Promoting local development by closing gaps allows the Carvajal Foundation to “a social license to operate based on respect, co-responsibility and relevance according to the context or the ally”. This is how its executive president, Marcela Astudillo, describes the work of the institution that in 30 years of the Portafolio Awards has obtained the recognition of Contribution to the community in two editions.
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What does it mean to have received the Portfolio Award in the Community Contribution category on two occasions – 1995 and 2012?
For us, it has been a great honor. These awards allow us to make visible the work done by the private sector with the communities and confirm that all the efforts made are worth it, it is a support for our management and contributes to strengthening our reputation and image, which allows us to multiply alliances with other cooperators and allies at the national and international level.
How has the concept of community support evolved in these 30 years?
At the Carvajal Foundation, we have seen that the concept of community support has been transforming from a philanthropic approach (focused on charity with donations that did not always have detailed tracking) to one of impact, generating changes in the way of addressing problems. social. Today we talk about social sustainability, which seeks to ensure that interventions generate transformative and inclusive actions that can be measurable.
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What is the history of the Carvajal Foundation?
It all begins when Mr. Manuel Carvajal Sinisterra states that “There cannot be a healthy company in a sick social environment, because sooner or later the ills of society impact its performance, which is why the responsible businessman must necessarily commit to solving the problems.” social”. Inspired by this thought, the Carvajal family implements various social programs that promote the constitution of the Carvajal Foundation, to which it gives 23.5% of the assets of the Carvajal business group, to guarantee autonomy and sustainability. This donation was given during his lifetime and in perpetuity. The Carvajal Foundation is a family and non-profit institution.
On what fronts do they work?
Our institutional purpose is to contribute to overcoming poverty. A purpose in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), in particular with objective number 1, ending poverty. We design and implement innovative social methodologies in prioritized territories of Valle del Cauca and northern Cauca. With the evidence collected, we bet that these methodologies present a high social impact, potential for transfer and scalability at a national and international level. By the end of 2024, we will be directly serving 700 households in 5 municipalities (Cali, Buenaventura, Geneva, Candelaria and Guachené), committed to mobilizing their multidimensional poverty indicators.
What resources do they have?
A portion of the income comes from dividends received as the largest shareholder of the Carvajal Organization. To generate greater impact, we develop alliances with the international, private and public sectors, which allow us to strengthen our annual social investment. And we deploy an institutional portfolio with service lines that generate new sources of income and contribute to closing gaps in the social ecosystem. As of September 2024, our social investment is $23,214 million, of which 49.8% correspond to our own resources and 50.2% to resources from cooperators and allies.
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What are the goals?
From our experience, social organizations will always have the challenge of involving the community in the design of social solutions and ensuring their support in the deployment. Without effective community participation, initiatives lose relevance and may fall into oblivion. In the case of the Foundation, we have set the challenge for 2026 of contributing to overcoming the poverty of 800 households in the prioritized territories. On the other hand, it is essential to be at the forefront of methodologies and techniques that allow efficiency. For example, incorporating artificial intelligence in a responsible way to the social sector and continuing to innovate. Also, it is key that synergies are generated with other actors, sharing and transferring knowledge that works in both ways and that allows scale, massification of programs with evidence and the generation of collective impacts.
Does what they do socially change the communities’ perception of companies?
Yes, undoubtedly. The concept of social sustainability is beginning to take hold, in which communities are seen as a relevant interest group to achieve an investment that includes social, economic and environmental components. The purpose of this concept is the articulation and understanding of the interests of companies with the incidence or impact of their communities. This group is more than a vulnerable population, it is a relevant actor to care for and transform. Our experience leads us to promote local development by closing gaps, which allows us a social license to operate based on respect, co-responsibility and relevance in accordance with each context or ally. In addition, we are part of city initiatives that focus on business-community rapprochement, as is the case of the collective impact initiative, Compromiso Valle.
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