Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch

Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch (1931-2020) was a Guatemalan businesswoman and philanthropist who was awarded the Order of the Quetzal in 2005.
Personal life
She was born at San Cristóbal Totonicapán in 1931; she passed away in Guatemala City on Sunday, September 6, 2020. She lived until the age of 5 in Totonicapán, after which her family moved to Quetzaltenango, where she remained until at age 19.
The daughter of Juan Bautista Gutiérrez, founder of the Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI).
Isabel was the proud mother of 5 children, 19 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Her son Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez is a businessman.
One of the biggest challenges she had to face in her life was losing her husband in a plane crash while her children were still young. Her eldest was 21 and her youngest was 7.
Isabel left a legacy of work and effort, a model to pursue to give social meaning to business and big companies. A woman who, despite her great professional successes, never neglected caring.
Achievements
Isabel founded and was the President of Fundaniñas, that cares for abandoned girls, girls in conflict with the law, and young, low-income girls with potential.
During the course of her life, Isabel became involved in several community-based philanthropic activities. This led her to become the first female President of a Rotary Club.
Then she became the President of the Juan Bautista Gutiérrez Foundation.
The University-level Scholarship Program is among the most comprehensive in its kind and supports low-income Guatemalan youths wishing to pursue a college education. To date, this program has benefitted more than 324 young persons who have been able to graduate from university thanks to it.
My Health …My Responsibility: this is a program for 13 to 18-year old youths, that provides them with empowerment tools to reinforce their self-esteem, their right to say NO to risky situations, to make informed and responsible decisions, to develop critical thinking through case studies and to learn of integral health, all of this to help them accomplish their life project.
Nutrition Program: It seeks to create generational impact by following the Food and Nutritional Security principles through the transformation of Guatemalan families in rural areas, and to influence current levels of chronic malnutrition.
Fundación Juan Bautista Gutiérrez is a Guatemalan philanthropic organization that belongs to Corporación Multi Inversiones, one of the largest corporations of the Central American country. The Foundation was established in 1974 and since its inception has made significant contributions to provide relief in several crises such as the earthquake of 1976, Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and the hospital crisis of 2015.
Impact on communities
In August 2019, Isabel witnessed the end of the second phase of the Nutrition and Community Undertakings in San Cristóbal, Totonicapán. This initiative had a positive impact to reduce malnutrition among members of the community.
One of the most recent initiatives of the Foundation took place in June 2020, in the framework of the pandemic and as a response to COVID-19. ChildFund, Fundación Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch, Centro ProSaMe and Rotary created the program “We Play and Learn as a Family”, a series of 30 radio theater broadcasts and videos in Spanish, Kaqchikel, K'iche', Q'eqchi' and Mam. These seek to provide stability, promote the abilities of mothers and fathers, create positive environments of play and development and prevent physical and verbal violence in the homes of the most remote communities of Guatemala.
Recognitions
Isabel received a number of awards, among them:
* The Rotary International Paul Harris Award in 1990
* Dolores Bedoya de MolinaGrand Collar Award in 1993 and the “Celebration of our Values” recognition by Banco Industrial in 1995.
* In 2005 she received the Order of the Quetzal, Guatemala's highest honour
* In 2012 Rotary International awarded her a special recognition to her Rotary Service, on the occasion of the 90thAnniversary of Rotary presence in Central America.
* The Golden Fork Award, this time in its 12th edition, is an event that extolls the outstanding work of restaurants, chefs, and professionals who mark a difference in the Food and Beverage industry. The recognitions are presented by the Organizing Committee of the Food Industry Trade Fair, that includes the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala, the Guatemalan Tourism Board, the Restaurant Owners’ Association, the Technical Training and Productivity Institute -INTECAP-, Club Rotario Guatemala del Este, the National Coffee Association -ANACAFÉ- and Universidad Rafael Landívar.
In 2020, Forbes Central America recognized her as one of the most powerful women of the year.

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