The conference was also attended by Esperanza Cueto, president of the Colunga Foundation and Patricia Matte, president of the Society of Primary Instruction (SIP network of schools), founder and president of the Olivo Foundation, who together with Paola Luksic, shared their lessons learned and the roles that their foundations have taken to provide support in the emergency that Chile has experienced due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Magdalena Aninat, director of the Center for Philanthropy and Social Investment (CEFIS) of the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, was in charge of moderating the event, which was held via Zoom. One of the first topics was about the consequences of this crisis and how the three panelists plan, from their respective foundations, to support the recovery.
Paola Luksic was the first to speak and explained that the purpose of the Luksic Foundation is “to create sustainable changes that increase the opportunities and well-being of people and communities in the different regions of Chile, through support in entrepreneurship and sports”.
Regarding recovery, Paola Luksic pointed out that at Fundación Luksic they are constantly evaluating in which areas they can collaborate, both now and after the health crisis: “We are working hard to support entrepreneurship. At Impulso Inicial we have increased the number of cases we take week by week. On the other hand, we are preparing the third edition of Impulso Chileno, a contest that provides financial and academic support to entrepreneurs”.
In the second block, Magdalena Aninat highlighted the solidarity that has been seen both in Chile and in several countries around the world during this crisis and asked the panelists what they have learned in recent months.
All three agreed on the importance of collaboration between foundations and civil society organizations in order to function as a large community, thus providing support to those most in need.
Patricia Matte pointed out that transparency and the trust of the public were fundamental. Esperanza Cueto emphasized that it was necessary to “move the needle” to generate changes that would have an impact on public policies. Finally, the president of the Luksic Foundation highlighted the important task of foundations in their professionalization and efficiency. “In times of pandemic, we learned that we have to respond faster to more requests, that if we are all willing to work for a cause, and not just a cause of crisis, different foundations can be aligned for a specific objective. It was clear that we can come together and that collaboration works and is here to stay”.
