Important Partners of Vidanta Foundation - Inter-American Dialogue

For all the important work that the Vidanta Foundation does, a lot of it would not be possible if not for the input and cooperation of organizations that share our ideals and values.

One such example to point out here is the Inter-American Dialogue: http://www.thedialogue.org/

"The Inter-American Dialogue is the leading U.S. center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs. The Dialogue brings together public and private leaders from across the Americas to address hemispheric problems and opportunities. Together they seek to build cooperation among Western Hemisphere nations and advance a regional agenda of democratic governance, social equity, and economic growth.

The Dialogue's select membership of 100 distinguished citizens from throughout the Americas includes political, business, academic, media, and other nongovernmental leaders. Sixteen Dialogue members served as presidents of their countries and more than three dozen have served at the cabinet level.

Dialogue activities are directed to generating new policy ideas and practical proposals for action, and getting these ideas and proposals to government and private decision makers. The Dialogue also offers diverse Latin American and Caribbean voices access to U.S. policy debates and discussions. Based in Washington, the Dialogue conducts its work throughout the hemisphere. 

A majority of our Board of Directors are from Latin American and Caribbean nations, as are more than half of the Dialogue's members and participants in our other leadership networks and task forces.

Since 1982—through successive Republican and Democratic administrations and many changes of leadership elsewhere in the hemisphere—the Dialogue has helped shape the agenda of issues and choices in inter-American relations.

The Inter-American Dialogue, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is funded by contributions from individuals, corporations, governments and foundations that help support its programs and provide essential operating revenue."

Mexico: Cirque du Soleil dinner theater to land at Riviera Maya

Want a nice dinner and Champagne at your next Cirque du Soleil experience? That's not the norm in Las Vegas, but it will happen in Riviera Maya come November when a custom-made theater and year-round show debuts in Mexico's eastern Yucatan.

Canada-based Cirque du Soleil announced the dinner-and-show venue on Wednesday. The resident show joins others in Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. Cirque says the venue will be a place where "performance and culinary creativity" meet.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/mexico/la-trb-mexico-riviera-maya-cirque-du-soleil-20140212,0,372328.story#ixzz2uOekWT3K

Call for Entries Fundacion Vidanta Award

The Call for Entries is Now Open for the Fundacion Vidanta Awards 2014: “Recognition of Lifetime Contributions” and “Contributions to the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

Please visit http://www.fundacionvidanta.org/2014-call for more information.

Daniel Chavez Moran Award Seeking Literature Ideas from Youths

Founder of Grupo Vidanta and Vidanta Foundation creates second award to harness ideas from youths to combat poverty in Latin America

The Daniel Chavez Moran Award launched today with its latest category in the area of Literature. The award welcomes submissions from youths who live in the United States aged twelve to eighteen to submit their best ideas on how to combat the serious problem of poverty in Latin America through the use of essays, short stories, testimonials and poetry.

Full contest details, terms and conditions as well as an application form can be found at http://danielchavezmoranaward.com/award/literature/

A panel of judges will select the winning applicants that demonstrate outstanding use of literary devices and language to raise awareness for poverty in Latin America. Prizes awarded are as follows:

Grand Prize - $1,000, Certificate of Award

Runner Up - $500, Certificate of Runner Up

Third Place through Fifth Place - $100, Certificate of Participation

Besides the monetary prizes, winners also will be featured in promotional and press outreach. The Award is a great way to get today’s youths thinking outside the box on how to bring attention to issues affecting Latin American communities.

Mr. Daniel Chavez Moran is the founder of Grupo Vidanta, one of the largest developers of luxury resorts, golf courses and real estate in Mexico and repeat winner of Best Places to Work in Mexico. He also founded Vidanta Foundation, a prominent non-profit institution whose primary aim is the reduction of poverty in Latin America through the promotion of economic development, social sciences and culture.

About the Daniel Chávez Morán Award

The Daniel Chávez Morán Award focuses on youths between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The Award seeks to harness ideas from America's best and brightest youths. The problems of poverty continue to plague many nations in Latin America. The Award welcomes innovative ideas and forward thinking for new ways to tackle the problem of poverty.

