out of the global economy, citing statistics from the OECD that show 50% of 15-year-olds in Mexico and Brazil - the region's two largest economies - to be functionally illiterate.

"If enough Latin American business leaders truly, consistently, passionately press government hard on serious education reform and use their powerful platforms to educate their societies on what it takes to compete globally," Zurlo said, " change will happen."

The 2009 Education Leadership Award was bestowed on two business leaders whose organizations have demonstrated an outstanding and continuous commitment to education development in Latin America: Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company and José Antonio Fernández Carbajal, Chairman and CEO, FEMSA. 

As he accepted the award on behalf of the 100,000 Coca-Cola Company employees, Mr. Kent said, "by 2020, Latin America's urban population will rival that of the United States. This presents a host of fascinating economic, social and cultural shifts that I believe bode well for both the United States and our great neighbors in Latin America. In this environment - where power and influence will radiate from many corners of the world - it's imperative that our children and our children's children be equipped with the finest education possible. Worldfund certainly understands this and we look forward to continuing this wonderful partnership."  Click here to read the full speech.

In his own acceptance speech, Mr. Fernández Carbajal of FEMSA made a clear call to action to business and education leaders, saying "today's event is an encouraging reminder of how we can come together, as individuals and as organizations, to increase access to education and improve its quality, particularly in Latin America, where opportunities are still very few and far between. In fact, over 60% of the inhabitants of Latin America have not yet reached 30 years of age, so we have a tremendous window of opportunity to link education to poverty reduction, economic development and better opportunities for our people." He then added, "I would like to urge you all to keep working for education; we have to do this for our people, for the future of our world and especially for the half billion people that live in Latin America. The challenge is enormous, but so are the will and determination of leaders like Luanne and Worldfund."  Click here to read the full speech.

View Worldfund's photo album from the evening.

Watch Worldfund's new five minute video which was previewed at the dinner.

Read the speech given by Brenda Talina Yáñez Ledesma, the English teacher from Nayarit who participated in Worldfund's 2008 IAPE (Inter-American Partnership for Education) Program.

Photographer Costa Anastasakis' amazing photos of students from Worldfund's partner programs were featured at the event.  Click here to view them.

Press:

Reconocen a Femsa en NY por impulsar la educación
Ana Cristina Enríquez, El Norte
JUNE 10, 2009

Worldfund para apoyar la educación en México
Televisa Report
JUNE 2009

Reconocen labor educativa de Femsa
Brenda Garza Ávila, El Porvenir
JUNE 16, 2009