Lithuanian politician, philanthropist and digital entrepreneur A. Guoga says, he is honoured at the recognition. “The possibility to introduce positive changes and progress in my country is the main driving force for the philanthropy today. I’ve donated part of my income already more than a decade in every continent I worked or lived: Australia, Asia or Europe and I have no plans to stop. You cannot lose what you’ve already given away”, commented Mr. Guoga. He emphasized that for him the inclusion in the list is important mainly to highlight Lithuania and show that traditions of the philanthropy are well promoted in this young democracy.
MEP Guoga is a committed philanthropist. His full salary earned working as an MEP is dedicated to charitable activities. In 2014, Mr. Guoga has established the Antanas Guoga Support Fund.
Besides that, he has been taking part in philanthropic activities for more than a decade: he supports various social projects in Lithuania, dedicating solid amounts of donations for the social programmes, supporting people in need. Mr. Guoga donates to the Lithuanian Army. He also supported the Lithuanian National Basketball team and other sports. It was his support that enabled the Lithuanian National Basketball team to play in the 2010 Basketball World Cup in Turkey where Lithuania won the 3rd place.
One of the main priorities of A. Guoga is to promote youth entrepreneurship. He is constantly motivating young people to create companies and jobs for themselves by entering the digital market. This was one of the main topics of his event on ICT and entrepreneurship #SWTICH! that MEP Guoga has organized three years in a row. The Lithuanian MEP is ambassador for Coder Dojo and entrepreneurship education and e-skills in Lithuania. Thousands of Lithuanian children have already learned the first steps of coding via these projects. #SWTICH! and Mr. Guoga became the holder of the Guinness World Record title for the biggest programming lesson in the world with 712 kids coding in one room in 2016.
Last year Mr. Guoga announced that he’ll support the Vilnius University Endowment Fund and has dedicated 1 million euro. Mr Guoga is also supporting the construction of the community centre and church in one of the communes in Vilnius City.
In 2015 Guoga was included in the POLITICO 28 list. The European affairs weekly newspaper chose one person from each of the European Union's 28 member-states who is shaping, shaking and stirring Europe. In 2016 Guoga was included in the POLITICO 40 list as one of the most influential MEPs. Mr. Guoga was awarded the World Lithuanian of the Year prize in 2011.
The full list of the Top 200 Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs could be found here.