Volunteering & Community

Fair Trade USA is the leading fair trade certifying body in North America, operating globally alongside the European-based Fairtrade International. Colleen Anunu, Fair Trade USA’s Senior Manager of Supply Chain, reflects on some of fair trade’s achievements and challenges, with a focus on the coffee sector. She also explains how Fair Trade USA and Oikocredit are teaming up to reduce price risks for coffee farmers.

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago impacts more than 200,000 individuals annually through programs focused on safety and wellness, education and training, and economic sustainability. They provide career, financial management, digital literacy and business services to help youth and adult members achieve financial stability and obtain training to enter high-growth fields.

The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention (CHIP) mobilizes, advocates, and empowers community collaboration towards ending homelessness and fosters an effective system of homelessness prevention and intervention in the greater Indianapolis area. Their goal is to make homelessness rare, short-lived, and recoverable.

In 2016, 59 nonprofit organizations participated in the Charles Schwab Pro Bono Challenge—a skills-based flash consulting event where Schwab employees utilize their talents and expertise to support local nonprofit organizations in building capacity to serve the community. The projects spanned across 8 regions, engaged 318 employee volunteers and generated almost half a million dollars in social return on investment to the nonprofit participants. Talk about impact!

Habitat for Humanity and Fairfield by Marriott begin a national partnership this year, in celebration of Fairfield’s 30th anniversary.

As part of the partnership, Fairfield associates will join local Habitat organizations to help current and future homeowners build, rehab or repair their homes, helping to improve their communities and their living conditions.

Throughout October, hundreds of Fairfield associates will participate in build events across the U.S. and around the world. Projects will include the construction of new homes and rehabs or repairs to existing homes.

State Farm is kicking off several employee builds during the month of October to celebrate 10 years of partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

More than 400 State Farm employees in the company's hub locations of Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta will build alongside four families in need of affordable housing. The employee volunteers will contribute to the revitalization of a historic neighborhood and help complete a Habitat town home community.

When Ronnie Devries realized how many Houston residents were in need following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, he knew he could help. With experience as the volunteer coordinator for TXRX Labs, a local nonprofit “hackerspace,” Ronnie helped create a makeshift command center at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center – which quickly became a shelter for thousands of residents displaced by the storm. Working overnight, he helped set up a system for volunteer coordination to ensure volunteers were matched with all aspects of shelter operations.

Now that I’m well into back-to-school mode and looking towards the future, I can’t help but reflect on our amazing South Bronx Sodexo Summer. A summer when twenty children from the largest stretch of public housing in the poorest congressional district in America chose to come together to:

We spoke to more than 1,500 employee donors to find out what they expect from their employers, the charities they support, and from workplace giving programs in general. Join America's Charities’ free webinar on October 24th at 2 PM EST as we unveil our groundbreaking new research, Snapshot 2017: What Employees Think about Workplace Giving, Volunteering, and CSR.

The UN Global Compact Bulletin is designed to keep participants up to date on news, actions you can take, resources and events. Participants are encouraged to look to this monthly communication for important information. Please note that actions and events are intended for Global Compact stakeholders, unless otherwise indicated. The Bulletin is published in English, French, Spanish and Chinese.