NESsT, a pioneer in applying a private equity approach to philanthropy in emerging markets, is presenting its first Latin America Venture Philanthropy Award (the NESsT Golden Egg Award”) to Tim Purcell of Linzor Capital Partners, at the 2009 LAVCA Summit in New York City, September 21.

September 21, 2009– NESsT, an international, nonprofit venture philanthropy organization with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, Peru, Romania and Slovakia, has announced that it will present its first 2009 Latin America Venture Philanthropy Award, known as the “NESsT Golden Egg Award,” on September 21st at the University Club in New York City. The NESsT Golden Egg was established in 2001 to promote excellence in the field of venture philanthropy and to celebrate international venture philanthropy role models. The Award is part of NESsT’s ongoing Private Equity Shares initiative to promote philanthropic giving and make it easier and more effective for the private equity industry. The Award will be presented during the 2009 Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) Summit, an annual event bringing together over 150 private equity and venture capital professionals active across the Latin American region.

The NESsT award will be presented to Tim Purcell, Managing Partner and co-founder of Linzor Capital Partners L.P. in Santiago, Chile. The Award recognizes Mr. Purcell’s leadership as one of the most active advisors, donors and volunteers to the NESsT Venture Fund in Chile and across Latin America. “Tim is a great philanthropic role model for his peers. He has been incredibly generous to NESsT as a donor as well as with his time and network of contacts. He has helped lead our Private Equity Shares campaign to raise awareness of venture philanthropy among his colleagues and friends across Latin America, helping to build confidence in our work among the private equity industry,” said Nicole Etchart, NESsT’s Co-Founder & CEO.

Purcell has supported NESsT since 2004, providing one of the first donations from a private equity professional in Chile. He has helped to establish a prominent volunteer Board for NESsT in Chile and to launch NESsT’s Private Equity Shares campaign for Latin America, helping to raise funding and NESsT’s profile among private equity professionals across the region.

“LAVCA is proud to be supporting NESsT’s work in Latin America,” says Cate Ambrose, LAVCA’s Executive Director. “Private equity investment has increased significantly in the region in recent years, and NESsT’s venture philanthropy approach makes sense to fund managers who want their philanthropy also to be focused on creating value and measuring returns albeit social.  Tim Purcell is one of the great veterans of Latin American private equity and I am delighted that he will be recognized with this award at the LAVCA Summit.”

Purcell will be the first venture philanthropist in Latin America and the sixth internationally to receive the NESsT Award. Since starting the award in Europe in 2001, previous winners have included William Watson of SGAM Alternative Investments, Brian Wardrop of DBG Eastern Europe, Daniel Lynch of 3TS Capital Partners and Zoltán Tóth of 3i. The Award was first presented at the NESsT International Venture Philanthropy Forum in Budapest (October 2001) to George Roberts, founding partner of private investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & co. (KKR), in recognition of his efforts in founding REDF, a venture philanthropy fund in San Francisco.

The 2009 Award will be presented to Purcell by Felipe Medina, Chairman of the NESsT International Board of Directors and Regional Director for Latin America Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. Prospective recipients of the NESsT Golden Egg Award are identified based on nominations from NESsT staff, Board members, and advisors around the world.  More information on the NESsT Venture Philanthropy Award is available at:
http://www.nesst.org/furthering_award.asp

About Tim Purcell
Purcell previously worked for close to twenty years at J.P. Morgan in the Investment banking and principal investment areas. He started his career in New York in 1986 in the Latin American Mergers and Acquisitions group, which he co-headed from 1996 to 1999. In 2000 he became Managing Partner of J.P. Morgan Partners Latin America, LP, one of the leading private equity funds in the region. As one of the Senior Partners in J.P. Morgan’s private equity organization, Tim was also responsible for overseeing the firm’s global investment portfolio. Tim has served on a large number of Latin American corporate boards, including Nortel Inversora, Patagon.com, Banco Mercantil, Commercebank NA, Almacenes Exito, Latasa S.A., Cinemex S.A. de C.V., Convermex S.A. de C.V., Casa Marzam S.A. de C.V., San Luis Razzini, BOPP Holdings, Celulosa Arauco S.A., Cruz del Sur Vida S.A., Parque Arauco S.A., Movie Entertainment Latin America, among others. Tim graduated from Cornell University (Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Economics), the University of Pennsylvania (Masters in International Studies) and the Wharton School (MBA).
Visit: www.linzorcapital.com

About NESsT
Founded in 1997, NESsT works to solve critical social problems in emerging market countries by developing and supporting social enterprises. Since 1997, the NESsT Venture Fund has provided financial capital and mentoring to nearly 2000 social enterprises, transforming thousands of lives and demonstrating entrepreneurial solutions to critical social problems in emerging market countries.
Visit: www.nesst.org
Read more about Private Equity Shares at: www.privateequityshares.org

About LAVCA
The Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) is a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to supporting the growth of the private equity and venture capital industry in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Visit: www.lavca.org and the Summit website: www.lavca.org/lavca/web.nsf/pages/events2009summit.html