Daniel Chávez Morán, now retired from the development of hotels and resorts, founded Grupo Vidanta in 1974 after graduating from The University of Guadalajara with a degree in Civil Engineering. He retired in 2005 to found Fundación Vidanta (originally named Fundación Grupo Mayan) and focus on philanthropy. Mr. Chávez Morán is also the founder of Fundación Delia Morán A.C., which is focused on helping children grow up in a healthy environment. While no longer active in Grupo Vidanta itself, Mr. Chávez Morán's efforts in the non-profit sector help promote the name of the companies he originally founded.

Learn more at http://www.danielchavezmoranaward.com. 

The Grand Mayan at Riviera Maya Hosts the Third Meeting of the Advisory Board of United Nations Development Program

The Grand Mayan at Riviera Maya Hosts the Third Meeting of the Advisory Board of United Nations Development Program

The debate on the Regional Human Development Report 2013, " Public Safety: The Key to Human Development in Latin America," took place on August 30-31 at the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya.

Grupo Vidanta, through the non-profit organization the Vidanta Foundation, co-organized and co-sponsored the event in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the government of Spain. This momentous event throughout Latin America and the Caribbean was attended by former ministers, former presidents and the highest authorities on security.

The event discussed measures to reduce the problem of violence and citizen insecurity, ensuring the participation of the three levels of government in the Latin American and Caribbean countries, in partnership with civil society, academia and international cooperation.

Heraldo Muñoz, UN Under-Secretary General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP, was responsible for introducing the discussion on the safety report.

Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) addressed the vulnerabilities of the region on the issue of security and violence.

The map of the challenge faced by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, from the academic point of view, will be addressed by Jorge Dominguez, President of the Harvard Academy for International Studies.

Regarding the subjects of most interest to the region, Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, detailed the impacts of uncertainty, an issue that is considered the primary concern of the population of Mexico and the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Oscar Naranjo, former General of the National Police of Colombia and Robert Russell, Chairman of the Vidanta Foundation, presented the report's recommendations on how to address the problems of violence and crime in the short, medium and long term, in favor of society.

The Third Meeting of the Advisory Board was attended by personalities including: Former President of the Republic of Guatemala, Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Enrique Iglesias, Secretary General (SEGIB), Juan Ramon de la Fuente, President of the International Association of Universities and Daniel Chavez Moran, Founder of the Vidanta Foundation.

A special guest of the event was Roberto Borge, Governor of the State of Quintana Roo.

“Grupo Vidanta was honored to be the venue in which to discuss issues of global concern, as we believe that for entrepreneurs, it is a must to be key players in the solution and discussion of current issues that concerns us all,” said Eric DuBaele, Director of Hotel Operations for Grupo Vidanta.

Grupo Vidanta Announces Winners for Philanthropic Initiatives to Combat Poverty and Inequality in Latin America

Vidanta Foundation Award 2013 Awarded to Top Organizations throughout Latin America

Three prizes were awarded out of hundreds of entries along with one lifetime achievement award

The ceremony for the Vidanta Foundation Awards 2013 was held this past December 4th at the Santiago National Museum of Fine Arts. On this occasion there were two award categories: “Lifetime Achievement Award” and “Contributions to reduction of poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean Award”.

The Award was created in 2009, following an initiative of cooperation between the Organization of American States (OAS), the Iberoamerican Secretary General (SEGIB) and the Vidanta Foundation, with an annual total contribution of USD $225,000, which is donated by the Foundation in its entirety. The award has the ultimate goal of recognizing and supporting outstanding work carried forward in Latin American and The Caribbean to reduce poverty, inequality and fight discrimination. Furthermore, it seeks to promote humanitarian and solidarity values amongst the general population and to encourage philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

The jury of the Vidanta Foundation Award 2013 consisted of Carmelo Angulo (Spain), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Nora Lustig (Mexico), Jose Luis Machinea (Argentina), Luis Maira (Chile), Billie Miller (Barbados) and Julio Maria Sanguinetti (Uruguay).

