Press Releases

October 5, 2020

• Thirty-three projects from 13 countries were awarded in the following categories: Transforming Communities, Social Entrepreneurs, Communitarian Entrepreneurship, and Collaborative Action.
• All projects were granted training, and 8 of them will receive seed capital.
• In this 10th edition, 1,678 projects from 61 countries participated.

In its 10th edition, the CEMEX-Tec Award was presented to 33 selected projects from 13 countries, out of a record of 1,678 projects from 61 countries, in one of the four categories: Transforming Communities, Social Entrepreneurs, Community Entrepreneurship, and Collaborative Action.

For the past ten years, CEMEX and the CEMEX-Tecnológico de Monterrey Center for Sustainable Development have presented this award to support high-impact projects that promote economic growth and social commitment, with an emphasis on the preservation of natural resources around the world.

In the Transforming Communities category, there was an international winner and a Mexican winner, both of whom will receive seed capital for US$25,000 each to continue their work. The international winning project was Nadily Nega from Panama. This cultural center seeks to create an equipped infrastructure for textile and artisanal products from the Guna and Emberá ethnic groups. In Mexico, the winning project was Rescate de Variedades Nativas de Café, a Tec de Monterrey student project that aims to promote organic farming practices in Chiapas and preserve biodiversity of Mexico.

In the Social Entrepreneurs category, there were 15 winning projects, two of them from Mexico, that received training, and the first three places will receive US$10,000 each as seed capital. The winners were Daniel Gutiérrez, from the project Save the Amazon in Colombia; Eimy Barahona, from the TeleSan Mosquitia project, in Honduras, and Eddy Alvarado from Agro360 in the Dominican Republic.

Likewise, in the Communitarian Entrepreneurship category, the ten best projects were recognized, including three from Mexico, of which three will also receive seed capital of US$10,000. The winners were Esteban Van Dam from the Energía Eólica de Cholila project in Argentina, Luz Díaz from the project Implementation of a Comprehensive Composting System in Colombia, and Marlon Webb from Bosques para Nacer Agua from Costa Rica.

Finally, three Mexican and three international initiatives were selected to receive the awards' training and recognition in the Collaborative Action category.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEMEX-Tec Award's call remained open from February 13 to June 30. Students and professionals participated, of which 51% are female, and 49% are male, from 61 countries, where Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Spain, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and France stand out as the countries with the largest number of proposals.

On this occasion, the Experience Week and the awards were held digitally from September 21 to October 2 in alliance with Ashoka, Unreasonable México, MakeSense, Impact HUB, Disruptivo TV, and yCo.

During these weeks, the participants had the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn about the trajectory and advice of speakers such as Mathew Manos, CEO of Verynice, Ron Garan, former NASA astronaut, and Cristina Ortiz, coordinator of the Business Innovation Node at Universidad Iberoamericana del Golfo.

“For CEMEX, innovation is part of our DNA, so the CEMEX-Tecnológico de Monterrey Center contributes to our purpose of building a better future. This year we celebrate a decade of social entrepreneurship that directly contributes to the well-being and development of more sustainable communities and cities,” said Ricardo Naya, President of CEMEX Mexico.

"The CEMEX-Tec Award is one of the programs with which we strengthen the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social impact around the world," said Juan Pablo Murra Lascurain, Rector of the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. "We are very proud of the growth and international positioning it has had."

"I am proud of the trajectory and growth that the CEMEX-Tec Award has had. We already have a decade where we have grown hand in hand with the winners and our allies. It inspires me to continue growing hand in hand with more than 8,600 entrepreneurs from 90 countries, and let's continue building communities," said Martha Herrera, CEMEX's Global Director of Social Impact and Director of the CEMEX-Tec Monterrey Center for the Development of Sustainable Communities.

In 10 years of the CEMEX-Tec Award, a total of 5,443 projects from 90 countries have been received, uniting more than 8,600 people who have proposed ideas with which they seek to change the lives of their communities of origin and the entire world.

About Tecnológico de Monterrey
Tecnológico de Monterrey (http://www.tec.mx) is a private, non-profit institution founded in 1943 with the vision of educating leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit, a humanistic outlook and a global vision. Tec de Monterrey has 26 campuses across Mexico and an enrollment of more than 65 thousand undergraduate and graduate students, with 7 thousand faculty members, as well as 27 thousand high school students served by over 2,500 professors. The Institution has been accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) since 1950. The Institution is positioned 155th, according to the QS World University Rankings (2021), 3rd in the QS Latin America University Rankings (2020), and, in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings (2020), regarding employer opinion, 1st in Mexico and 40th worldwide. In the Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings (2020), it is ranked 1st in Mexico and 4th in Latin America, and is the only university outside the USA to be included in the Princeton Review & Entrepreneur’s Top Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies (2020), ranking 8th in undergraduate entrepreneurship programs. It is the top institution in the Education Sector in the MERCO Business Ranking, which measures corporate reputation in Mexico.

About CEMEX
CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high-quality products and reliable services. CEMEX has a rich history of improving the well-being of those it serves through innovative building solutions, efficiency advancements, and efforts to promote a sustainable future. For more information, please visit: www.cemex.com

CEMEX assumes no obligation to update or correct the information contained in this press release. CEMEX is not responsible for the content of any third-party website or webpage referenced to or accessible through this press release.