Education & Workforce Development

Ghana’s Volta Region has the lowest quality of education in the country. Girls are particularly affected by lack of education facilities, with enrollment dropping from 62 percent in primary school to only 8 percent in secondary school.

I’m particularly cognizant of this today as we launch our 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. This is a big change from the first CSR Report that I stewarded and co-authored in 2005. Like any first-generation product, there was a great room for improvement. However, every year as we meet a goal and work towards the next, as we expand existing partnerships and establish new ones, as we uncover new ways our technology can be leveraged to benefit our world, we have a stronger story to tell. Here are highlights of where we’ve come, and where we are going.

Arrow Electronics is making it easy for young innovators to build their science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) skills this holiday season. The company is offering a collection of toys designed to teach key STEM-related concepts, including coding, physics and robotics.

They are brave, determined, humbling, and truly inspiring young Hong Kong people who rise above difficulties to succeed in their studies and move forward in life against the odds.
This year, CLP Power for the first time partners with the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in sponsoring the CLP Energy for Brighter Tomorrows award. The programme aims to highlight real-life stories of young people who overcome challenging circumstances and backgrounds through the power of positivity.

For centuries, apprentices have learned from masters of their craft by shadowing and taking instructions from their masters to gain new skills so that precious knowledge is passed to the next generation.

It is a tradition CLP has enthusiastically embraced. But in an era of rapid technological advances and a highly sophisticated customer marketplace, apprenticeships have evolved to combine mentorship with the best possible classroom training.

Through the Caterpillar Foundation’s work with its partners, it has become increasingly clear that when we invest in girls, we create real and lasting change — not only for girls themselves but also the communities around them.

Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company committed to Quality of Life, was recognized by Peta2, the largest youth animal rights group in the world, with an A+ on Peta2’s 2018 Vegan Report Card. Sodexo at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa was also listed on Peta2’s “Dean’s List,” an elite group of institutions that have accrued enough Vegan Report Card points to rank among the highest tier of A-rated schools.

Sodexo and Firehouse Subs have partnered to bring the Firehouse Subs’ signature steamed subs with a side of saving lives to college students around the U.S. In 2018, Firehouse Subs donated a portion of each sale up to $1 million to the non-profit Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation®, which provides lifesaving equipment to first responders.

In 2000, Techbridge Girls (TBG) - a leader in supporting girls and marginalized communities in breaking into the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields - was launched at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California. As STEM fields have historically been dominated by males, women and girls, especially those of color, are consistently and disproportionately left out and often lack information on the multitude of STEM career opportunities available to them. In 2015, Subaru began funding TBG’s after school programs in Seattle, WA, and has since become a national supporter of all three TBG direct service locations.

December marks the 10th anniversary of Hormel Foods Corporation’s first shipment of SPAMMY®, a shelf-stable poultry product fortified with vitamins and minerals the company developed to help prevent childhood malnutrition in Guatemala. Hormel Foods donates more than 2 million cans of SPAMMY® each year, which helps thousands of families.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary, the company is holding a Project SPAMMY® Week. During the week, the 2019 employee engagement trip opportunities will be announced, and stories and videos about Project SPAMMY® and its impact will be showcased. An employee fundraising drive is also taking place to help raise additional funds for scholarships and chispa center supplies.