Our colleagues passionately care about people and the planet. We have several programs that let us share our spirit of generosity with the causes that matter to our colleagues.
The RRA 50 Forward Fund is our charitable foundation, a registered 501(c)3. Established in 2019 in celebration of our firm’s 50th anniversary, the 50 Forward Fund provides the means for our colleagues to support the causes most important to them.
In March 2022, we launched the RRA Gives Back donation platform, a colleague-led charitable donation platform that empowers our people to explore and support the charitable causes most important to them. The program also partners with our Inclusion Networks to spotlight charities relevant to their interests, such as those supporting Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, AAPI Heritage Month, International Women’s Day, and Black History Month in the US and the UK.
Since the program’s launch, our colleagues have supported nearly 300 charities around the world.
We also offer a matching grant program with support from our 50 Forward Fund. This initiative is our way of showing our colleagues that what matters to them matters to us. By matching donations to our colleagues’ causes, we’re working together to create a collective impact in our local communities.
— Yen Ling S., Associate, Los Angeles
— Emily G., Project Coordinator, Hong Kong
— Matthias O., Managing Director, Zurich
Through the 50 Forward Fund and RRA Gives Back, we act quickly to support urgent causes. Recent examples include supporting relief organizations in Ukraine through Crown Agents, and contributions to Go Gives One, a COVID-19 fundraising campaign by the WHO Foundation, and Gavi COVAX AMC, which funds COVID-19 vaccines for lower-income countries.
Our colleagues strive to celebrate collective successes and support one another during times of hardship. Backed by the 50 Forward Fund, we set up the Employee Hardship Program in 2022 to offer colleagues critical financial support in times of crisis.
We are united by a global spirit of giving and a commitment to volunteering close to home. Many of our offices have longstanding commitments to community service. Our localized approach allows us to address issues in the places we live and work, as well as share our time, skills, resources, and winning spirit for the greatest impact.
We know our purchasing power can make a positive impact on our communities. We’re currently evaluating opportunities to strengthen our relationships with certified small and minority-owned businesses in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Partnerships are crucial to fulfilling our purpose. Through these connections, we can move sustainability forward faster. We collaborate with industry and community partners to make the greatest impact.
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In 2019, we became a Participant in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). As the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UNGC aims to drive meaningful progress toward the SDGs by 2030. Putting our name on this mission is a pledge to embed the UNGC’s ten principles across our operational strategy, policies, and procedures. We’ve also partnered with the UNGC to advance sustainable business leadership, launching a first-of-its-kind analysis of the behaviors and competencies possessed by sustainable leaders.
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We collaborate with groups including Crown Agents and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to organize events that bring leaders together to discuss solutions to the complex issues facing the world today.
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Ariel Investments has been our valued partner for 15 years. Together, we convene leading Black directors for the Black Corporate Directors Conference.
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We’re a founding partner of the 30% Club Future Female Directors program, which launched in 2014 with the aim of ensuring that 30% of directors on S&P 100 boards are female.
Our sustainability journey calls for us to change how we use natural resources as we run our business. As we rethink our approach to business travel, we’re investing in and learning from communities that are adapting their local economies to run more sustainably.
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In 2022, we’ve offset our air travel emissions from our largest business events by investing into two projects: Kariba REDD+ Forest Protection in Zimbabwe; and Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan, India. Although these investments will not count toward our science-based Net Zero goals, they will help to accelerate the global Net-Zero transition. In addition to supporting new energy generation and forest management practices, these investments provide communities with support for education, health services, and infrastructure as they transition to more sustainable ways of working.