The Poma Foundation is the philanthropist arm, the Poma business group was created in 1984 to rebuild El Salvador in the midst of the armed conflict.
Fundación Poma commemorated this Thursday 40 years of legacy in the construction of a country with more economic and social development. In the celebration, surrounded by friendly businessmen and family, Ricardo Poma, president of the institution, paid tribute to his loved ones who have left and were a key element in the formation of one of the strongest business groups in the region.
Our primary vision is to work tirelessly to ensure that people’s aspirations and efforts find a fertile environment, full of opportunities. This is our desire as a family. “It’s what, those who are no longer with us, and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Poma said in the midst of an ovation.
Fundación Poma was born in the bloodiest time of the armed conflict in 1984, shortly after members of the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP), an organization allied with the FMLN, kidnapped and murdered Roberto Poma, in 1977, brother of Ricardo Poma and father of Alejandro Poma – current vice president of the foundation.
The creation of Fundación Poma is the result of resignification of a painful time for the history of the country and for our family, the business leader added.
Poma emphasized that the Foundation has maintained for four decades the values that also govern the business group, with more than a century of presence in El Salvador, based on a philosophy that promotes integrity, excellence, respect and solidarity.
“We are convinced that acting faithfully to our values fosters a more harmonious, equitable and just society,” he added.
Legacy of the social vision of the Poma family
Fundación Poma continues the legacy of Luis Poma, father of Ricardo Poma, who instilled in his family that as entrepreneurs our purpose goes beyond business. The institution leads several programs in the areas of education, health and culture.
The foundation’s first contributions were addressed to organizations that shared the desire to “relieve the gaps in vulnerable communities,” such as the Salvadoran Red Cross, Asociación Pro Casa Maternal, Hogar de Pparalisis Cerebral and Asociación Agape.
In 1986, the Poma family joined a group of entrepreneurs to create the Salvadoran Foundation for Health and Human Development (Fusal) to channel humanitarian aid to communities affected by the armed conflict and the 1986 earthquake.
After 38 years, Fusal has given donations valued at $856 million to national institutions. This institution also launched in 2004 Pounds of Love to eradicate malnutrition and anemia in rural areas, a comprehensive early childhood care programme that in 20 years has benefited 13,000 and 3,000 pregnant women.
Education and culture
Also, in 1994, the family, together with friendly entrepreneurs, created the Higher School of Economics and Business (ESEN), which in 30 years graduated more than 2,650 students.
Thirteen years later, in 2007, the institution took a helm shift to strengthen its support in education by creating scholarship funds for low-income young people to continue vocational training. To date, more than 3,000 Salvadorans have benefited.
The group also supported the Ministry of Education for two decades to promote language, literature, spelling and mathematics competitions to raise the educational level.
In 2003, the family created Teatro Luis Poma as the first showroom inside a shopping mall.
The Poma, as it is affectionately called our room, has marked a before and after in the history of the Salvadoran theater through an uninterrupted billboard, a focus on the accessibility of shows and an agenda of opportunities,” added Poma, while detailing that the theater has received 100 theatrical groups.
In 2014, the Poma Foundation and the Higher School of Economics and Business (ESEN) became the local partners of the U.S. Social Progress Imperative initiative to measure the Social Progress Index (IPS), a methodology that reviews how prosperous a population is.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo