Featured this week: AIR Products; Allegis Group; Ameriprise Financial, Inc.; Ancestry; Arrow Electronics, Inc.; Berkshire Bank; BMO Financial; Breckenridge Grand Vacations; Cell Signaling Technology; CEMEX; Charles Schwab & Co; Christie Digital Systems; Cisco; Citizens Financial Group Inc; Fifth Third Foundation; FLEX LTD; Home Depot Canada; Husch Blackwell; ICF; Kohler Co; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Loomis, Sayles & Co; Lowe's; MFS Investment Management; Motorola Solutions; Northwestern Mutual; PNC Financial Services Group; QVC Inc.; SoCalGas; The Clorox Company; TransUnion; Webster Financial Corporation; Wells Fargo; Workiva

The member community convened by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship is one of a kind. The 500+ companies we serve each year around the globe are leaders in environmental, social, and governance action, and the thousands of individuals who make up this network are some of the best in the field!

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Here is how our members have been working to build better business and a better world:

Spotlight on You

Liberty Mutual Insurance's Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Dawn Frazier-Bohnert, recently spoke with Human Resources Director magazine about her team's journey to create a stronger global organization and how to fight “diversity fatigue." “We have to recognize that DEI is a process,” Frazier-Bohnert says. “We have to build small milestones along the way so we can feel we’re making progress and to remind ourselves there are some things out of our control that do impact our progress.”

Emily Forrester, SVP of Human Resources, shared how Workiva has supported employee mental health during tough times in tech. "Things that started as ideas to support and connect a global workforce during the pandemic have become ongoing and foundational components of the culture of well-being at Workiva... an annual companywide paid well-being day and an annual companywide day of service to encourage employees to give back to causes they are passionate about. In 2022, 875 Workiva employees logged nearly 6,500 volunteer hours around the world," Forrester shared.

Kaitlin Sprong of Citizens was recently named Director of ESG Strategy and will work across the organization to help shape Citizens’ ESG ambition and strategy, and coordinate key initiatives.

 Three attorneys from Husch Blackwell have been selected to participate in Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) programs for 2023.  Austin-based partner Danielle Gilbert has been selected as Husch Blackwell’s 2023 LCLD Fellows nominee. Taylor Wood, senior associate in Austin, and Bernardo Zito Porto, associate in Kansas City, have been named 2023 LCLD Pathfinders.

Niki King joined The Clorox Company as vice president and head of sustainability. "Protecting our planet is a top priority for Clorox, and I look forward to building upon the company’s sustainability initiatives and goals to ensure we continue to be a leader in the ESG space," King shared on LinkedIn.

LOOK! 30+ NEW Jobs in Corporate Social Responsibility

Companies Making an Impact in Local Communities and Around the World

Cisco and Mercy Corps recently completed a five-year Technology for Impact partnership focused on delivering humanitarian aid and development assistance. The program reached more than 12 million people across 45 countries. Now the two will embark on a new project, centering the partnership’s efforts on fostering climate adaptation and resilience in the Horn of Africa. “The benefit of a multi-year partnership is that it has afforded us the time to test solutions, to pivot and adapt when things don’t go as planned, and to scale initiatives that gained traction and had an impact,” said Erin Connor, Senior Manager of Cisco’s Crisis Response team. “In many cases, we have identified new applications and opportunities to apply these solutions to challenges we hadn’t even anticipated at the partnership’s outset.”

The Lowe's Foundation announced a $50 million "Gable Grants" commitment over the next five years to prepare 50,000 people for skilled trades careers through grants to community and technical colleges and community-based nonprofits. The new strategic focus addresses one of the most critical worker shortages currently facing the U.S. economy. "With the skilled trades industry facing a labor crisis, the Lowe's Foundation is now poised to help train tens of thousands of qualified skilled tradespeople, giving each of them the opportunity to build a rewarding career and make lasting impacts in communities across the country," said Janice Dupré, Lowe's executive vice president of human resources and chair of the Lowe's Foundation. "We are bringing our network, our expertise and our resources to address this critical need and help ensure that the next generation of builders has the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the demands of our modern world."

Wells Fargo is partnering with the Insitute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and the Tides Foundation to launch a climate justice fund to create more equitable access to clean and affordable energy and improve climate resiliency in historically excluded and divested communities. "Wells Fargo is committed to building community resilience and addressing the impacts of climate change, particularly in underserved communities," said Robyn Luhning, chief sustainability officer at Wells Fargo. "Funding this community-led effort from the Tides Foundation and the Institute for Sustainable Communities is part of our work to support the transition to a resilient, equitable, and sustainable economy."

As part of its commitment to sustainable practices, Cell Signaling Technology (CST) focuses on reducing emissions, conserving resources, supporting environmental nonprofits, and promoting individual action.  Recently, CST's Massachusetts headquarters participated in a volunteer day with local nonprofit Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSCW), whose mission is to protect and improve the environmental quality of Salem Sound in Massachusetts and its watershed.