According to the jury’s decision, “there were 75 organizations competing for this award. This is a very relevant testimony to the principles of social solidarity that inspire people in Latin American societies, projected specifically in benefit of millions of people in need. Within this group, several of those projects were able to show substantial and comparable values for this award. After careful consideration, the Jury opted to award the Charity Organization “Hogar de Cristo” from Chile. To achieve this result, the Jury considered the long history of the organization, the generalized support of the Chilean people, and their effective and proven commitment to overcome poverty, from the front of direct solidary action and also from the front of an universal definition of poverty, which has even been worthy of recognition from the Chilean State”.

lIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD:

Hogar de Cristo

The Charity “Hogar de Cristo” was originated in Chile in 1944 as an initiative of San Alberto Hurtado, a Jesuit priest whom had great influence in the social thinking of the country. The Charity’s main purpose is to reduce exclusion of the more vulnerable and poorer sectors and bring society together in the fight for their social integration. It has had a great development and has established itself as the leading Chilean institution working with poor people. It has tended to the needs of the most excluded groups in their society, acting quickly upon emergencies (Santiago’s flood in 1994 and the earthquake on Feb 27, 2010), adapting their methodologies and lines of action to the changes produced in society, collaborating and affecting the different sectors. In recent years, they have developed campaigns and proposed models of intervention to influence public policy directed to eradicate poverty and inequality.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO REDUCTION OF POVERTY AND INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

FIRST PRIZE:

Asociación Colectivo Mujeres al derecho, Colombia (USD $75,000)

This organization executes activities in the Colombian Caribbean region since 2005. Through their program “Multicultural Space for Women” they support over 2,000 indigenous and African-Colombian displaced women to promote and encourage the integral human development and sustainability in their communities, through participation in different decision making spaces at local, provincial and national levels.

SECOND PRIZE:

IXIM, A.C., Mexico (USD $50,000)

IXIM A.C. works with and supports highly marginalized tzeltales communities in the municipality of Ocosingo, Chiapas, with the goal of transitioning them from merely receiving help to actually increasing their sustainable production of food. The model “Camino IXIM” combines impactful actions at different time terms: at the immediate term, mitigating hunger in between harvests through the provision of corn, at the medium term through sustainable maize fields, orchards, water tanks and poultry to increase the production and food quality, and at the long term with agro-ecological sowing, benefiting the recovery of the soil’s fertility.

THIRD PRIZE:

Proyecto Transgénero, Ecuador (USD $25,000)

The Project was born in 2002 with the purpose to work with communities of transgender sex workers, official institutions workers, national police and the general transgender population in the city of Quito. The project created the Legal Patrol- an innovative approach based on the “alternative use of the law”- which consists in the intervention of different teams of “itinerant legal counseling” roaming the streets offering legal counseling to the transgender sex workers. 

Grupo Vidanta Ranks as Top Hotel and Resort Company in 2013 Best Companies to Work® in Latin America

Grupo Vidanta Ranks as Top Hotel and Resort Company in 2013 Best Companies to Work® in Latin America

Strong showings across the board for second consecutive year

Grupo Vidanta, Mexico’s leading developer of resorts, today announced that it is recognized as the top hotel and resort company in the American award known as “2013 Best Companies to Work®” in Latin America. Grupo Vidanta’s showing placed ahead of many other well-known resort brands in Latin America.

Grupo Vidanta was awarded eleventh place overall for all companies with over 500 employees in Latin America. With no other resort company winning better rankings, the following Grupo Vidanta property locations were ranked among the best companies to work for in the 500+ employee category:

-Grupo Vidanta properties in Riviera Maya

-Grupo Vidanta properties in Mazatlan

The Grupo Vidanta website sums up their philosophy perfectly: “Our people are happy and that is our greatest asset. The passion they display every day to deliver the essence of happiness to every guest is an amazing thing for a guest to experience and a hallmark of a Vidanta vacation.”

Grupo Vidanta operates full-service luxury beach resorts in Mexico's finest beaches, under Grand Luxxe, The Grand Bliss, The Bliss, The Grand Mayan, Mayan Palace, Ocean Breeze and Sea Garden brands.

“Being named for this award year after year is such a great honor,” says Eric DuBaele, Director of Hotel Operations for Grupo Vidanta. “It just confirms that our company philosophy in regards to our employees is something special.  First it was Mexico, now Latin America.  Who knows what we can accomplish next?”

“Great Place to Work®” had roots beginning in 1981. Over 25 years of research culminated in the world’s first 100 Best Companies to Work For workplace ranking in 1997. Great Place to Work gradually opened doors in 45 countries with more to come, with the first rankings for Mexican companies listed in 2002.

Grupo Vidanta offers a variety of programs to encourage employee development and job satisfaction:

Educational Programs: These programs are designed to promote a safer work environment.  Each year the company sponsors a health week, a safe-workplace week, and a week where health professionals conduct free physicals for staff members. 

