Hello
Everyone,
I
wanted to bring you up to date on our projects in Rio de Janeiro.
Katayoun
Shahrokhi, Executives
Without Borders Program Director
in Brazil, is doing a
great job directing the projects and captured powerful
feedback from our
corporate volunteers on the ground:
Rodrigo
Marques from HP commented, "the volunteer projects
really make me feel more useful, and that I'm fulfilling exactly
what I'm
supposed to do -serving others and the community
- and this has made a huge
difference in my life in every aspect."
Tatiana Fernandez, a
volunteer from Dow
Chemical, said that her
company's support makes all the
difference, saying "I
feel more
accomplished and more proud to work for a company and for a
leader that allows me to have this opportunity." She
also expressed
the importance of our role and facilitation of the projects,
commenting
"Executives
without Borders is the great catalyst of this experience"
and "I
feel honored to work with them."
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Katayoun
Shahrokhi, center, with volunteers from Dow Chemical and Amadeus
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Through
service to communities, our corporate partners experience benefits helpful
to their core business. Marina
Salgado from Amadeus reflected, "today companies are very
concerned about how they should be perceived in the market and also by
their internal resources. These volunteer activities reflect our company's
desire to cooperate and create change with social conditions all around
us."
One
of the keys to our work in Brazil is cross-company collaboration that
allows employees to share best practices and resources for implementation.
As some employees learn new project management skills that they can
directly apply to existing client activities, others find new and creative
ways to add value.
Recently,
we worked with several of the Dow employees to repurpose part of the wrap
they designed for the London Olympic stadium to turn it into a pavilion
that will provide an area of outdoor shade for Bola Pra Frente's facility.
Not only is it a great way to drive sustainability for a Dow product,
but also a dramatic and engaging way to connect the London and Rio Olympic
Games.
Our
program in Brazil now has 26 corporate volunteers, with 7 based in Rio de
Janeiro and 19 based in São Paulo. Here are some of the ways we are
helping our NGO partners:
Bola Pra Frente: uses
the activity and language of soccer to educate children, teenagers, young
adults and their families to meet social challenges.
Results:
- Volunteers
completed an assessment of institutional IT systems and began email
and server migration projects as a first step in upgrading their
platforms
- Videos and
over 50 pages of institutional marketing materials were translated
into English allowing them to expand their audiences and fundraising
base
- The
Executive Director, after her volunteer-led English classes, felt
confident enough to host a delegation of famous international athletes
and business professionals and conduct the entire visit in English
CDI: transforms
lives and strengthens low-income communities by empowering people with
information and communication technology.
Results:
- All staff
were migrated into a single email system that improved organizational
efficiencies and reliability and created a unified brand identity
- 40 schools
were registered for a new help desk support service developed by
volunteers that is helping with response to technical challenges, and
improving access to technology in impoverished areas
Saúde Criança: works
to restructure and promote the self-sufficiency of families with children
who are ill and at social risk.
Results:
- Over 30
institutional materials translated into Spanish and published allowing
the NGO to reach a wide audience in Latin America
- Online
donation platforms were evaluated and a new system is being developed
to make it easy to receive international donations and increase
program awareness
- A
partnership was established with a large event planning company to
support their annual fundraising gala and help spread awareness and
participation in Rio
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Smiling
faces at the CDI Project Site
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Company
support of these non-profits is making a great difference, positively
affecting their daily operations and thus the lives of those in the
communities they serve. For more information on our Brazil program
visit us here.
Katayoun
and I will be Washington DC this week speaking about our partnership with
the US Chamber on all the work in Brazil at their Global Corporate
Citizenship conference. To find out more about the event or join the live
stream of the conference go here.
Thanks
so very much for all your support. Our success is your success.
Warm
regards,
-
Bob
Robert
J. Goodwin
CEO,
Executives Without Borders
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07:36
Rodrigo
