A Single Leaf Alone Provides No Shade

NRG employees are passionate – we work hard to deliver safe, affordable, reliable energy to millions of people. Even more, we care about how energy is produced and we’re proud to work for an organization that’s generating increasingly cleaner energy while innovating for the energy demands and systems of tomorrow. We aim to be good stewards of our resources – one of those being the communities that surround our homes, offices and plants.

At the time I joined NRG in 2009, our corporate philanthropy program “Global Giving” was designed to address the needs of very specific audiences within under-served global communities.  Through Global Giving, I saw how the power of electricity has the ability to tangibly change lives, and I am incredibly proud of the work we did. Since then, NRG has grown and evolved, and we saw an opportunity for Global Giving to also transform to align with our company vision and mission. In this way, we seek to expand and better serve the needs and the causes closest to all of our employees’ hearts, in the communities where we live and work.

Today, I’m proud to share that we’ve refreshed our corporate philanthropy program to better allow NRG’s culture of “we” to shine. The program’s new name – positiveNRG – is meant to demonstrate our unity; our collective ability to make a positive difference in the communities where we live.

PositiveNRG is now a comprehensive program with

·  corporate “flagship” non-profit partners, which align with the company’s vision and core-values,

· local-level volunteerism driven by our individual offices and plants, and

· an online grant portal where any employee can request support for the causes that are most meaningful to them.

This approach brings everyone together in the spirit of giving back. By actively seeking input from all stakeholders, we ensure needs are met wherever they may be.

At the corporate-level, our new focus on fewer, larger and more impactful flagship partnerships means focusing on the pillars of the program - education, environment, human welfare, health & wellness - and nurturing meaningful relationships with partners that go beyond financial support. It also means expanding relationships with existing partners and venturing out to find new ones.

In April, we proudly announced our first flagship partner, FIRST, a non-profit dedicated to STEM education. Why FIRST? The program will make a positive impact in our communities and our business now and in years to come – smart, talented kids are the future leaders of the energy industry; it only makes sense for us to support and foster their success. In addition to financial support, our employees are using their real-world expertise to mentor FIRSTteams – this multi-faceted approach to giving-back not only brings everyone together as valuable contributors, but allows us to make more significant advances for those we serve.

Employees drive the culture at any organization, so it was abundantly clear that if we made the program about employees first, we’d have the opportunity to move mountains. PositiveNRG is so much bigger than any one person, it’s about the values each one of our employees brings to work, shares in their personal lives, and their collective passion and drive to make tomorrow better.

I am honored to spend my time on positiveNRG, building the framework to channel those passions and ensure that our broad and diverse communities reap the rewards.