Mayan With You: This program allows Grupo Vidanta workers to help their families by giving them access to scholarships for their children beginning in middle school all the way up to university studies. 

Well Done!: This program encourages excellent performance by employees in the workplace, and it also encourages individual effort.  

Elite Club: This is a program created for workers who exhibit excellent work ethics over a one-year period.  These employees have priority in the “Mayan With You” scholarships, different product sales available to workers, access to the sports facility at the Delia Moran Foundation and job security during low seasons.

Innovating Together: This is an open forum where workers can express their ideas and submit suggestions for improvement in any department. 

Grupo Vidanta employees also enjoy amenities such as free cafeteria services, free bus routes to and from the hotel, and one week to vacation at a Grupo Vidanta brand resort depending on their level of employment.

The ranking for Best Companies to Work® is the result of a rigorous process of analysis and assessment of the views of employees and the corporate culture. The main objectives of the rankings from the Great Place to Work® Institute Latin America are to facilitate knowledge management and share experiences among organizations that know how to get the best results from business by improving the quality of their workplaces.

Rankings for Latin American companies with more than 500 employees can be found here: http://www.greatplacetowork.net/best-companies/best-workplaces-in-latin-america/best-companies-in-latin-america-more-than-500-employees

TIME Magazine's latest 2013 Top 100 Most Influential People edition features Grupo Vidanta and its founder Mr. Daniel Chavez Moran

Mexican resort specialist Grupo Vidanta is gearing up to launch six new luxury brands throughout Latin America.  A visionary group that has contributed to the socioeconomic development of Mexico for more than 35 years, Vidanta invests in some of the region’s most spectacular vacation destinations, responding to market demands with stunning, state-of-the-art establishments.

Two of its brands, the Grand Mayan, which is present in Nuevo Vallarta, Acapulco, Riviera Maya and Los Cabos, the Grand Bliss, in Nuevo Vallarta, have earned the AAA Four Diamond Award for delivering a luxurious experience with top-notch services and amenities.  “Mexico is the land of opportunity”, says Vidanta founder Daniel Chavez Moran.  “Even if we were not Mexican, we would invest in Mexico, because it is about to take off in a big way.  The workforce here is second to none.  We employ around 14,000 workers, and this year were voted eighth-best company to work for.  Our employees are more than happy with us, and this filters down to the service provision.”

With its aim of keeping its sites exclusive, Vidanta veers away from the all-inclusive concept, believing that a quality service offering best value will be most beneficial for its guests.  “We are often full or at least at 80% occupancy throughout the year, so it’s a good strategy and ultimately the most profitable,” Chavez Moran says.  “We are currently building more than 120,000 square meters a year, which works out at between 500 and 600 rooms of 200 meters a year.  Our prices are not the lowest in the industry, but we’re sure they offer the best value for the money.

“As a businessman, I would say to investors: ‘Stay where you are, I don’t want any more competitors’’.  But as a Mexican, I would tell them to come,” Chavez Moran says.  Mexico is the best place in the world and now offers the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Daniel Chavez Moran of Vidanta Foundation Selected to Join the United Nations Advisory Council of Citizen Safety Project

Daniel Chavez Moran, Mexico

Founder of Grupo Vidanta to join new Council created by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with dignitaries in policy, academia, business, media and civil society

The Regional Directorate for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has created a new Advisory Council of Citizen Safety Project. Its goal is to produce a comprehensive Report on Citizen Safety and Development as part of its Citizen Security and Governance area. Mr. Daniel Chavez Moran, founder of Grupo Vidanta and Vidanta Foundation, has been chosen as one of a select group of distinguished individuals to join the Council. Mr. Moran is the first and only businessman from all of Mexico handpicked to join the Council, receiving this distinguished honor based on his breadth of knowledge ranging from the private sector to public policy.

The process started in September 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in mid-2013, and will include a final diagnosis of the Latin America insecurity situation, data collection, case analysis and policy recommendations. Rafael Fernandez de Castro, former Presidential Advisor to President Felipe Calderon of Mexico and Head of the Academic Department of International Studies at ITAM, Mexico will lead coordination efforts.

