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Combined Community Investing—Programs & Actions
The following are major community programs and grants for both Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation in 2007.
Conservation and Sustainability
Alcoa Foundation continued to develop its US$9.2 million Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program, which is being managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to advance knowledge in the field of conservation and sustainability through research fellowships to outstanding academics and practitioners from NGOs.
The Foundation also continued to build its conservation and sustainability portfolio of strategic, longer-term partnerships by funding larger, visible programs and working with partners to build in measurable metrics and evaluation. Long-term partnerships were developed with NGOs that bring knowledge and institutional experience to Alcoa communities. These include the following:
- Conservation International and affiliates in Brazil, China, and Guinea;
- Jane Goodall Institute in China and Guinea;
- Rainforest Alliance in Honduras, Mexico, and Vietnam;
- The Nature Conservancy in Australia, China, and the United States;
- World Resources Institute in Brazil, China, and the United States; and
- World Wildlife Fund in China and Nepal.
Alcoa Foundation increased its investment in climate change initiatives for practices to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase the use of renewable energy. These investments also encouraged broader involvement of multi-sector stakeholders in climate change policy, development and use of climate change mitigation and adaptation approaches, and academic and applied research to find solutions to climate change issues and problems.
Specific climate change investments included the following:
- A three-year grant (US$1,125,000 awarded in 2006) to the World Resources Institute's Global Focus on Climate Change program is focused on sustainable solutions with private and public sector stakeholders in the United States, China, and Brazil. Expected outcomes include adoption of GHG policies, offset programs and corporate standards, sustainable transportation projects, and strategic enterprise development.
- Grants totaling US$750,000 to Resources for the Future (RFF) are supporting the development of policy approaches and engaging stakeholders and policymakers on the domestic and international issues underpinning legislation focused on climate change and GHG emissions. In developing countries, the funds are being used for voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) to address climate-related issues.
- In Central and Latin America, Rainforest Alliance's Climate Change Program is using a two-year, US$300,000 grant to develop three pilot projects on carbon offsets and certification/auditing in Central and Latin America. The projects will create a methodology for carbon accounting and provide training in the science and methods necessary for credible evaluation of carbon calculations.
- Using a three-year grant, leading environmental NGO Greening Australia has worked with the Australian Greenhouse Office and with Alcoa in Australia to develop a GHG footprint reduction kit and associated education program for Alcoa employees and their communities. During 2007, the Make an Impact program was rolled out across Alcoa's Victorian, New South Wales, and Western Australian operational sites. In addition to the kit and an interactive website, the program included quarterly hands-on workshops and Make an Impact family days across Australia to educate Alcoa employees and communities on GHG reduction.
- The Pew Center on Global Climate Change received a two-year, US$530,000 grant to fund a community-focused project directed at raising awareness and mobilizing action in Alcoa communities. This project builds off the successful Make an Impact GHG footprint reduction project with Greening Australia.
- A US$200,000 grant to the California Council of Land Trusts is helping 85 active nonprofit land trusts in California working in local communities understand and adapt their practices in response to the impacts of climate change.
- In May 2007, mayors and business delegations from 23 global cities, including London, Mexico City, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, and Tokyo, convened at the Large Cities Climate Summit in New York to exchange experiences and ideas for working together on "clean and green" initiatives and to expand the global network of cities for action on climate change.
Global Education and Workplace Skills
In 2007, Alcoa Foundation's Global Education and Workplace Skills focus was on access and retention, workplace skills development, career awareness, and training. Opportunities were developed for programs that have larger community impacts with potential for successful replication or which contribute to sustainability of the organizations involved.
- In Charleston, South Carolina, USA, a two-year grant of US$200,000 is supporting an apprenticeship program at the Trident Technical College Foundation to train entry-level workers in basic industrial and employability skills in an area of high economic growth in the manufacturing sector. In addition to adding qualified professionals to the workforce, the program is designed to be replicated at other community colleges and technical schools.
- In east Iceland, a three-year, US$175,000 grant is supporting a unique pilot program at Nesskoli Neskaupstad Primary School designed for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to ensure these students stay in school and have opportunities to learn skills that will equip them to be successful in life. Beyond the pilot phase, plans are for the program to become sustainable over the longer term by accepting ADHD students on a fee-basis from other municipalities.
- A US$200,000 grant to the Business Opportunities for Leadership Diversity (BOLD) Initiative, Inc. will create a demonstration project to promote the contribution of employee flex time. The project will also deploy employees' expertise and talents to nonprofits with specific capacity-building needs as a way to develop the capabilities of local nonprofits in New York City.
- Fifteen educators from across the United States are attending environmental, scientific education, and public policy programs at The Keystone Center Key Issues Institute through Alcoa Foundation support. This program has enabled teachers to connect their conservation and sustainability lessons in the classroom with youth groups and community-based projects, while others have secured small grants for hands-on projects.