In partnership with Habitat for Humanity India, 30 members of Kohler's Gurgaon team provided sanitation and hygiene workshops to students at local secondary schools, promoting education to prevent the spread of illness and disease. The team also broke ground on an updated kitchen and washroom facilities to further support the health and wellness of students and staff.

Edgewell Personal Care recently announced the launch of Together We Care, a new community impact program that includes teammate matching gifts and volunteering. Through this new initiative, Edgewell will match monetary teammate donations within the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico for up to $5,000, per calendar year, per employee to non-profit causes of their choosing that align with Edgewell's giving guidelines. The platform will provide new opportunities for volunteerism and serve as a platform for cultural and environmental education and awareness.

PNC Bank’s Community Development Banking group recently made a $7.5 million investment with SoLa Impact’s Black Impact Fund. PNC’s equity investment will help fund the development of new affordable housing units for residents earning well below the Area Median Income (AMI). SoLa’s Black Impact Fund projects that it will add more than 3,000 workforce and affordable housing units in Black and brown communities in Southern California. “We are excited to partner with PNC Bank to address the crisis of housing affordability in California,” said Martin Muoto, founder and CEO of SoLa Impact. “Investments like these enable us to build more units to serve more residents of communities that are burdened by high costs of living. This investment allows the Black Impact Fund to continue to scale its production of affordable and workforce multifamily assets, which in turn allows us to reduce the cost of delivering these units. Ultimately, the goal is to deliver superior returns not only to our investors, but also to our community.”

Webster Bank recently announced a new partnership with a Bronx-based citizen advocacy group. The bank is partnering with the Bronx Financial Access Coalition to bring a proven community credit union model to the Bronx. The new Bronx People’s Federal Credit Union mobile branch will increase access to financial services in an area that has historically experienced decline in local banking centers. “Our team worked with numerous community partners who shared their vision to create greater access, inclusion and opportunity for wealth building in the Bronx. We listened and saw the opportunity to act,” said Marissa Weidner, chief corporate responsibility officer at Webster. “We know the importance of listening to the communities we serve, as evidenced by the more than 100 community organizations from New York to Boston who helped us develop our $6.5B community investment program. This investment in the Bronx is one example of our commitment to increase convenient access to financial services and economic empowerment in our communities.”

More Member Companies in the News

The Motorola Solutions Foundation announced that it surpassed $12 million in donations to charitable organizations around the world and generated more than $2.3 million in value through employee volunteerism. The Foundation spent the year focusing on strategic grants employee volunteerism, and other community investment initiatives with the goal of creating safer cities and equitable, thriving communities. “I feel immense pride in not only the Foundation’s commitment to its grant partners and beneficiaries, but in our employees who show up time and time again,” said Karem Perez, executive director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. “It’s inspiring to see the impact the Foundation and our employees make by giving the best of themselves to help communities around the world.”

Recognizing the significant financial burden families shoulder when undergoing childhood cancer treatments, Northwestern Mutual's Childhood Cancer Scholarship Program was created to help alleviate another major expense facing families affected by childhood cancer – the cost of a college education. To date, the company has supported more than 210 scholars and contributed nearly $1.5 million through its Childhood Cancer Scholarship Program. The program is administered through Scholarship America, an organization dedicated to developing scholarship solutions for student success.

Throughout the month of February, QVC Inc. celebrated Black-owned and -founded businesses across on-air broadcasts and digital platforms in honor of Black History Month. 

SoCalGas announced $10 million in funding to help customers with bill assistance and to bolster community resources for those who may be struggling financially. The funding will support low-income families, seniors, and small restaurant owners.

CEMEX signed an agreement with green fuels producer ETFuels, to transform CO2 from CEMEX’s Alicante cement plant in Spain into green fuels. This carbon utilisation project, groundbreaking in its scope and potential contribution to European energy security, demonstrates significant progress in testing and scaling technologies that are designed to contribute to accelerating decarbonisation efforts in the cement production process.

Members on the Move

Join us in welcoming new members: Breckenridge Grand Vacations, AIR Products, Christie Digital Systems, and Allegis Group!

Happy Anniversary to Berkshire Bank, Fifth Third Foundation, FLEX LTD, Loomis, Sayles & Co.; MFS Investment Management; Charles Schwab & Co.; and the Clorox Company, who have been valued BCCCC members for 5, 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively!

Members from Ameriprise Financial Inc., Ancestry, Arrow Electronics, Inc., BMO Financial, Home Depot Canada, ICF, and TransUnion have recently registered for the 2023 International Corporate Citizenship Conference, happening this spring in Minneapolis, hometown of our convening sponsor, Target. Reserve your spot today!