The Council includes several high profile individuals:

-Daniel Chavez Moran, founder of Grupo Vidanta and Vidanta Foundation

-Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico

-Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile

- Beatriz Paredes, former Senator of Mexico

- Adriana Cisneros, Vice Chairman of the Board and Director of Strategy, Cisneros Group

-Bill Bratton, former Commissioner for the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department

-Heraldo Muñoz, UN Secretary General Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Program for Development

-Alvaro Saieh, President of Corp Group Interhold S.A.

-Tabaré Vazquez, former President of Uraguay

-Gregory F. Traverton, Director, RAND Center for Global Risk and Security

-Norman Quijano, Mayor of San Salvador, El Salvador

-Carlos Romero, Interior Minister of Bolivia

-Ana Palacio, former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Spain, Member of the State Council of Spain

One of the UNDP’s priorities is to create processes for analysis, consultation, consensus-building, strategizing and citizen involvement to contribute towards a better understanding and treatment of the major public policy challenge of citizen security. It was decided to create an Advisory Council of Citizen Safety Project composed of various present and former Latin American presidents, distinguished representatives of academic, politics, the mass media, civil society and the private sector. The Council will be the main advisory body towards the proposed stated objectives.

Daniel Chavez Moran founded Grupo Vidanta in 1974, a business dedicated to the development of luxury hotels and resorts in Mexico. In 2010, CNN named him one of the top 100 most important businessmen in Mexico. In 2005, he retired from his executive positions to focus on philanthropic endeavors. In 2005, he founded the non-profit organization  Vidanta Foundation  whose primary aim is the reduction of poverty in Latin America through the promotion of economic development, social sciences and culture.

Learn more about the Regional Directorate for Latin America and the Caribbean of the UNDP at www.undp.org/rblac.

Daniel Chavez Moran's Legacy Lives On

Vidanta Foundation's "Lifetime Achievement" Award, 2013

This is an open call for all applicants to submit for consideration for the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Total prize monies of $100,000 USD will be granted to an individual or non-profit organization which most convincingly shows achievements in fighting the problem of poverty, inequality and discrimination in the Americas and the Caribbean.

This award will be funded generously by the Vidanta Foundation, in cooperation with the OAS (Organization of American States) and the IASG (Ibero-American Secretary General).

Mr. Daniel Chavez Moran's legacy lives on in the continuing efforts of others. Best wishes to all applicants.
Mr. Daniel Chavez Moran, circa 1978. Real estate developer and philanthropist.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Latin American Decade

Founded by Mexican philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran, the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation and its affiliated institutions of higher learning focus on the promotion of Latin American studies, and the analysis of Latin American international relations and strategies for a positive integration of the region in the global economy. Daniel Chavez Moran came across these insights on the Latin American decade ahead from Alberto Ramos of Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm:

• This definitely could be the Latin American decade—if policy-makers seize the opportunity to adopt longstanding structural reforms geared to increase productivity, diversify the economic base, and boost real GDP growth. 

• Second-generation reforms that could help unlock the growth potential in Latin American economies include reforms in education, labor markets, and trade, but also institutional reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of the public sector and at attracting domestic and foreign investment. 

• Brazil has emerged as an important power in the region and has in recent years attracted significant portfolio and direct investment flows. But the large capital inflows added pressure on the exchange rate, which has reduced the overall competitiveness of Brazil's non-commodity exporters. 

• China's emergence as a global economic and financial powerhouse and major consumer of commodities has admittedly levered the economic performance of Latin America. At the same time, China is now a formidable competitor in the export of manufacturing goods, particularly for Mexico. 

• Since Latin America is commodity rich (given its large endowment of natural resources), it experiences a significant positive "wealth shock" when commodity prices rise. The macro resilience accumulated in recent years has better prepared the region to withstand negative price shocks, and so a downward correction of commodity prices should not in itself trigger disruptive macroeconomic dynamics. 

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on partnering for progress and Daniel Chavez Moran on Mexico’s global economy.

Daniel Chavez Moran on Uniting for Education

Mexican philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran understands education is one of the keys to freeing people from the bondage of poverty throughout the Americas. His founding of the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation, and his founding of the Fundación Delia Moran A.C., in honor of his mother, a gifted school teacher, are testaments to that belief. Chavez Moran applauds efforts in the United States to improve education for the more than 11 million Hispanic students in America’s public elementary and secondary schools as noted in this Washington Post article:

“President Obama has appointed Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll — the Colombian singer better known around the world as Shakira — to a presidential commission on education for Hispanics... 

