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4 | A N N U A L A C T I V I T I E S R E P O R T 2 0 1 5
Letter from the
President and Founder:
T
en years ago, as I retired from serving 25 years as CEO of STMicroelectronics, armed
with a passion to improve our world, with a few resources from my retirement, and
with many friends and former colleagues willing to join me, a new exciting chapter
of my life began as I ventured assuredly into the world of philanthropy through the set
up a not for profit organization to serve those who have no voice, the most vulner-
able members of society, and yet who hold our future – the children of the world.
My conviction was to bring efficiency and transparency to the sector, and make the
greatest possible impact to improve the lives of children in need with the available
resources. One decade on along this rewarding journey of learning and partaking in
the joy of giving, our results speak for themselves: we have reached out to over 3500
underprivileged children providing access to school, basic health care and nutrition;
nearly 400 students have successfully completed Professional School; 45 school and
village infrastructure projects have been completed; and over 32 village commu-
nities and tens of thousands of indirect beneficiaries have been positively impacted by our actions.
All this has been possible with a yearly average investment of only 500,000 CHF, with an average overhead spending of
less than 4% of our budget, through careful and scrupulous project investment, leveraging on a significant network of
committed volunteers worldwide, and devolving every dollar donated to our projects on location. The ripple effects and
wealth created by new productive members of society, village families that have become self-sustainable, and projects
that have improved health, sanitation and nutrition in villages, are immense. This incredible journey is the source of great joy
when I witness the tangible and significant development that the villages we work with have achieved and that previously
extremely poor children excluded from public school systems are now empowered with education and can proudly look
forward to a brighter future. These results enforce our determination, with your continued support, to further broaden our reach.
Sincerely,
Pasquale Pistorio
Outside Sogpelce Secondary School, Burkina Faso