International Association for Volunteer Effort Presents the 2018 IAVE Global Corporate Volunteering Awards at the 25th IAVE World Volunteer Conference

AUGSBURG, Germany, October 19, 2018 (Newswire.com) - The International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) presents the 2018 IAVE Global Corporate Volunteering Awards at the 25th IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Augsburg, Germany

The International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) presented the IAVE Global Corporate Volunteering Awards at the 25th IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Augsburg, Germany on 19 October 2018. The Global Corporate Volunteering Awards, created by IAVE in 2012, are the only global awards to formally celebrate excellence in corporate volunteering.

We are proud to present these awards to truly outstanding corporate citizens, whose employees are doing incredible work in their communities around the world.

Kylee Bates, IAVE World President

Four different categories of corporate awards are presented biennially at IAVE’s World Volunteer Conference. Presenting the awards was Diane Solinger, Director of Communications and Culture, SumUX Google, and Chairperson of the Global Corporate Volunteer Council. Also on hand was Kylee Bates, World President of the International Association for Volunteer Effort. "We are proud to present these awards to truly outstanding corporate citizens, whose employees are doing incredible work in their communities around the world,” said Ms. Bates.

The Global Volunteer Program Award recognizes a global company that shows an exemplary overall approach to global corporate volunteering – with a well-thought-out strategy that fits their values, priorities, and culture; an understanding and appreciation of global issues and local realities; and activities that thoughtfully address serious problems. The 2018 Global Volunteer Program Award was presented to the Tata Group. Ajit Chaudhuri, AVP Community Services, and Kinjal Jain, Deputy Manager Volunteering, both of the Tata Sustainability Group, were present to accept the award on behalf of the Tata Group.

The Inspiring Practice Award recognizes a global company that has created a high impact volunteer initiative designed to meet a specific community or societal need. This award is about tangible outcomes that resulted from a specific volunteer-based strategy to meet a particular need. The 2018 Inspiring Practice Award recognized four outstanding global corporate volunteer programs.

Merck, Sharpe and Dohme Corporation, Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, received an inspiring practice award for its MSD Fellowship for Global Health. Christine Funk, Associate Director of Corporate Responsibility, accepted the award on behalf of MSD.

Telefónica accepted an inspiring practice award for its use of digital strategies in combination with employee volunteering. Mark Sardison, Senior Corporate Responsibility Manager, accepted the award on Telefónica's behalf.

The Ritz-Carlton Company also received an inspiring practice award recognizing the global scope and innovative local implementation of the company’s Community Footprints program. Christian Fomm, General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg, was present in Augsburg to accept the award.

GSK was recognized for its PULSE program. Bettina Brennecke, Vice President, Government Affairs, Market Access & Communications, GSK Germany, was on hand to accept the award on behalf of GSK.

The German Volunteer Program Award was presented this year in recognition of the host country of the World Volunteer Conference. The Berlin Social Academy, a collaboration of B.Z., Scholz & Friends, Scout24, and Zalando, applies the expertise of their employees to help build the capacity of civil society organizations in Berlin. Dr. Norbert Taubken, Scholz & Friends Reputation Business Director accepted the award on behalf of the Berlin Social Academy.

A new award, the Disaster Volunteering Program award, was inaugurated this year to recognize a company that has led in all phases of disaster response-building resilience, responding in the immediate aftermath of disasters, and helping communities recover – all with the use of employee volunteers. This award was given to UPS and Eduardo Martinez, President of the UPS Foundation, and Chief Diversity Officer, UPS, was present to receive the award.

To qualify for the global corporate volunteer, inspiring practice and disaster volunteering awards, companies may be headquartered anywhere in the world but must have significant operations in at least three regions of the world: Africa, the Arab Nations, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Their employee volunteer efforts must be equally global. Applicants were scrutinized using four main criteria: globalization of approach and perspective, partnerships and collaboration, impact on communities, employees and the company, and processes for continuous improvement. A panel of six judges from around the world, all with expertise in corporate volunteering, evaluated nominations and helped to make the final selections.

More information about the awards can be found on the IAVE website at http://bit.ly/IAVEawards.

Awards Contact:
Lorrie Foster
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (+1) 201-406-4007

Social Media:
www.facebook.com/IAVEOfficial
www.twitter.com/IAVE

Source: International Association for Volunteer Effort