“Shakira was recently named the 2011 Latin Recording Academy person of the year. Here’s the biography of her on the White House release: 

She founded the Barefoot Foundation in 1995, which operates schools and educational projects in Colombia, South Africa, and Haiti, feeding and educating approximately 6,000 children. In 2010, she collaborated with the World Bank and the Barefoot Foundation to establish an initiative that distributes educational and developmental programs for children across Latin America. In 2008, Ms. Mebarak Ripoll served as the Honorary Chair of the Global Campaign for Education’s Global Action Week. In 2005, she became a founding member of Latin America in Solidarity Action, a coalition of artists and business leaders seeking to promote integrated early childhood public policies. Ms. Mebarak Ripoll became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund in 2003, where she promotes the expansion and improvement of comprehensive early childhood care and education across the world.

“...The other two members to be appointed to the advisory team are Adrian Pendoza, who leads a grass-roots immigration and education reform organization, and Kent Scribner, who serves as a school superintendent in Phoenix.”

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on opening doors to the future and Daniel Chavez Moran: For the children.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Welcomes Pan-American Games

Vidanta Foundation, welcomes the thousands of international competitors and visitors to the Pan-American games, hosted Oct. 14-30, 2011, in Jalisco, Mexico.

About some of the venue cities from the Mexican Tourism Board:

• Guadalajara: Renowned as a state-of-the-art city and a business center, will be the main venue of the encounter which will gather 42 countries and over 5 thousand athletes. The second most populated city of the country also provides the visitors the typical mariachi, tequila and charrería (Mexican rodeo style), symbols which are representative of the city and the state in general. 

• Tapalpa: Named as a Magic Town and located at 118 kilometers from Guadalajara, this town offers ideal natural landscapes for extreme sports. Besides, its gastronomy includes delights as the sheep “al pastor,” rompope (kind of eggnog), fruits punch and pulque. 

• Ciudad Guzmán: Favorite place for the practice of ecotourism, will also be present in the sportive competition which will start on October 14th. The Volcano Nevado 'El Colima', which summit covers in white from December to February, as well as the Ecological Park Las Peñas and the Lagoon of Zapotlán are some of the places which allow the visitor to practice activities to the open sky. 

• Puerto Vallarta: Forms part of the beautiful Bahía de Banderas, and is one of the beach destinations more frequently visited in Mexico thanks to its tradition, beauty and hospitality. This site will be another sub-venue of the international games.

• Lagos de Moreno: Another municipality which will form part of the Games is Lagos de Moreno, that was honored by UNESCO in 2010 thanks to its Historical Downtown, acknowledged as a Cultural Heritage of Mankind. This municipality provides a direct encounter to the roots of the Mexican identity. 

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on travel news and Daniel Chavez Moran on environmental stewardship.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Bridge to a New Energy Future

Daniel Chavez Moran, following a successful career as developer of five-star hotels and resorts, golf courses, vacation ownership resorts and tourism infrastructure throughout Latin America, founded the non-profit Vidanta Foundation to support public policies that strengthen democracy and promote economic and social development in Latin America.

Integration of the region in the global economy being key to that vision, Chavez Moran notes this Wall Street Journal article about a new energy future for Latin America:

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's emergence as a hot frontier for oil and natural gas was boosted Wednesday by two fresh discoveries, with exploration and development of the country's newfound oil wealth likely to attract billions in investments over the next decade.

Latin America's largest country is squarely in the cross hairs of the global oil industry, with Brazil's stable democracy and robust economic growth making it especially attractive...

Brazil is betting heavily on development of its offshore fields, with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva--the predecessor and mentor to current head of state Dilma Rousseff--saying oil could transform the country by easing the crushing poverty afflicting many of its citizens. The area known as the pre-salt, where oil was found more than 4 miles below the ocean surface, could hold between 50 billion and 100 billion barrels of oil and make Brazil the world's fourth-largest crude producer and a top-10 exporter...

The latest discovery builds on a string of high-profile finds that started in 2007, when Brazil announced the first pre-salt oil field. The Tupi field, now in pilot production after being renamed Lula, was the largest discovery in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico's Cantarell in 1976. Lula alone is estimated to hold 6.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil...

