Category: News

Amouyel Brings 15+ Years of Social Impact Experience to a Radically Good Nonprofit That Helps Kids

WESTPORT, Conn., March 1, 2023 – Newman’s Own Foundation has announced Alex Amouyel as its incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, starting in April. The Foundation was established by the late actor, racecar driver, and philanthropist Paul Newman to carry on his radically good legacy of giving away 100% of profits from Newman’s Own food and beverages. Amouyel will succeed Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D., who is retiring after three years of transformative leadership at the Foundation. With Amouyel at the helm, Newman’s Own Foundation will lean into its mission to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity. Amouyel’s experience in philanthropy and impact investing in underserved communities will be invaluable as the Foundation continues to create positive change.

Amouyel brings over 15 years of experience in social impact work to Newman’s Own Foundation, with a strong record of supporting social innovators around learning, health, and economic development, including with U.S. Indigenous communities. She is the outgoing Executive Director of MIT Solve, whose mission is to drive innovation to solve world challenges. Previously, Amouyel was the Director of Program for the Clinton Global Initiative. She also worked for Save the Children International in London and across Asia, the Middle East, and Haiti, and at the Boston Consulting Group. Amouyel holds a double master’s degree in International Affairs from Sciences Po, Paris, and the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge, UK. She is the author of The Answer is You: A Guidebook to Creating a Life Full of Impact.

“I have been so inspired by the work of Newman’s Own Foundation,” says Amouyel, “in particular, their collaborative and trusting approach with partners, and I look forward to continuing Paul Newman’s legacy of ‘giving it all away’ to support impactful organizations.”

“Newman’s Own Foundation is thrilled to welcome Alex Amouyel as its new President and CEO,” says Michael Clayton, Chair of the Board, Newman’s Own Foundation. “Across her career, Alex has brought together brilliant minds and scalable resources to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. We are highly confident in her abilities to carry on Paul Newman’s legacy, accelerating our impact as we nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity.”

Paul Newman was a pioneering social entrepreneur who made the radically good decision to start a company that was uniquely created to give. With its latest distributions, Newman’s Own has given away more than $600 million since Paul Newman started the company in 1982. For more information on Newman’s Own Foundation, visit NewmansOwn.org.

About Newman’s Own Foundation

Legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman was committed to helping make the world a better place. In 2005, he created Newman’s Own Foundation to continue giving away 100% of profits and royalties from the sale of Newman’s Own food and beverages, something he had been doing since founding Newman’s Own, Inc., in 1982. As of 2022, more than $600 million has been donated to good causes, especially to help kids who face adversity.

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Newman’s Own Foundation Helps Kids Who Face Adversity, Carrying on Actor Paul Newman’s Inspiring Legacy

WESTPORT, Conn., Dec. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Newman’s Own Foundation, the private foundation created by Paul Newman to carry on his legacy of giving away 100% of profits from Newman’s Own food and beverages, is leaning into its new mission and giving strategy to nourish and transform the lives of kids who face adversity. Today, the Foundation announced that, with its latest distributions, more than $600 million has been given to great causes since 1982. Since sharing earlier this year that it will concentrate its giving on supporting kids facing adversity, the Foundation has been focused on elevating the work of longstanding partners while engaging new organizations, bringing joy to seriously ill children and improving nutrition security for children in schools and Indigenous communities in the U.S.

This year, Newman’s Own Foundation provided funding to 272 different organizations, including SeriousFun Children’s Network, the world’s leading network of medical specialty camps and programs serving children with serious illnesses and their families; FoodCorps, an organization advocating for a future in which every child has access to food education and nourishing food in school; and Safe Water Network, which ensures low resource communities have access to a sustainable supply of safe water. In November, Newman’s Own Foundation distributed grants to 39 new grantees that are advancing childhood nutrition security in schools and for Indigenous youth, including Greater Newark Conservancy, Inc., Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, Inc., California Indian Museum & Cultural Center, Feed Seven Generations, and Sicangu Community Development Corporation. The Foundation also provided support to organizations that work with foster children and children’s mental health.

“Paul Newman believed that when you see the right thing to do, you better do it,” said Miriam E. Nelson, PhD, president and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation. “By supporting kids who face adversity, including in Indigenous communities where funding is low, Newman’s Own can help more kids at a critical moment in time and develop and scale sustainable solutions for long-term impact.”

To identify innovators in nutrition security, Newman’s Own Foundation issued two requests for grant proposals (RFPs) this summer. According to Faith Fennelly, director of philanthropy at Newman’s Own Foundation, “One RFP built on the work of longstanding partner FoodCorps to improve nutrition security in schools at the national level, with a concentration on smaller scale coalitions and organizations doing work at the state level. The other built on a decade of progressive work supporting Indigenous youth. We sought out early- and mid-stage social entrepreneurs leading innovative organizations in communities with great need for access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant food.”

Today, more than 34 million children in the U.S. face at least one significant adverse childhood experience, including severe or chronic health conditions, poverty, and nutrition insecurity, and the need has grown with the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the overall food insecurity rate for kids was the lowest it had been in more than 20 years, yet nearly 11 million children were still food insecure. Those numbers rose again by several million over the last two years.

Legendary actor Paul Newman was committed to helping make the world a better place. To carry on his philanthropic legacy, he created Newman’s Own Foundation in 2005 to continue giving away 100% of profits from Newman’s Own, Inc., food and beverages, something he had been doing since founding the company in 1982. The private foundation is funded by the profits and royalties generated by the sale of Newman’s Own food and beverage products. As of 2022, Newman’s Own has donated more than $600 million to good causes, especially to kids who face adversity.