Bay Area Corporate Trailblazers Pledge Pro Bono Work in National Campaign

San Francisco, Calif., May 22, 2013 /3BL Media/ — San Francisco, the Bay Area, Silicon Valley. While many know this region as the birthplace of America's tech movement, it's also the birthplace of another phenomenon that's sweeping America -- the pro bono movement. Nearly 100 of the Bay Area’s top business, social entrepreneurs and civic leaders will gather at PG&E’s headquarters today at a half-day summit to recognize and celebrate corporate trailblazers meeting the unique social needs of the region through skills-based and pro bono service.

This summit comes at the height of the national A Billion + Change campaign as it reaches its goal of inspiring the largest commitment of corporate pro bono service in history. Over the past year-and-a-half, A Billion + Change has convened summits like these from coast to coast to raise awareness about skills-based and pro bono service as a smart business strategy for social change. Whether it’s lending strategic planning, IT solutions or contributing financial or marketing expertise, companies are stepping up to lend their best and brightest talent to address pressing community priorities.   

 Speakers at this event include: 

·       Ezra Garrett, Vice President of Community Relations and Chief Sustainability Officer at PG&E. Through PG&E’s New Energy Academies, its employees are volunteering their skills and knowledge as mentors, advisors and guest speakers, and helped high school teachers develop a renewable energy curriculum and teach students about new energy careers. PG&E is also currently piloting a more formal skills-based volunteer program.

·       Teresa Briggs, Bay Area Managing Partner, Deloitte. When the Children’s Discovery Museum, The Tech Museum, San Jose Repertory Theatre and the San Jose Museum of Art were faced with losing operating subsidies, Deloitte helped them demonstrate their financial contribution to the downtown economy, helping them secure their funding. Deloitte has provided pro bono support to more than 50 organizations in the Bay Area worth $2.5 million.

·       Carol Guttery, Director of Employee Engagement at Salesforce.com Foundation. Salesforce employees volunteer to support Salesforce implementations for nonprofits to strengthen their operations. Last year, the company donated over 6,500 hours of service and implemented over 130 projects for nonprofit organizations.

·       Mike Hannigan, President & Co-Founder of Give Something Back. One of the first B Corporations in the Bay Area, Give Something Back is an office supply store that donates a portion of their profits to nonprofits their customers vote for, including Voices for Children or Sacramento Loaves and Fishes. With $5 million in donations, they are ranked as one of Northern California’s largest corporate donors. Mike Hannigan also donates his time pro bono to causes he cares about, like Social Venture Network and B Lab.
 

"A Billion + Change companies have committed an astounding $2 billion worth of service time to help nonprofits tackle the tough problems and pressing needs of our communities,” said Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service and manager of A Billion + Change. “That’s equal to more than 6,400 full-time employees. The potential change we can achieve by harnessing the untapped potential of corporate America for social good is enormous.”

In just a short time, more than 370 of America’s favorite brands—26 in the Bay Area alone—have taken A Billion + Change’s free pledge to donate their best and brightest talent to tackle tough problems in their communities and around the world.

“We are excited about the opportunity to expand volunteer and community engagement opportunities for our employees,” said Ezra Garrett, Vice President of Community Relations and Chief Sustainability Officer at PG&E. “By taking the pledge with Billion + Change, we will be able share our employees’ expertise and skills to address pressing needs in the communities we are privileged to serve. We urge other companies to join with us in this important effort.”

From Charitable Giving to Strategic Impact: The Power of Pro Bono will be hosted by A Billion + Change, PG&E, ACCP and the Taproot Foundation. It will bring together the region’s leading minds to explore the multiple benefits of skills-based volunteer programs– how they build nonprofit capacity, positively impact communities, and enhance business through talent development, brand awareness, employee engagement and much more. The summit will also feature a set of expert-led roundtable discussions on key issues such as: done-in-a-day models, building nonprofit readiness for pro bono and taking your skills-based volunteer programs to the next level.

“Deloitte believes that the greatest contribution we can make is to take the skills and intellectual capital we have and bring it to bear on nonprofit organizations,” said Teresa Briggs, Bay Area Managing Partner for Deloitte. “You, too, can make a difference by doing what you and your company do best—give back your skills and talents.”

There’s no higher-impact service for a business to give back to society than pro bono service. For nonprofits and communities, the value of skilled support can be 500% greater than the value of traditional volunteering, according to True Impact, which helps organizations measure the social and business impact of their operations.

To learn more about how you can re-define what it means to have an employee volunteer program that makes a difference, visit A Billion + Change online at: www.abillionpluschange.org.

###

About A Billion + Change
A Billion + Change is a national campaign inspiring the largest commitment of pro bono service in history. It was launched by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2008 and continues as an initiative of the federal agency. Reinvigorated in 2011 with expanded leadership under the honorary chairmanship of Senator Mark Warner, it is now housed and managed by Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service. The initiative is powered by the support of HP, the Case Foundation and IBM and Capital One with additional founding support from State Farm, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and Morgan Stanley. Learn more at: www.abillionpluschange.org.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), and the PG&E Corporation Foundation strive to power strong communities throughout Northern and Central California. In 2012, PG&E contributed more than $23 million to more than 1,200 charitable organizations, including matching the generosity of employees who donated $6 million and volunteered over 40,000 hours to company-supported events. Community investments are funded entirely by shareholders. For more information, visit www.pge.com/community and www.pgecurrents.com.    

ACCP

The Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals (ACCP) is considered one of the United States’ leading independent organizations and is dedicated solely to the development of corporate leaders who leverage integrated philanthropy in support of business goals while creating positive societal impact. ACCP is a 501c6 nonprofit advocacy and continuing education organization which is governed by a 20-member board of directors, representative of different industry segments and regions, and provides ongoing oversight of the ACCP staff and operations.  ACCP helps corporate responsibility executives identify and adopt best practices and provides unique training programs for contributions professionals. ACCP has nearly 150 company members and connects hundreds of executives, both member and nonmember, through traditional and virtual peer to peer learning networks.

Taproot

Taproot is a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society. Since 2001, Taproot Foundation has worked to engage the nation’s millions of business professionals in pro bono through our award-winning Service Grant program, through our Advisory Service practice by helping companies develop their own pro bono programs and through our Advocacy efforts by hosting convenings and create innovative solutions for the pro bono field globally. Taproot is the recognized leader and expert in pro bono services; and, a leader in capacity building and social innovation. For more information: www.taprootfoundation.org