OUR VISION AND ACTIVITIES

The Pontis Foundation has operated in Slovakia for 25 years and is one of the largest non-corporate foundations. During that time, we implemented dozens of projects that helped make Slovakia a better country for everyone and connected vital players in critical topics.

Our vision is a Slovakia that understands the power of meaningful cooperation.

Where the state, the corporate and civil sectors cooperate to make Slovakia a country where people want to live, study, and work.

“We believe that cooperation is not just a pathway. We are convinced that it is a bridge between what Slovakia is and what it can be. Any person can initiate a change, but we can only complete it if we work together.”

Martina Kolesárová & Michal Kiššaco-CEOs of the Pontis Foundation

Strong bonds for positive changes

The mission of the Pontis Foundation is to create strong, meaningful connections and bring about positive change in our areas of focus, which are social innovation, philanthropy and responsible entrepreneurship.

Our strategy is to foster equal partnerships with all stakeholders involved. We strive to build expertise in our areas of focus, introduce emerging trends, and prioritise long-term impact. By doing so, we aim to inspire others and attract collaborative opportunities that align with our mission.

The leitmotif of our work is the Chmarošský Viaduct near Telgárt.

It has its reason. The viaduct is part of the beautiful and specific Horehronie region. It was created to connect territories and people. The whole region participated in its construction, and as part of the Telgárt loop, it was a unique innovation. Until now, it has been a symbolic place that points to the strength and endurance of the region.

We believe that we are this way too. We want to connect, bring trends and inspire. Just as the Chmarošský Viaduct has pillars, we also stand on three pillars. These are responsible entrepreneurship, social innovation and philanthropy. The pillars „stand“ in various societal environments – we work with individuals, companies, public administration and civic organisations.

Our strategic topics

Social innovation

We support innovations that seek to bring about social change.

They are all around us, brought mainly by the civil sector, but also by startups and companies.

Proven solutions to societal problems already exist. We need to create space for their implementation. We want to be the voice that speaks about them. We connect organisations that have the know-how with companies and public institutions that can effectively support the implementation.

We offer expertise and guidelines on how to do it. We also develop our own social innovation, which brings changes in the perception of the potential of primary school pupils, titled Open Future. We also support start-up and established organisations with a positive social impact through our Impact Lab programme.

Thanks to the mapping of social innovators, we have an overview of innovative projects throughout Slovakia.

We understand philanthropy as a tool for change for the better. We focus on this so that companies and large individual donors donate funds efficiently and help eliminate the root causes of problems, not just their consequences.

We believe every donation makes more sense if the donor considers the long-term impact. We have the ambition to push the standards of philanthropy and actively contribute to defining what it means to be a good funder.

In philanthropy, we connect civil organisations with companies and individual donors and help them effectively fulfil their philanthropic strategy. If they look for a strategy, we provide them with consultation and know-how so they can launch their philanthropic story fully.

Philanthropy

We develop philanthropy to help address root causes instead of consequences of social issues.

Responsible entrepreneurship

We have led companies to fair and transparent entrepreneurship for a long time now.

We have been significantly contributing to the fact that CSR, or ESG, is part of the entrepreneurship of successful businesses for over 20 years now.

We emphasise a comprehensive approach in activities concerning all partners so that companies treat their employees and suppliers well, protect the environment, and help the community.

Our goal is for responsibility to be part of the entrepreneurship of every business in Slovakia.

We administer the Business Leaders Forum association and the Diversity Charter of Slovakia. Further, we organise the Via Bona Slovakia Awards and the volunteer event Our Town. Through training and consultations, we help companies set up their CSR strategies, implement a stakeholder dialogue, and prepare CSR reports.

Our activities

We focus on activities that bring meaningful connections in our key areas of focus, namely social innovation, philanthropy and responsible entrepreneurship:

  • We help organizations grow in Impact Lab’s acceleration and incubation program, where we connect them with other experts and leverage the tools of the start-up community;
  • We run an extracurricular centre titled Open Future. It focuses on the development of children’s entrepreneurship skills; they meet interesting personalities, visit inspiring places and are looked after by skilled mentors;
  • We organise events such as Via Bona Slovakia, Our Town, Impact Summit, and Impact Talks, which serve to bring examples of good practice and opportunities for networking;
  • We are the ambassador of the global #GivingTuesday campaign for Slovakia. The campaign connects those who want to help with those who need help;
  • As part of Impact Philanthropy, we provide philanthropic consulting to major funders on how to donate with long-term impact;
  • We create a space for training, consultations and long-term cooperation, where we connect experts with civil organisations;
  • We manage endowment funds, within which we meaningfully redistribute funding from companies to organisations, schools, kindergartens, municipalities, and individuals;
  • We build a network of responsible companies in our Business Leaders Forum association and the Companies to the Community platform, which, thanks to our partnership, are well-versed in meaningful CSR;
  • We are the national administrator of the Diversity Charter, which any employer can join to support the creation of inclusive workplaces.

THROUGH THESE ACTIVITIES, WE HAVE DEVELOPED A STRONG UNDERSTANDING AND PRESENCE IN THE CORPORATE, CIVIL, AND PUBLIC SECTORS.

Who we are

We create strong and meaningful linkages between the corporate, civic and public sectors in our three strategic topics – social innovation, philanthropy and responsible entrepreneurship. We build expertise our expertise in these issues, bring trends, promote long-term impact, and inspire.


Pontis Foundation
Zelinarska 2821 08
Bratislava


Contact:
Phone: (+421 2) 5710 8111
pontis@pontisfoundation.sk
Contact for media:
Phone: (+421 2) 5710 8113
pr@pontisfoundation.sk

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