Appian regards social, environmental and governance standards as crucial elements within all investment opportunities and portfolio companies

The main focus area of the AWCF will be children, women and the disenfranchised, and the Foundation will be seeking to contribute to the health and equal education of the children in the communities and principal regions Appian invests into with the aim of contributing to lifting people out poverty, improving long-term environmental stability and health and empowering women and girls.

With this aim in mind, the AWCF will be looking to support projects and programmes that will create the maximum impact for each dollar spent. To start with, the Foundation will assist Appian’s portfolio companies in allocating capital into the most impactful social programmes.

Should you wish to make contributions alongside the Fund or learn more about our activities, please email: [email protected].

In 2019, the Trustees of the Appian Way Charitable Foundation unanimously decided to focus the charity’s activities on educational projects. To this end, the Trustees agreed to support a teacher training initiative in the Alagoas region of Brazil. This programme is being developed in conjunction with UNEAL, the State University of Alagoas, and Educando, a well-established charity with the mission to transform the education of Latin American youth. The AWCF is working with these two organizations to create a bespoke training programme for teachers in Alagoas in the STEAM methodology. A pilot is being developed which will be rolled out to five schools in Alagoas to begin with, with the prospect of expanding the programme to additional schools in the region. At a later state, it is planned to roll out the programme with Educando and a regional partner in Bahia.

It is projected that approximately 120 teachers in Alagoas and around 35 teachers in Bahia will benefit from the full training programme. The estimated total number of impacted students is around 8,000.

In April 2020, in view of the COVID-19 situation, the AWCF Trustees approved a number of relief measures at MVV and Atlantic Nickel in order to improve access to hygiene products and equipment within the local communities. These measures include supporting local manufacturers in the production of masks which have been distributed free of charge to local communities as well as the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 tests, surgical masks, protection masks and infrared thermometers to the municipalities. So far, the value of equipment donated to the local communities in both Bahia and Alagoas is in excess of R$3m.

The AWCF also supported the Golang Education Outreach initiative with a grant. Golang Education Outreach is a charity working with underprivileged children in Honeydew, South Africa. The charity’s vision is to uplift and enhance the educational journeys of underprivileged and vulnerable children. Since its inception in 2002, Golang Education Outreach has benefitted hundreds of students and is currently supporting around 300 children in pre-schools and aftercare centres and through high school youth programmes.