- In Russia, the Alcoa Foundation Technical Education Support Program is in its third year with its partners from Samara State Aerospace University, Don State Technical University, and Moscow University of Steel and Alloys. The Institute of International Education, which is the program administrator, was awarded US$875,000 in grants. To date, 240 engineering students who are in their final years of study received scholarships, 26 young faculty members have received development stipends for research and publications, and the teaching and research capacities of two universities were developed with purchases of instructional and research equipment.
Business and Community Partnerships
- Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation jointly sponsored a variety of arts and cultural exhibitions and events designed to foster cultural exchange. Each combined a strong educational and outreach program to connect with educational institutions and younger audiences, and each was capable of being accessed by students from smaller regional centers. For example, Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation sponsored the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's exhibition, Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, in Beijing and Shanghai. The exhibition traveled to Moscow and Bilbao, Spain, in 2007, where it was viewed by more than 1.5 million people.
- Alcoa Foundation is working in partnership with City Year New York corps of youth service volunteers through a US$300,000 grant to support City Year work in community service, leadership development, and civic engagement at Public School 48 in Hunts Point in the South Bronx, New York. City Year is a program that combines academic assistance and school enhancement with community services.
- In conjunction with Alcoa Primary Metals Canada, Alcoa Foundation awarded a US$200,000 grant to Musee de la Civilisation to support exhibitions and multiple cultural activities for visitors.
- Alcoa Foundation awarded a two-year, US$500,000 grant to support the Ville de Baie-Comeau (Canada) in creating an art and culture center.
- Alcoa Foundation funded programs pursuing research on global issues, public policy, and education and outreach in economics, science, environment, globalization, and sustainability. Grant recipients included the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, London School of Economics & Political Science (United Kingdom), Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels), Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, DC), Brookings Institution (Washington, DC), Asia Society, and the China Science and Technology Museum.
Safe and Healthy Children and Families Grants and Programs
- In Australia, Alcoa Foundation supported the Clontarf Foundation through a US$307,188 grant for two academies that will support indigenous male youth throughout the southwest of Western Australia through their teenage years to adulthood (10-20 years of age). The academies will equip the youth to be functional, contributing members of society with healthy levels of self-esteem and life skills.
- In Brazil, Alcoa Foundation supported the Departamento Municipal de Agua e Esgoto de Pocos de Caldas with a US$250,000 grant for the establishment of a sewer pumping station. This vital project will significantly reduce exposure to illnesses and disease for a population of approximately 42,000 inhabitants and will contribute to their sustainability by providing a better quality of life in that community.
- In Europe, Alcoa Foundation focused on access to services for the disabled and children. In France, a US$48,000 grant to the Association Nationale d'Education de Chiens d'Assistance pour Handicapes is assisting with the organization's dog-training program for handicapped people. In Iceland, Heradssamband Thingeyinga is using a US$66,000 grant to provide transportation services for children living in rural areas so they can participate in community-based sports and recreational activities.
- In the United States, Alcoa Foundation funded Children for Children's (CFC) Sweat for Nets program, an interactive service-learning program that encourages children to learn and teach others about the global fight against malaria. In Davenport, Iowa, Alcoa Foundation assisted the Handicapped Development Center through a two-year, US$100,000 grant for the expansion of the facilities and physical therapy programs to serve more people with physical and mental disabilities. The programs include group home care and management, resident center care and management, home and community-based services, employment services, and individual physical therapy programs. The Make It Right Foundation received US$150,000 to assist in the construction of 150 homes in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana, where rebuilding efforts are still crucial after the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- In Mexico, Alcoa Foundation supported Freedom from Hunger with a US$200,000 grant over three-years for a regional capacity-building program with Alcance, a national NGO. The program will offer integrated educational services to local institutions working to alleviate chronic hunger in the rural poor living near or around the communities of Acuna, Torreon, Piedras Negras, and Juárez, Mexico.
Performance data
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Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program
In 2005, Alcoa Foundation began a US$8.6 million global signature program to advance the knowledge and support for exemplary work in the field of conservation and sustainability through fellowships to outstanding academics and practitioners from non-governmental organizations. By bringing together the academic, NGO, and business communities, Alcoa Foundation's program is a new model of effective private philanthropic action to address urgent problems of global concern.
The program is supporting the research activities of 30 academics and 60 practitioners from around the world. Five academic partners have formed sustainability cabinets to support the work of the academic fellows, and three sustainability institutes support the work of the practitioner fellows.
By the end of 2007, a total of 30 academic fellows and 42 practitioner fellows were selected for the program. The fellows are involved in research projects in the areas of conservation of fragile ecosystems and biodiversity; climate change and energy; sustainability, livelihoods and economic growth; and integrating sustainability into public policy and governance.
