Interactive Intelligence CEO Makes Largest Private Donation To Nobel Prize-Nominated AIDS Program

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 13 Dec 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Interactive Intelligence (Nasdaq:ININ) CEO, Dr. Donald E. Brown, has donated $1 million in stock to the Indiana University-Kenya Partnership, a program designed to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. This is the single largest private donation since the program's inception.

The Partnership began in 1989 when Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University School of Medicine in Kenya joined forces to provide educational opportunities for their students, and to assist in the development of health care for Kenyan patients.

A decade later, the Partnership responded to the African AIDS pandemic by creating the Academic Model for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS. Through AMPATH, more than 55,000 HIV-positive patients at 19 sites throughout western Kenya have been treated.

Dr. Brown made his donation based on the work of long-time friend, IU-Kenya Partnership director, Robert Einterz, M.D. Brown and Einterz are both graduates of the Indiana University School of Medicine and North Central High School in Indianapolis.

"I've long-admired Bob's charitable work for AMPATH, particularly his efforts toward helping children through the group's Orphan and Vulnerable Children program," Brown said. "This program, which has served more than 1,900 children over the past two years, is based on a unique community ownership model that involves orphans, caregivers, health workers and land for cultivation. This kind of holistic model addresses problems at their root, providing a sustainable solution that empowers every community member."

"As the single largest private donation ever made, Don's financial support will significantly help to improve the lives of the impoverished and sick throughout Kenya," Einterz said. "With an estimated 1.3 million Kenyans still infected with HIV, it will also help attract much-needed additional philanthropic support."

In addition to providing HIV-positive patients throughout western Kenya with life-saving anti-retroviral medicines, AMPATH extends the provision of medical treatment to address the poverty that fuels the deadly virus. The U.S. and African partners operate farms and food programs that feed tens of thousands of people each week, along with providing skills training and a micro-credit program that enables patients to become self-sufficient after they begin receiving treatment.

The AMPATH program is unique in that it can be replicated throughout the developing world, thus can help end a pandemic responsible in 2006 for killing 2.1 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 72 percent of worldwide AIDS-related deaths.

As one of the largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs in the world, and for its unique model of North-South institutional cooperation, AMPATH was nominated for a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

For more information about the IU-Kenya Partnership and AMPATH, visit http://www.iukenya.org.

About Interactive Intelligence

Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ) is a global provider of business communications solutions for contact center automation, enterprise IP telephony, and enterprise messaging. The company was founded in 1994 and has more than 2,500 customers worldwide. Interactive Intelligence is among the top 500 global software and services suppliers, and is ranked among the top 200 North American networking vendors. The company employs more than 550 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It has six global corporate offices, with additional sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or info@inin.com; on the Net: http://www.inin.com.

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