Panama City, October 22, 2026. The American Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Panama (AmCham Panamá) recognized six corporate initiatives during the 2026 edition of the Sustainable Leadership Recognition (RLS), its flagship sustainability program.

The programs were selected from among 20 submissions presented by member companies and were evaluated by a select group of national and international jurors in the Environment, Social and Governance categories.

In the Environment category, the recognition went to “Santa María Verde – Sostenibilidad,” from The Santa María, A Luxury Collection Hotel & Golf Resort. In the Social category, the “Programa Única,” from Global Bank, was honored, while in Governance the “Programa de Ética y Cumplimiento” from AES Panamá was recognized.

The jury also granted honorable mentions to “DHL Mission 2050: Hacia una Logística Cero Emisiones,” from DHL Panamá, S.A.; “Learning for Life,” from Diageo; and “Transparencia y Rendición de Cuentas con Grupos de Interés,” from Banco Nacional de Panamá.

“Sustainability is increasingly measured by what happens inside the operation: how a company uses its resources, relates to people, manages its risks and makes decisions. The programs recognized this year show that in Panama there are concrete experiences, developed from very different business realities, that can serve as a reference for other organizations,” said Mariela De La Guardia Oteiza, president of AmCham Panamá.

Since it was created in 2010, the RLS has received more than 200 submissions from more than 110 member companies, which has made it possible to assemble a valuable repository of experiences in environmental management, social development, ethics, transparency and corporate governance.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Oris Sanjur, Deputy Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, on the topic “From Knowledge to Action: The Role of Science in Building Resilience.”

The evaluation was carried out by an independent jury with national and international participation. The international jurors were Edgar López Pimentel, from Mexico, general director of EXPOKNews, and Esteban Koberg, from Chile, academic and researcher at EGADE Business School. Representing Panama were Natalia Young, vice president of Fundación Yaguará Panamá; José Ramón Padilla, director of the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA); Julio Mosquera Stanziola, president of ANREH; and Vilma Barría de Martínez, president of the Strategic Oversight Committee of the Instituto de Gobierno Corporativo de Panamá for the 2025-2026 term.

The evaluation process was overseen by Luisa Castro, a researcher at Georgia Tech Panamá, who certified the results and the transparency of the process. The final results were also endorsed by an authorized notary public of the Sixth Notary Office, who attested to their transparency and accuracy.

Created by AmCham Panamá in 2010, the Sustainable Leadership Recognition seeks to identify and share good business practices with concrete results, so that they can become benchmarks for other organizations and contribute, from the private sector, to Panama’s sustainable economic development.