U.S. Chamber Foundation Announces Winners of 17th Annual Corporate Citizenship Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 18, 2016 /3BL Media/ — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation last night named the winners of its annual Corporate Citizenship Awards, recognizing eight business for making a significant, positive impact on the communities and societies in which they operate.

“Businesses act as a powerful force for good in their communities every single day, and these winners reflect some of the best social and community initiatives within the business sector,” said Marc DeCourcey, senior vice president for the U.S Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center. “It is an honor to showcase the contribution of these eight companies, who are setting the bar for excellence in corporate citizenship.”

The U.S. Chamber Foundation presented awards in eight categories:

• Best Corporate Steward – Large Business: GSK
  GSK is a science-led global health care company with a shared-value business model. The company invests in research to combat diseases in the developing world, increase access to medicines, build capacity, and deliver sustainable growth. In 2015, GSK doubled the volume of their medicines supplied in least developed countries.
   
• Best Corporate Steward – Small and Mid-Market Business: Network for Good
  Established as a Certified B Corporation in 2014, Network for Good uses data-driven insights and expert advice to help nonprofits develop smart, strategic fundraising programs that meet or exceed their fundraising goals and turn one-time donors into sustained supporters.
   
• Best Commitment to Education Program: Lockheed Martin
  To increase student exposure to STEM, Lockheed Martin funded the pilot program for Imagine Science. Imagine Science provides students with experiences that help cultivate an interest in STEM in a sustained way.
   
• Best Community Improvement Program: The Wonderful Company
  Fifty percent of households in the farming community of Lost Hills, California have at least one person who works at The Wonderful Company’s pistachios plant 13 miles away. The Wonderful Company has invested more than $15 million to revitalize Lost Hills. Their efforts led to a restored sense of community pride in Lost Hills and infrastructure improvements.
   
• Best Disaster Response and Community Resilience Program: FedEx
  In response to a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal in 2015, FedEx created a plan with Direct Relief, Heart to Heart International, and Water Missions to transport more than 178,000 pounds of relief supplies from the United States to Kathmandu. In total, FedEx provided $1 million in charitable support.
   
• Best Economic Empowerment Program: Walmart
  Walmart’s strategy for empowering women rests on commitments to source from women-owned businesses (WOBs) and to train female suppliers to help grow and develop their enterprises. Since 2012, Walmart has sourced more than $16.46 billion in products and services from WOBs and has trained more than 762,000 women around the world.
   
• Best Environmental Stewardship Program: Optoro
  Optoro has developed software to evaluate the environmental impact of traditional reverse logistics programs and to help retailers sell returned and excess inventory directly to consumers, bypassing landfills. In a pilot partnership with Groupon, the model has so far measured a 60 percent decrease in waste.
   
• Best Health and Wellness Program: Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC)
  Through HCSC’s partnership with the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, the two organizations partner to help pediatric patients with asthma, which affects 6.1 million kids nationwide. 

Additionally, the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA) presented the 6th annual Western Hemisphere Corporate Citizenship Award, which recognizes companies, trade associations, and American Chambers of Commerce that are exemplary models of social and civic leadership in region. This year, AACCLA honored SC Johnson’s recycling program “SCJ Recycles” implemented in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay & Uruguay, whose goal is to increase levels of recycling in an efficient and inclusive way. SC Johnson believes that the company cannot be healthy on the inside unless their communities outside are healthy, too.

The 17th annual Citizens Awards ceremony took place at the conclusion of the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s 2016 Corporate Citizenship Conference in Washington, D.C. More information on this year’s winners is available on the Chamber Foundation’s website.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation is dedicated to strengthening America’s long-term competitiveness. We educate the public on the conditions necessary for business and communities to thrive, how business positively impacts communities, and emerging issues and creative solutions that will shape the future.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.