A VENEZUELAN PHILANTHROPIST WITH A VISION

By Rebeca Herrero

Smilka Melgoza

KKarin is a strong young philanthropist who’s had a long-standing career in the charity world. Her mission rests in the quest for a better world. “I always teach my children, Carlos Eduardo and Cassandra Angelie, that from every dollar we earn, we have to give a percentage to the less fortunate, as well as volunteer our time.” Solidarity, braveness, and a vision has determined the long path of a multi-generational family of philanthropists that Figueroa Cisneros comes from.

Which delves into her other hobbies. “Yes, I always wanted to be a jumper. Now is the time I have taken the initiative and get into this equestrian practice. I also do Paso Fino riding, but started jumping training at a farm in Kendall.

As part of the Polo Committee Initiative to promote the “Sport of Kings” in Miami, Figueroa Cisneros feels it is a new challenge in her life. “People need to know many Latin American families have shaped the world in a positive way. My uncle Oswaldo Cisneros, whom I had been very close with, taught others and myself how to give, in a quiet and elegant manner, but with a true and definitive purpose. Bottom line: to help.”

Figueroa Cisneros has raised money and provided her time to: Jackson Memorial Golden Angles Foundation, The Buoniconti Foundation, The Tiffany Circle of the Red Cross, Miami Children’s Hospital, now known as the Nicklaus Children’s Foundation and is a member of the Young Patrons of the Opera and Breakthrough Miami. She is also an entrepreneur. In the past she created a commercial product, Don Picante, sold in 54 Publix supermarkets and now is a founding member of a new telecommunications company, a start up she is working on called EZLlama an innovative application aiming at connecting families in Colombia and Venezuela through a novel idea.

“By getting a local phone number, families can call each other as if they were in their respective countries,” mentioned the philanthropist and entrepreneur who now resides in Miami with her two children.