LONDON. - July 22, 2008 - The Bonita Trust is delighted to announce the first meeting of its new International Advisory Board comprising distinguished figures in public life and business from around the globe who will advise Bonita on its grant-making strategy.

Joining the international Advisory Board are: Dudley Fishburn (former MP for Kensington and Trustee of the National Trust), Ambassador Lalit Mansingh (former Indian Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to the US and High Commissioner to the UK), Ruth Parasol - DeLeon (founder and former consultant to PartyGaming plc), and Brooke Shearer (former executive director of Yale University’s World Fellows Program and Senior Advisor in the Office of the US Secretary of Interior).

Speaking on behalf of Bonita, Moe Cohen said: "We are delighted to welcome the formation of our new Advisory Board. The Advisors bring an incredible wealth of experience and insight to Bonita and I am excited to be working with this group to build on our work in Gibraltar, Israel, India and the UK; expanding our international grant-making."

The Bonita Trust is an independent philanthropic trust, founded in 2004. Bonita's endowment results from a personal commitment by its principals to help communities address some of the important health and education challenges facing them, leveraging new technologies and Internet-based solutions. Based in Gibraltar, the Bonita Trust is committed to enriching the Gibraltar community through a programme of endowments to educational, cultural, health and community projects.

Commenting on the formation of the International Advisory Board, Brooke Shearer said: "Bonita has a sterling reputation in Gibraltar for its contribution to the health, education and the protection and promotion of community cultural heritage. I am extremely excited to be joining Bonita's Advisory Board as it expands its philanthropic work internationally."

Ruth Parasol added: "I am personally very pleased to be involved with such a distinguished group on Bonita’s Advisory Board and look forward to seeing Bonita develop internationally a similar reputation for having a positive impact on the community that it already has in Gibraltar."

About the Bonita Trust

The Bonita Trust was founded in 2004, under Gibraltar law, as an independent philanthropic trust by a subsidiary of PartyGaming Plc., whose then principals were Ruth Parasol, Anurag Dikshit, Vikrant Bhargava, and Russ DeLeon prior to the company’s London Stock Exchange flotation in June 2005. Bonita was created to give back to the communities in which they, the company, and its staff live and work, past and present.

Bonita focuses the majority of its grant-making in five geographies: the United Kingdom, India, Israel, Bulgaria and Gibraltar and is also interested in answering some of the key global challenges facing society.

Most recently, Bonita was recognised by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust which awarded Bonita the Group Heritage Award in recognition of the contributions made towards the protection of Gibraltar's heritage. Bonita has also supported health and education projects in Gibraltar, India, and Israel and will continue to expand its grant-making in coming years.

As an independent philanthropic trust, Bonita is managed by a professional Trustee, who is advised by the International Advisory Board.

More information on Bonita and some details of its work to date can be found at:www.bonitatrust.org

Biographies for each of the Advisory Board Members are below and can be found, with photographs at: www.bonitatrust.org/about-board

Biographies

Dudley Fishburn

Dudley Fishburn started his career as an editor with The Economist. He was part of the team which built the paper’s international reputation, serving as American Editor then Executive Editor for 19 years.

Mr Fishburn was Conservative Member of Parliament for Kensington for 10 years and worked in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major on privatisation and foreign affairs. He was named "Radical of the Year" for his work reforming Britain's property laws.

Mr Fishburn attended Eton College and Harvard College as an undergraduate. He later became the first non-American to serve on Harvard University's Board of Overseers. For ten years he chaired the Harvard Library's visiting committee and now chairs a similar committee at Cambridge University Library. In England, he was chairman of the Trustees of the Open University. He also served a six-year term as treasurer of one of Britain's largest charities, The National Trust, overseeing a budget of £250 million a year on the country’s historic heritage.

He serves on the boards of HSBC Bank plc and Philip Morris Inc.

Ambassador Lalit Mansingh

Ambassador Lalit Mansingh has served as India's Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to the United States and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. His recent engagements include: Professor Emeritus at the Foreign Service Institute of India; Member, Executive Committee of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi; Member, India Council for Sustainable Development and President of the World Cultural Forum-India. Ambassador Mansingh also shares his experiences with the Brookings Institute in the US.

