Community engagement on a global basis
As a responsible employer, we encourage our people to apply their workplace skills to create positive change in communities close to home and around the world. And as a global business leader, we join with organizations like the World Bank’s Private Sector Leaders Forum, the World Economic Forum and Transparency International to help with the social and economic challenges of our time.
We channel our corporate responsibility efforts into three key areas — education, entrepreneurship and the environment — that complement our business strategy and are critical to strengthening our economy.
Volunteering is an important part of our culture, but we don’t simply provide an extra pair of hands. We contribute more to our communities and give our people more meaningful experiences by tapping into our professional skills and capabilities. Our people serve on not-for-profit boards, support schools, mentor students, assist entrepreneurs and strive to reduce our environmental footprint.
Skills-based volunteering = career development
EYU, our learning and development framework, lists “community engagement” as a key professional development experience. With skills-based volunteering, our people gain new experience in project management, teamwork and leadership while giving back in a way that brings real value to their communities.
The Ernst & Young Community Engagement Network
With offices in 15 locations across Canada, we have the capacity to make a difference in our own neighbourhoods and throughout the nation. Our Community Engagement Network is composed of Ernst & Young professionals who volunteer where they live and work and eagerly share their best practices with each other. This robust exchange has led to the development of relationships with several not-for-profit focus organizations in the education, entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability arenas, as well as the creation of effective, signature Ernst & Young community engagement programs.
Embedding corporate responsibility in our major milestone events
Ernst & Young professionals come together at different milestones in their careers. This commitment is reflected in our Responsible Meetings Guidelines.
Our interns participate in our International Intern Leadership Conference, our new hires attend our Welcome to Ernst & Young program, and promotions to manager, senior manager and director are marked by “milestone” meetings focused on leadership development.
At all of these events, our people hear about our commitment to corporate responsibility and experience it first-hand. Over the summer of 2009, our interns planted trees to offset carbon emissions, and heard from our leaders who shared their experiences and stories about lending a hand in their local communities. We embed an overview of our corporate responsibility strategy into our new-hire orientation. And at a recent training session for new managers and senior managers, teams assembled 1,000 backpacks for young people from low-income families.
Promoting dialogue and action through the World Economic Forum and the World Bank
We are one of the 1,000 member companies and one of the 95 strategic partners of the World Economic Forum (WEF). As a member, we contribute to working groups, participate in roundtables and speak on panels. We send senior leaders to attend the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China; the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland; and regional summits. At the WEF annual meeting in 2008, we released Groundbreakers: using the strength of women to rebuild the world economy, a report on the important role of women in driving economic recovery. We also join with other global private sector leaders in our support of the World Bank Gender Action Plan, a multi-year initiative to expand economic opportunities for women across the globe.
Read the second report in our Groundbreakers series, Scaling up: why women-owned businesses can recharge the global economy.
Fighting corruption with Transparency International
Since 2006, we have been a sponsor of some of Transparency International’s most widely distributed studies, including the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Bribe Payers Index and the Global Corruption Barometer.
Please note: Ernst & Young does not accept unsolicited requests for funding or volunteer engagements.