“Serving is our story”: The Foundation launches campaign for its 60th anniversary

The Norberto Odebrecht Foundation has kicked off its 60th anniversary celebrations with the launch of the institutional campaign “Serving is our story,” a tribute to a six-decade journey marked by a commitment to human development and social transformation. More than 700,000 people have already been impacted, and the Foundation has received notable awards such as the United Nations Public Service Award in 2010 and the Best NGO in Bahia in 2022, granted by Doar (Donate)Institute.

As part of the campaign, a special commemorative webpage has been launched, featuring a timeline of the Foundation’s key milestones, its impact in numbers, testimonials from people who have been part of this journey, and a manifesto video that revisits emblematic moments from its history, from its early steps in the 1960s to nowadays.

60 Years of History

Founded on December 31, 1965, the Foundation was created to support members of the ancient Norberto Odebrecht Construction Company, offering medical, educational, recreational, and social assistance to them and their families. With the company’s expansion in the 1970s, it structured 19 support centers at construction sites across the country, reaching around 20,000 people.

In the 1980s, the Foundation bagen to direct its operation to public interest issues of workers, promoting awards, debates, and mobilizations around topics relevant to national development. In 1988, it adopted adolescent education as its new institutional focus, supporting the publication of books on adolescence and youth. It also actively contributed to discussions that led to the creation of the Child and Adolescent Statute, reinforcing its commitment to the cause.

From 1999 onward, the Foundation concentrated its efforts in Brazil’s Northeast and rural areas problems, which led to a new phase in 2003: the creation of the Integrated Development and Growth Program with Sustainability , a social technology applied in the  South of Bahia State to strengthen family farming and promote sustainable territorial development.

Hoje, a Fundação Norberto Odebrecht é reconhecida como uma das mais antigas fundações empresariais do país, tendo expandido o alcance do seu programa social para novos territórios e mantendo como traço central de sua identidade o espírito de servir, valor da Nossa Cultura, do Grupo Novonor, que inspira o slogan dos 60 anos.

Today, the Norberto Odebrecht Foundation is recognized as one of the oldest corporate foundations in the country. It has expanded the reach of its social program to new territories and keeps as a key trait in its identity the spirit of service, a core value of  Nossa Cultura (Our Culture), from the Novonor Group, which inspires the slogan for its 60th anniversary.

Click here to view the campaign’s special webpage.