Profile
For the last 20 years, Stephan Schmidheiny has devoted an important part of his time and resources to creating alliances with leaders of civil society and businessmen in favour of sustainable development.
Sustainable development in Latin America
Both his non-profit activities, channelled through the FUNDES and AVINA foundations, and his business activities, represented by GrupoNueva, are primarily focused in Latin America.
FUNDES, established in 1986, promotes competitive development among small and medium enterprises in Latin America by means of expert consulting and business training programs, thus contributing to the improvement of the economic, social and environmental sectors in Latin America.
AVINA, created in 1994, has important ties with civil society and business leaders that work towards sustainable development in Latin America, Switzerland and other European nations.
GrupoNueva, founded by Stephan Schmidheiny in 1994, adheres to the triple bottom line philosophy, in which entrepreneurial success is understood as the simultaneous achievement of positive results in the economic, social and environmental areas.
In 2003, Stephan Schmidheiny retired from his position as president in GrupoNueva and Fundación AVINA in Latin America. In order to perpetuate both his entrepreneurial and philanthropic legacy in Latin America, he donated all his GrupoNueva holdings and other investments to the VIVA Trust, an endowment of US$ 1billion.
The transfer of assets from GrupoNueva to VIVA Trust was another step toward the creation of new alliances between the entrepreneurial world and civil society in order to arrive at sustainable development. Currently, VIVA Trust is, on one hand, the owner of GrupoNueva and, on the other, the principal source of finance of the Fundación AVINA.
This new model is set on creating a virtuous circle that will strengthen society’s sustainable development while at the same time generate successful and socially responsible civil and business organizations, as well as a larger, more stable and just market.
Sustainable Development in the business world
In 1990, Stephan Schmidheiny was appointed chief advisor for business and industry to the secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), better known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit of 1992.
To better fulfil his mandate, Stephan Schmidheiny created a world council for business leaders. This council developed concepts such as eco-efficiency, and designed a business vision of sustainable development. In 1992, Stephan Schmidheiny and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published a book entitled Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development and the Environment (Cambiando el Rumbo: una perspectiva global del empresariado para el desarrollo y el medio ambiente, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, 1992), which was translated into 15 languages.
Art and Culture
Constantly dedicated to the promotion of education and culture, Stephan Schmidheiny has a well-established bond with the arts, besides being an important collector. His Daros Collection is mainly made up of paintings and sculptures from contemporary North American and European artists. Stephan Schmidheiny and his former wife Ruth also founded Daros-Latinamerica, a collection of works from contemporary regional artists. Through Daros Art Education, a program directed for young people, innovative ways of contributing to the knowledge and understanding of art are explored.
Career summary
Stephan Schmidheiny was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, in 1947. After earning his law degree in his native country, he started his business career at age 25, becoming CEO of his family’s construction materials enterprise after four years. Later on he began to further develop his activities and diversify his investments in enterprises related to forestry, banking, and the electronic and optical equipment industries. He was also appointed board member of ABB, Nestlé, Swatch, and UBS.
Stephan Schmidheiny has received a great number of awards and distinctions in acknowledgement for his leadership and contribution to sustainable development: among others, the Instituto Centro Americano de Administracion de Empresas (INCAE) PhD Honoris Causa degree, in 1993; the same degree from Yale University in 1996; and at Rollins College and Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (UCAB), both in 2001.