EY Vantage Program celebrates its 10th year in the Americas, advising entrepreneurs in Latin America

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, the EY Vantage Program, which sends top-performing EY professionals abroad to advise high-impact entrepreneurs, is celebrating its 10^th anniversary in the Americas, where it has provided more than 35,000 pro bono hours to more than 100 businesses.

EY collaborates with Endeavor, a not-for-profit organization that identifies and supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging economies, to match the Advisors with a host company. The EY Vantage Program provides high-impact entrepreneurs access to our most talented professionals for six or seven weeks on a pro bono basis, helping them grow so they can continue to create jobs and wealth in their communities. Meanwhile, EY Advisors gain firsthand knowledge of the emerging markets and industries in which they volunteer. For this year's program in the Americas, EY member firms sent 18 Advisors (the single largest Americas class to date) to provide pro-bono consulting services to small businesses in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile. The program also expanded this year to include Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For seven weeks this fall, the EY Vantage Program in the Americas provided more than 5,000 hours of professional services to help create scalable and sustainable economic value in Latin America. The EY participants advised their Latin American host companies in areas such as preparing financial models, developing marketing plans, improving business flow, and creating business plans.

"Working with an entrepreneur was an eye-opening experience," says Irene Liu, an Advisory Manager at Ernst & Young LLP based in New York. "There are always new issues and challenges coming up, but everyone works together to think of a plan and potential solutions. It's a very collaborative environment and the best part is that you can actually see the impact of your ideas and recommendations in real time."

The first class of the EY Vantage Program in the Americas, formerly known as the Corporate Responsibility Fellows program, was launched as a pilot in 2005 and sent five EY employees to advise small businesses in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Since the program's launch, more than 100 EY professionals have participated in the program.

"For more than 30 years, EY through the Strategic Growth Markets practices has been the leader in advising, guiding and recognizing entrepreneurs. Over the past decade, the EY Vantage Program in the Americas has expanded that support to high-potential entrepreneurs in Latin America who could not otherwise afford our services," said Deborah K. Holmes, EY Americas Director of Corporate Responsibility. "The EY Vantage Program not only benefits the entrepreneurs, but it gives EY people the opportunity to handle real-world challenges that they might not typically encounter until later in their careers. The Advisors return to their local EY teams with strengthened leadership skills and a more global mindset."

The EY Vantage Program is one component of EY's relationship with Endeavor, which includes a multi-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship that supports the not-for-profit's international selection panels, executive-level mentors and connections, and global events sponsorship. The success of the EY Vantage Program, originally launched as two independent programs in two geographic markets, is driving the transition to an expanded global program.

"Endeavor is committed to forging lasting bonds between experienced business professionals and high-potential entrepreneurs around the world," said Endeavor co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg. "Since partnering with EY, we've been able to place participants that are extremely proficient in a wide range of business management aspects with high potential entrepreneurs that are able to leverage their assistance in order to make real and substantial changes to grow and improve their businesses."

The 2014 EY Vantage Advisors in the Americas supported the following projects:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Escol@24Horas, an education company, was advised by a Los Angeles-based Advisory Manager with a business plan review and assessment.
• Confiance Medical, a medical equipment company, received guidance from a New York-based FSO Advisory Manager on finance and accounting to support the company's growth.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

• Gera, a technology company, was served by an Advisory Manager from McLean, Virginia, with its business strategy and planning for its first mobile release.
• Cash Monitor, a cloud-based company, received guidance with its finances, internal controls and new KPIs from an Assurance Manager based in Toronto.

Mexico City, Mexico

• Linko, a customer experience company for banking users, was advised by an Assurance Manager based in Porto Alegre, Brazil, with product development assessments.
• Previta, a company focused on chronic disease detection and treatment in their clinics, was served by an Advisory Manager from Houston to prepare for an SAP software implementation. 
• Kichink, the leading ecommerce platform in Mexico, was advised by an Advisory Manager from New York on business flow and related financials.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

• InvGate, a leading provider of enterprise software, received guidance by a TAS Manager based in Chicago on its growth and expansion strategy.
• Restorando, an online reservation service, was served by an Assurance Manager based in Toronto to review and prepare financial processes and tax considerations for its upcoming ERP implementation.
• Oasis Collections, a vacation villa service, improved their financial processes with the guidance of an Assurance Manager from Los Angeles.
• SegundoHogar, a vacation rental company, was served by a Los Angeles-based Tax Manager to prepare financial models and reports for expansion.
• Ozono Producciones, a theatre production company, developed marketing plans with the guidance of an Assistant Director from San Jose, California.

Bogota, Colombia

• BunnyInc., a company that creates technology-driven, on-demand services for the creative world, was advised by an FSO Advisory Senior Manager based in Chicago to re-evaluate its business model.
• Marroquinera, a fashion retailer, was served by an Advisory Manager from New York to review and improve its current operations and production processes.
• Gruncol, a company that designs and installs green roofs and walls, received guidance from a Cleveland-based Advisory Manager with financial processes and reporting.

Santiago, Chile

• Prodalysa, a food company that develops sweeteners based from stevia, was advised by a TAS Manager based in Toronto on valuation and capital needs for its future growth.
• Urbano, a fashion accessories retailer, was served by an Advisory Manager from Haifa with overall strategic growth plans.
• Eco-logica, a recycling company for Chile's trash, received guidance by an Assurance Senior Manager from Dallas to help structure the financial processes (forecasts, budgets, reports) and prepare for growth.

To learn more about the EY Vantage Program, please click here.

About Endeavor
Hailed by The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as "the best anti-poverty program of all," Endeavor is leading the global movement to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. To date, Endeavor has screened more than 30,000 entrepreneurs and selected 844 individuals leading 538 high-impact companies.

With support from Endeavor's worldwide mentor network, these high-impact entrepreneurs:

• Have created over 225,000 jobs
• Generated over $6 billion in revenues in 2012
• Inspire future generations to innovate and take risks

Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in 19 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia. The organization recently launched its first US-based affiliate in Miami. As the high-impact movement expands globally, Endeavor will continue to prove that anyone with a big idea can succeed, from Silicon Valley to Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, an EY member firm providing services to clients in the US.

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