What began with individual philanthropic initiatives developed over the years into an international network of foundations and non-profit organisations. Whether entrepreneurship, sustainable development, marine conservation, culture or regional support – at the centre was always the conviction that lasting change arises where people take responsibility and develop new solutions together. Many of these organisations now continue to operate independently of their founder Stephan Schmidheiny and shape their respective fields to this day.
Fundes
For Stephan Schmidheiny, economic development began with the people who found companies and create jobs. Together with the Panamanian archbishop Marcos McGrath, he founded Fundes in 1984 to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America.
Over the decades, Fundes supported entrepreneurs with advice, training and hands-on guidance. Thousands of companies were thus able to strengthen their competitiveness, open up new markets and create sustainable jobs.
From the original philanthropic initiative grew an organisation with regional reach and its own momentum. Today, Fundes operates in numerous Latin American countries and works, independently of its founder, to advance sustainable and inclusive economic models.
Alexander Schmidheiny Stiftung
The Alexander Schmidheiny Foundation was established in 1993 in memory of Alexander Schmidheiny, who had died unexpectedly a year earlier. Through the foundation, Stephan Schmidheiny combined the memory of his brother with a long-term commitment to the family’s home region, the St. Gallen Rhine Valley.
For more than three decades, the foundation has supported cultural, social, ecological and educational projects in Eastern Switzerland. Particular emphasis is placed on the promotion of music and culture, support for young people, and start-up funding for new initiatives.
Over the years, this has given rise to a foundation that helps keep the Rhine Valley a vibrant space for culture, education and life. In doing so, it carries forward, in a regional way, an idea that shapes Stephan Schmidheiny’s philanthropic work as a whole: sustainable development begins where people take responsibility for their immediate surroundings.
Avina Stiftung
The Avina Stiftung was established in 1994 out of Stephan Schmidheiny’s conviction that social change cannot be imposed but originates with people who develop new ideas and take responsibility. It was among the first foundations in Switzerland to combine philanthropy with entrepreneurial thinking and to specifically support ventures that linked social impact with innovative strength.
For many years, the Avina Stiftung was an important source of impetus for Switzerland as a hub for foundations and innovation. As a founding member of SwissFoundations, it contributed to the professionalisation of philanthropy and helped shape the understanding of impact-oriented funding. The foundation supported thousands of projects in the fields of society, culture, education, sustainability and entrepreneurship.
Often, this was not about the long-term financing of established institutions, but about supporting ideas in their decisive start-up phase. Initiatives and organisations such as the Stapferhaus, the Expo.02 exhibition, Venture Kick, the Impact Hub and international humanitarian projects of the ICRC received important impulses from the foundation’s environment. Many undertakings that seem self-evident today emerged at a time when their ideas were still unusual, bold or experimental.
In parallel, the foundation’s Latin American engagement gave rise in 2001 to the independent Fundación Avina, which carried the idea of sustainable development and cross-sector collaboration throughout Latin America.
Today, the Avina Stiftung focuses on transforming the food system and promoting healthily produced food. In doing so, it remains true to its original aspiration: to support people and ideas that open up new paths towards a sustainable future.
Fundación Avina
Societal challenges can rarely be solved by individual actors alone. With this conviction, Stephan Schmidheiny established the Avina Stiftung in 1994 to support innovative ventures for a more sustainable society. Early on, the engagement focused in particular on Latin America, where a growing network of people and organisations committed to social, ecological and economic development took shape.
With the rapid growth of this network, the independent Fundación Avina emerged in 2001. Over three decades, it has built bridges between civil society, business, politics and science, and has not merely funded individual projects but enabled partnerships that set long-term change in motion. Themes such as climate protection, social participation, sustainable economic activity and the strengthening of democratic structures are at its core.
What began as a philanthropic initiative developed into one of the leading organisations for sustainable development in Latin America. Today, Fundación Avina is present through its own locations and a broad partner network in numerous countries of the region. Together with thousands of allies, it helps develop innovative approaches to the great challenges of our time – fully in keeping with Stephan Schmidheiny’s conviction that lasting change arises where people and institutions take responsibility together.
MarViva
The seas of Latin America are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Together with Erica Knie, Stephan Schmidheiny founded MarViva in 2002 to help protect them. Convinced that ecological sustainability and human well-being are inseparably linked, the foundation has, from the outset, worked to preserve marine habitats and promote the sustainable use of the oceans.
For more than twenty years, MarViva has worked with coastal communities, science, policymakers and civil society to develop solutions for sustainable fishing, the protection of marine ecosystems, the responsible development of coastal regions and the fight against marine pollution. What began as an initiative to protect the unique coastal and marine landscapes of the eastern tropical Pacific has grown into one of Latin America’s leading marine conservation organisations.
MarViva combines scientific knowledge with concrete action and is committed to ensuring that the region’s seas remain biodiverse, resilient and productive for future generations as well.
Viva Trust
With the establishment of the Viva Trust in 2003, Stephan Schmidheiny entered uncharted philanthropic territory. He set up an irrevocable trust under British law, to which he donated his companies in Latin America. The aim of the Viva Trust is to foster development in Latin America over the long term, and a significant portion of the profits from the industrial operations is invested in the Fundación Avina and other philanthropic activities.