George Logothetis Visits DR and Colombia to Expand Libra's Impact on Latin America - GreekReporter.com (original) (raw)
The Libra delegation at the Ombudsman’s Office in Colombia. Photo supplied
A delegation of the Libra Group led by Executive Chairman George Logothetis visited Colombia and the Dominican Republic (DR) recently to discuss the Group’s investments and philanthropy in the region.
Logothetis, a proud Greek American entrepreneur and philanthropist who is also the Chairman of Libra Group’s sister organization, Libra Philanthropies, met with two sitting presidents and three former presidents, visited with nonprofits, and met with business leaders, academics, and students during the five-day visit to the two countries and three cities.
He explained in many meetings including with Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro that the Group was built out of a desire not to be looked down upon as many Greeks are. Relating the story to the presidents he met with, he related his driving mission, “Look at us, don’t look down at us.”
Greece, as well as many Latin American countries, are often the victim of foreign news organizations who by serving their own interests eternize stigma that unfairly hurts their development.
The trip which included George Logothetis and senior Libra leaders included over twenty meetings and focused on the engagement of Libra’s three spheres of influence: business, the public sector, and philanthropy.
Libra discusses investments in Colombia and the Dominican Republic
Logothetis discussed investment opportunities in the countries, including looking to expand the Group’s renewable energy, hospitality, and aerospace sectors in the region. Also a topic of interest was the possibility of bringing the Group’s Aria Hotels, its curated hotel brand dedicated to authentic Greek hospitality with seventy hotels in Greece, to DR and Colombia.
As part of this, Aria would provide access to electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), allowing for carbon-free, cost-effective travel vital for supporting a growing eco-tourism industry. Last year, Aria signed a deal with LCI, an aerospace subsidiary, to provide its guests with access to ten of Beta Technologies’ ALIA-250 eVTOLs.
Aria has agreed to bring eVTOLs to Greece, allowing eco-friendly travel across their nearly seventy properties.
Logothetis meets Dominican Republic President Luis Abinadar. Photo supplied
During his meeting with President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic, Logothetis discussed possible expansion of the Group’s hospitality, renewable energy, and aerospace sectors, including its new space leasing business, SLI.
He also discussed a potential partnership to establish a university in DR which would be the first powered by renewable energy in the Caribbean.
One of Libra Group’s renewable energy companies, Greenwood Energy, is partnering with the University of Panama to make it the first public university in Latin America powered entirely by solar power, with an initial investment of forty million dollars.
Meeting with President Petro and a delegation of the Arhuaco community in Colombia, Logothetis discussed the Group’s Latin American subsidiary Greenwood Energy’s unique renewable energy project, Terra Initiative, a utility-scale solar project in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in partnership with the Arhuaco indigenous tribe.
Libra’s philanthropic work
Libra’s Logothetis pledges to support efforts to bring electricity and fresh water to a DR village. Photo supplied
As Chairman of Libra Philanthropies (LP), Logothetis and the delegation traveled over 125 miles from Santo Domingo to visit Las Mercedes in Pedernales. In this DR village, approximately eighty families live without access to electricity or clean water.
The Libra delegation met with the nonprofit Nature Power Foundation (NPF), which has named Las Mercedes its third Nature Village, helping to build renewable power infrastructure, break the poverty cycle, and provide sustainable solutions.
Following a very moving and personal tour of families’ homes and the school, Logothetis pledged that LP will help support NPF and the community.
In Colombia, Libra Philanthropies pledged support in dignifying and improving the quality of life of the prison and post-penitentiary population of the country. The Group also promised to help with overseeing the protection of civil and human rights and measures to fight human trafficking.
LP is comprised of ten philanthropic initiatives that include social impact, strategic giving, and independent non-profits and has positively impacted more than twenty-five million lives around the world.
Empowering young people in Colombia and the Dominican Republic
Logothetis delivered a keynote at the launch of former Colombian President Ivan Duque’s Innovation for Development Foundation (I+D).
Before an audience of three hundred Colombian students, academics, and public and private sector leaders, he spoke about leadership, humility, and generosity, highlighting ancient Greek values.
He applauded I+D’s focus on empowering young people and safeguarding democratic values, noting that “Democracy, what we cherish the most [is] being supported the least.” Noting that the I+D foundation is “needed now more than ever before” to meet today’s needs, Logothetis recognized President Duque’s relentless courage to create change, noting, “It will take new ideas, new energy, new insight. The common sense of today.”
He applauded former President Duque, pronouncing that he is a “global rocket ship powered by Colombian fuel,” who will continue to positively shape the lives of not only Colombians but people around the world.
Calling on all to follow President Duque’s example and embrace challenges, Logothetis reminded all, _“_We don’t do anything that is easy. And we should not desire it in any way.”
As Colombia One reports, Logothetis met with nearly forty of Libra’s past and future interns from Colombia. The internship program, launched in 2011 during the Greek economic crisis, has evolved into a global program with hundreds of interns from nearly fifty countries.
Growing from one shipping subsidiary with Greek roots, Libra Group includes thirty operational entities in more than sixty countries. These include twenty businesses housed under Libra Group predominately focused on six sectors—aerospace, renewable energy, maritime, real estate, hospitality, and diversified investments—and ten philanthropic programs within its sister organization.
Libra Philanthropies is a fully independent sister organization of Libra Group that was launched by the Logothetis family in 2023 as a 501(c)(3) foundation comprised of ten philanthropic initiatives that include social impact, strategic giving, and independent non-profits.