Goodwill Industries International, Inc global.goodwill.org

Carlos Hellmund is a successful Venezuelan Executive and the vice president of the board of directors of Goodwill Venezuela. He is also the current chairman of the board and former CEO of C. Hellmund & Ca S.A. (Exclusive Distribution of Fuji Photo Film) and has received many honors, including the prestigious “The Order of the Rising Sun”, which was conferred by the Emperor of Japan in 2006. In 2007, he was named Businessman of the Year by the Caracas Chamber of Industry and Commerce and in 2008 received the Distinguished Service Award given by PMA International.

When the Venezuelan National Assembly passed a new law in 2006 requiring that people with disabilities hold at least five percent of jobs in Venezuelan companies, businesses had three years to become compliant. During this time, many companies looked to Goodwill Venezuela in search of qualified and trained employees, including Panasonic Venezuela. Zeleuxis Chauran, Director of Human Resources for Panasonic Venezuela turned to Goodwill to fill two job openings for persons with disabilities. “I was worried about how we would treat them” she said “but from the conversations we had with Goodwill we knew better how to treat them, like normal people, treat them in a normal way as a normal employee, with some specific adjustments and guidance from Goodwill.” She further commented “It has gone really well, if we would’ve treated them too carefully, they would’ve felt bad, but we have treated them as part of our group.”

Analisha Britto came to Goodwill West Indies at the age of 15 with low self esteem, little confidence. This shy young woman, who has autism, came to Goodwill West Indies with an interest in cooking. Analisha quickly excelled in making a variety of pastries. She began to make sweet bread, black forest cake and other desserts, and as she learned more from her Goodwill instructors she grew in confidence. As her skills advanced, she also received on-the-job training at a local bakery, and then became a full-time, permanent pastry assistant at the Cascadia Hotel, one of the premier hotels in the Trinidad & Tobago capital city, Port of Spain.