The Lyford Cay Foundation today announced the appointments of two prominent businessmen and community leaders as Chairman and President of the country’s largest educational and charitable foundation.
Manuel J. Cutillas, retired chairman of the board of Bacardi Limited and Chairman of the University of Miami’s International Advisory Board, has been appointed Chairman. Mr. Cutillas assumes the role held by Harry C. Moore, the man largely credited with building the foundation from a small organization supporting arts and cultural exchanges into a multi-million dollar endowment providing hundreds of scholarships annually for Bahamians and supporting dozens of deserving programs and organisations. Mr. Moore will serve as Honorary Chairman and will continue to be involved with the new library project at The College of The Bahamas.
Paul R. Sandford, Managing Director and Chairman of High Tor Limited and an investment specialist, will serve as President. Mr. Sandford has been chairman of the Foundation’s Gifts and Grants Committee since 1998.
Announcement of the appointments, effective immediately, was made by the outgoing chairman. “The Lyford Cay Foundation has come to play a significant role in The Bahamas, helping hundreds of young people achieve a better education,” Mr. Moore said. “Many of those students who have attended universities and technical schools with Foundation aid have graduated and become our doctors, nurses, educators, our skilled construction crafts people and our technicians in trades from health to computers. In addition to its education arm, the Foundation’s Gifts & Grants Committee’s awards have helped provide beds for the elderly, a chance for the physically challenged, a summer program for the young.
“Today, in turning over the active leadership of the Lyford Cay Foundation, I am delighted to announce the appointments of Mr. Manuel Cutillas and Mr. Paul Sandford, two men whose capacity to care as demonstrated by their continued dedication to community is matched only by their business acumen,” Mr. Moore said. “I cannot think of any two people better qualified to lead the Foundation as it achieves new levels of growth and maturity in its commitment to the people of The Bahamas.”
Mr. Cutillas, former chairman of Bacardi Limited, spent nearly half a century in the family business his great-greatgrandfather founded, beginning with a distillery post in 1955 in his homeland Cuba. He moved to Nassau in 1960 and from 1961-1992, served in a variety of positions including Plant Superintendent, Vice President and President of Bacardi & Co. Limited. Although he retired as Chairman in 2000, he continues to serve as a Director of several Bacardi-Martini companies and of Grupo Televisa S.A., a large media company in Mexico. Mr. Cutillas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Miami in 2000. A Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award World Fellowship, Mr. Cutillas has served as Honorary Mexican Consul to The Bahamas since 1979. An avid boater, he resides in Nassau with his wife.
Mr. Paul Sandford, 35, has a distinguished career in the financial and investment arenas. He began his career as an investment banker in New York and later joined Morgan Stanley (Asia) Limited in Hong Kong. Since 1994, he has worked for High Tor Limited a privately held investment company where he now serves as Managing Director and Chairman. Mr. Sandford serves on the Boards of Green Cay Asset Management, a hedge fund, Primary Health Properties, a publicly traded provider of health care facilities in the U.K. and on the Advisory Board of Chart Capital Partners L.P. (US buyout firm). He graduated in 1989 from Queen’s University (Canada) with a Bachelor of Commerce degree with honours and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1990 from the same institution. A university track star, Mr. Sandford also achieved the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, a program known locally as the Governor-General’s Youth Award. Mr. Sandford continued his commitment to the program and has served as past chairman of its local Board of Trustees. He resides in Nassau with his wife and two children.
Both men have served on the Board of Directors of the Lyford Cay Foundation. Mr. Sandford was elected to the board in 1995. Mr. Cutillas joined the Board in 1990 and has served as president since 1996.
Also appointed to the Board of Directors were Alessandra Holowesko, Sarah Farrington and John T. Dorrance III.
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