Despite the technical challenges that make pumping oil from the ocean depths expensive and complicated, the Ernst & Young Terco-Getulio Vargas study said that oil exports could reach 600,000 barrels a day by 2020 and generate $27.9 billion in revenue. That's nearly double the $16.1 billion in oil-export revenue Brazil earned in 2010.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on economic news and Daniel Chavez Moran on globalization and Latin America.

Daniel Chavez Moran: Equality in Education

Daniel Chavez Moran is the son of a gifted and caring school teacher. He is also the founder of Fundación Delia Moran A.C., which seeks to improve the lives of those less fortunate by providing support for poverty-stricken children ages 6 to 12 who struggle to survive each day.

Chavez Moran understands the vital role education plays in lifting people from poverty. That is why he read with interest this recent news from the United Nations on tackling the disparities in education faced by girls around the world:

3 October 2011 – With evidence showing that disparities in education widen as girls grow, the United Nations today kicked off a two-day meeting in Paris devoted to gender inequality in classroom achievement and on women’s leadership role in education. 

The forum on gender equality in education brings together experts, government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to examine the root causes of inequality between girls’ and boys’ school performances. 

While gender equality in education remains a crucial issue for many countries, women still account for two thirds of the world’s illiterate population and the majority of out-of-school children are girls, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which organized the forum. 

“Equality is not a numbers game,” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in her address to the meeting. 

“Equality implies the same chances of learning, of benefiting from equitable treatment within the school, and the same opportunities in terms of employment, wages and civic participation,” she added. 

...Participants at the forum will also consider the progress achieved in reducing the gender gap, and the obstacles that stand in the way of women’s ability to achieve senior leadership positions in the public sector and more specifically in education.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran: For the Children and Daniel Chavez Moran Honors his Mother’s Work.

Daniel Chavez Moran on Brighter Trade Horizons

Daniel Chavez Moran, now retired from the development of hotels and resorts, founded Grupo Vidanta in 1974 after graduating from The University of Guadalajara with a degree in Civil Engineering. He retired in 2005 to found the Vidanta Foundation, which actively promotes public policies that support economic growth, strengthening democracy, and the reduction of poverty, inequality and discrimination in Latin America.

Chavez Moran follows news of global economic development with special interest, including this recent article, “Latin America Buffered Against Global Shock, World Bank Says,” from Bloomberg news: 

“Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Chile have created a buffer against a global recession after raising interest rates in the past 15 months, the World Bank said in a report today...Latin America and the Caribbean is forecast to grow between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent this year, thanks to capital inflows and high commodity prices...the World Bank foresees emerging markets, including China, continuing to outgrow the developed world, with commodity prices remaining high...the emergence of China as a major trading partner for Latin America has been a driver of the region’s robust growth in the past decade, contrary to initial concerns that China ‘would outcompete and displace’ Latin America and the Caribbean... “

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on Latin American currencies gain and Daniel Chavez Moran on the economic outlook for 2011.

Daniel Chavez Moran on Economic Growth in Brazil

Retired resort developer and philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran encourages scholarly and civic projects supporting economic development and the growth of democracy throughout Latin America through the Vidanta Foundation, a nonprofit organization he founded in 2005.

Chavez Moran notes this recent positive economic news published by Reuters news service about growing economic opportunities in Brazil that will help increase tourism. An excerpt from that story:

(Reuters) - German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) will take advantage of strong economic performance in Latin America at a time when its businesses elsewhere are under pressure, a senior executive said on Wednesday...the carrier is expanding in Latin America, opening what it sees as key routes in recent months, including to Bogota and Rio de Janeiro. It has also launched an alliance with Colombian and Salvadoran tie-up AviancaTaca AVTp.CN for other routes.

"We want to develop our business in Latin America because we see that the area has been quite stable during the crisis," Lufthansa's vice president for the Americas, Jurgen Siebenrock, told Reuters during a visit to Venezuela. 

"There's a lot of growth, especially in Brazil ... we want to be part of that," he said, citing the potential offered by Brazil hosting the 2014 soccer World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Related posts: Daniel Chavez Moran on revitalized trade relations and Daniel Chavez Moran on rising retail sales. 

Daniel Chavez Moran Announces 2011 Prize Winners

Philanthropist Daniel Chavez Moran proudly announces the winners of the 2011 Vidanta Foundation Prize for "Contributions to the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean."