Ambassador Mansingh joined the Indian Foreign service in 1963. After his initial posting in Geneva, he went on to serve as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Indian Embassies in Kabul, Brussels, and Washington. In addition to London and Washington, he has been Head of Mission in the United Arab Emirates and in Nigeria with concurrent accreditation to Benin, Chad and Cameroon.

At headquarters in Delhi, Ambassador Mansingh worked in a variety of assignments: as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Director-General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Dean of the Foreign service Institute and Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Born on 29 April, 1941, Ambassador Mansingh graduated in History and obtained a Master's degree in Political Science. He was awarded the University’s Gold Medals for securing the top position in both subjects. Before joining the Foreign Services he worked as a Research Scholar in American Studies at the School of International Studies in Delhi, and as Lecturer in the Post-Graduate Department of Political Science, University of Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

Ruth Parasol - DeLeon
Born in 1967 in California, Ruth Parasol - DeLeon graduated with a B.A. in Business from the University of San Francisco in 1988 and a J.D. from Western State University College of Law in 1992.

Ms Parasol began her career as an advisor to her father's high tech investment and real estate management businesses. In 1994, she co-invested and promoted Internet Entertainment Group and other companies providing adult entertainment over the internet, subsequently selling all her interest in these businesses in 1996.

Drawing on her legal background and experience in website operation and management, Ms. Parasol established Starluck Casino Online in 1997 and in 1998, commissioned and then partnered with Anurag Dikshit, to develop p2p software that enabled poker fans worldwide to play together online. Together with Vikrant Bhargava and Russ DeLeon, who joined in 2000 and 2001 respectively, they created what would become the largest online gaming community; PartyGaming Plc, which went on to float on the London Stock Exchange FTSE100 in June 2005. Ms. Parasol was a consultant to PartyGaming until December 2006 and remains a significant company shareholder.

In addition to her work with the Bonita Trust, Ms. Parasol has also established, with her husband Russ DeLeon, the DeLeon Family Care Project which has provided extensive philanthropic support to community-related causes in Israel, Poland, and Spain. This includes Tel Aviv University, The Museum of The History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, and the Prodean Animal Rescue Center in La Linea, Spain.

Parasol married Russ DeLeon in 2003. They currently live in Gibraltar with their three children and divide their time between Gibraltar, Israel and the UK.

Brooke Shearer
Brooke Shearer is a trustee of several not-for-profit organisations devoted to cultural heritage preservation and economic and educational opportunities for women; she is also a consultant to several global health organisations.

Ms. Shearer formerly served as the first executive director of Yale University’s World Fellows Program. The Programme brought emerging leaders from throughout the world to Yale for study focused on global challenges.

During President Bill Clinton's first term, Ms. Shearer headed the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. During her eight years of government service, Ms. Shearer worked as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Interior where she focused on international conservation issues, including global climate change, water resource management and cultural heritage preservation. She initiated a global conservation partnership with The World Bank and other multilateral development organisations to advance the development of national parks and protected areas. She began sustainable development projects in Jordan, Indonesia, Croatia, and the Republic of Georgia, among others.

Ms. Shearer previously worked as a corporate investigator and a journalist.

Bonita Trust, The

Bonita Trust, The

The Bonita Trust was founded in 2004. Bonita's endowment results from a personal commitment by its principals to help communities address some of the important health and education challenges facing them, leveraging new technologies and Internet-based solutions. Based in Gibraltar, the Bonita Trust is committed to enriching the Gibraltar community through a programme of endowments to educational, cultural, health and community projects. In addition, the Bonita Trust funds projects internationally with three main fields of emphasis: 1. Prevention and Treatment - we have a deep desire to help tackle some of the World's health challenges; 2. Enterprise and Education - extending access to education through technology and the Internet and developing and supporting the emergence of women entrepreneurs; 3. Culture and Heritage - building on Bonita's contribution to protecting Gibraltar’s heritage and culture. Reflecting its heritage, Bonita focuses on programmes that use technology and the Internet to deliver their benefits to communities. In whatever we do, we are committed to making a tangible impact at the community level.

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