By: Veronica Villafañe
Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications has launched the Univision Foundation with a “mission of promoting the well-being of the Hispanic and multicultural communities served by UCI’s owned and operated platforms and partner organizations.”
The nonprofit public charity plans to build upon its existing partnerships with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The California Endowment, Ford Foundation and others to support empowerment and philanthropic activities. Univision has been partnering with the Gates Foundation since 2010, creating content and campaigns focusing on high school graduation and college readiness, with funding supporting community events, town halls, specials and documentaries.
The Univision Foundation will also fund independent journalism and digital projects that advance education, health, civic engagement and other critical issues.
“More than ever we have a responsibility to the communities that make up today’s rising American mainstream. The Univision Foundation will build a path to further engage, in tandem with partners that share our mission to empower Hispanics and our multicultural youth,” said UCI’s president & CEO Randy Falco.
Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Univision’s EVP of Government & Corporate Affairs, will serve as President of the Univision Foundation, with Stephen Keppel, VP, Social Impact & General Manager of Rise Up, filling the role of Executive Director. Both will serve on the foundation’s board along with several other company executives.
“The Foundation is the natural next step in Univision’s efforts to inform and empower its audiences. As the company has grown, so has our philanthropic efforts as well as our programming and activities dedicated to social impact and corporate social responsibility. We have contemplated taking the steps to create a Foundation for several years, especially as we have built out partnerships with local non-profits and universities,” explains Herrera-Flanigan. “The recent natural disasters that impacted so many in our communities made it clear that we could better serve them through a more directed philanthropic presence.”
The Foundation is a separate entity that will work closely with all UCI platforms including Univision Contigo, Rise Up and other corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Source: Forbes