• First place and $100,000 is awarded to Desarrollo Autogestionario, A. C. (AUGE), Mexico.
• Second place and $75,000 is awarded to CE-Mujer, Dominican Republic.
• Third place and $50,000 is awarded to Associação Para Valorização de Pessoas com Deficiência, (AVAPE), Brazil. 

The annual Vidanta Foundation Prize is a joint initiative by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the nonprofit Vidanta Foundation, founded by Daniel Chavez Moran.

More than 200 civic organizations throughout the Americas applied for the Vidanta Foundation Prize this year. The winning submissions were selected on August 26, 2011, at Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo state, Mexico, by an esteemed international jury including Mrs. Billie Miller (Barbados), Mr. Carmelo Angulo (Spain), Luis Maira (Chile), Esteban Moctezuma (Mexico) and Julio María Sanguinetti (Uruguay).

Also nominated as finalists were:

•  Fundación Allegro, Argentina.
• Fundación Instituto de la Mujer, Chile.
• Sin Fronteras, I. A. P., Mexico.

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Daniel Chavez Moran: Education in the Battle Against Poverty

As the son of a school teacher in Mexico, Daniel Chavez Moran remembers the lessons taught to him by his mother who dedicated her life to helping children combat the destructive combination of ignorance and poverty. That is why Chavez Moran created Fundación Delia Moran A.C. in 2002 in his mother’s honor to provide assistance to children ages 6 to 12 whose day-to-day life is a constant struggle.

But more needs to be done to battle poverty through education according to WorldFund.org , founded by Luanne Zurlo after a nine-year career as a securities analyst on Wall Street:

 Without a high-level education, Latin American children will continue to lack the skills necessary for entering the workforce and participating in the increasingly competitive global economy.

• 50 million people in Latin America cannot read or write.
•  Latin Americans receive an average of six years of schooling, compared to nine-and-a-half years in the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.
• Nearly one-third of children in primary school in Latin America repeat a grade. The additional cost to the region's education systems has been estimated at $4 billion per year.
• Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru rank behind Uganda, Zambia, Botswana and Burundi in the quality of their math and science education.
• In Mexico, only 13 percent of adults receive a high school diploma versus 87 percent of American adults.
• Over 50 percent of Mexican and Brazilian 15-year old youth are functionally illiterate and thus unable to compete in today's economy.

Daniel Chavez Moran salutes the work of WorldFund.org and the dedication of all of those involved in this important effort “to minimize the education gap in Latin America by investing in high-quality and outcome-driven schools and education programs that serve impoverished children.”

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Daniel Chavez Moran on Mexico’s Global Economy

Daniel Chavez Moran, a retired developer now focused on philanthropy through the non-profit Vidanta Foundation, recognizes that today’s global economy directly connects life in Mexico with decisions made far away in Manhattan in the United States. He read with interest this recent article on the subject in the Economist magazine, excerpted below:

Making the desert bloom ...The financial crisis of 2008 began on the trading floors of Manhattan, but the biggest tremors were felt in the desert south of the Rio Grande. Mexico suffered the steepest recession of any country in the Americas... Its economy shrank by 6.1 percent in 2009... Between the third quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009, 700,000 jobs were lost, 260,000 of them in manufacturing. The slump was deepest in the prosperous north: worst hit was the border state of Coahuila. Saltillo, its capital, had grown rich exporting to America. The state’s output fell by 12.3 percent in 2009 as orders dried up. The recession turned a reasonable decade for Mexico’s economy into a dreary one. In the ten years to 2010, income per person grew by 0.6 percent a year, one of the lowest rates in the world. In the early 2000s Mexico boasted Latin America’s biggest economy, measured at market exchange rates, but it was soon overtaken by Brazil, whose GDP is now twice as big and still pulling away, boosted by the soaring real...
 Yet Mexico’s economy is packed with potential. Thanks to the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and a string of bilateral deals, it trades more than Argentina and Brazil combined, and more per person than China. Last year it did $400 billion of business with the United States, more than any country bar Canada and China... Though expatriates whinge about bureaucracy, the World Bank ranks Mexico the easiest place in Latin America to do business and the 35th-easiest in the world, ahead of Italy and Spain...
 These strengths have helped Mexico to rebound smartly from its calamitous slump...

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