Ernst & Young: Latin American entrepreneurs helped

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

More than 60 high-impact entrepreneurs from the Endeavor Network in Latin America have benefited from the volunteer efforts of Ernst & Young’s Americas Corporate Responsibility (CR) Fellows  since 2006. The 2012 class of Fellows has just returned from their seven-week assignments where they leveraged their workplace skills to meet the specific business needs of entrepreneurs at no charge to the businesses. Since the program was formed, CR Fellows have contributed nearly 27,000 hours working with promising entrepreneurs in emerging markets in an effort to create scalable, sustainable economic value.

This long-running program benefited entrepreneurs in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile this year by engaging Ernst & Young’s top-performing talent in projects that addressed business issues like cash flow management, human resources strategy, financial process definition and sales and marketing.

Since 2006, Ernst & Young has collaborated with Endeavor, a not-for-profit organization that identifies and supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging economies, to match the CR Fellows with their host company. And just last year, the firm announced a three-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship with Endeavor that includes support for International Selection Panels, executive-level mentors and connections, Global events sponsorship and the launch of a new financial course designed expressly for Endeavor Entrepreneurs.