In November 2006, more than 140 people attended the program's first conference, held in Brussels. Program participants were joined by NGOs, Alcoa executives, government officials, diplomatic and business representatives, and international organizations. A second Advancing Sustainability conference is planned for October 2008 to bring together the best young minds—the future leaders in sustainability—with the leaders and decision makers of today.
Visit the program website for detailed information on the program, partners, individual fellows, breakthrough research, and the conference.
Disaster Relief
Alcoa Foundation disaster relief grants are a visible sign of our connection to communities in their time of great, immediate, and long-term need. These grants help bridge the community recipient's gap between stability and a catastrophic event.
There are three categories where the disaster grant process is activated within Alcoa Foundation:
- A disaster within an Alcoa location community.
- A disaster within a community, state, or nation with importance to Alcoa in one form or another.
- A disaster of a global magnitude where humanitarian support is an essential expression of corporate social responsibility.
Disaster relief efforts for 2007 included the following:
- US$25,000 for flooding and insect plague victims in Suriname;
- US$80,000 for victims of the bush fires in Western Australia;
- US$40,000 for tornado victims in Piedras Negras, Mexico;
- US$20,000 for fire victims in Whatcom County, Washington, USA;
- US$100,000 for victims of Hurricane Dean in Jamaica;
- US$15,000 for victims of an earthquake in Japan;
- US$50,000 for victims of an earthquake in Peru;
- US$10,000 for victims of a freeze in Tulare County, California, USA;
- US$100,000 for victims of an earthquake in China;
- US$25,000 for victims of high winds in Wenatchee, Washington, USA;
- US$50,000 for victims of wildfires in California, USA; and
- US$15,000 for victims of a tornado in Dodge County, Georgia, USA.
Exit Grants
As part of Alcoa's and Alcoa Foundation's commitment to the communities where the company operates, we work with communities to develop exit strategies to assist local organizations whenever we have businesses or locations that will or might be affected by a plant divestiture or closing. The purpose is to leave a grant commitment behind in the affected community. These strategies consider the timing of the action, multi-year grants already committed to not-for-profit organizations in the community, historical grantmaking levels, community needs and expectations, and other commitments that are in effect.
In 2007, Alcoa Foundation awarded the following exit grants:
- US$15,000 to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, Georgia, USA, for the South Georgia Multi-County Arts Infusion Project;
- US$25,000 to the City of Mt. Vernon, Kentucky, USA, for the Lake Linville Wetlands Project and Educational Facility;
- US$75,000 to the City of Yankton, South Dakota, USA, for the Memorial Park Pool Improvement Project;
- US$10,000 to the United Food Bank of Plant City, Florida, USA, to support the nutrition program for disadvantaged individuals and families;
- US$50,000 to the United Way of South Georgian Bay, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, for basic needs services; and
- US$29,524 to the Blaenymaes, Portmead, Penplas Development Trust Limited, Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom, for the workforce development and food service program
Alcoa Campus Partnership Program
Started in 1997, the Campus Partnership Program was developed to support Alcoa's commitment to build a workforce that exemplifies the qualities of leadership, excellence, and diversity.
The program relies upon a cooperative and coordinated effort of our business units and resource units to recruit new talent. It promotes a commitment to early identification and recruitment of outstanding candidates who exemplify leadership, excellence, and other qualities and competencies Alcoa requires.
The program's main focus is the development and strengthening of recruiting partnerships within a group of 35 universities that were selected based on quality, diversity, historical relationship with Alcoa, and other factors. Relationships are developed and maintained year-round, which allows us to have a consistent presence on campus.
In 2007, we invested approximately US$1 million in our 35 partner universities. The grants supported educational initiatives that focus on promoting diversity, gender equity, and global perspectives in the fields of business, science, engineering, and technology.
Scholarship and Educational Programs
The Alcoa Foundation Sons and Daughters Scholarship Program and Educational Gift Matching Program were early initiatives put forth by Alcoa Foundation shortly after it began in 1952 and at a time when the majority of Alcoa's employees were located in the United States. The programs endure today as a means of fulfilling Alcoa Foundation's commitment to higher education in the United States, while other Foundation grants address the educational needs of our international locations.
The Alcoa Foundation Sons and Daughters Scholarship Program is a national competition administered by Recognition Program Services, a division of ACT. In 2007, the program awarded US$393,000 in college scholarships to 67 children of U.S. Alcoa employees.
The Educational Gift Matching Program allows U.S. employees to make donations to the college or university of their choice and have the gift matched by Alcoa Foundation.
In 2007, the combined giving for both programs reached US$1.1 million.
Case Studies
Measuring the Financial Impact of Alcoa's Presence
School Preserves Brazilian Shipbuilding Tradition, Creates Career Opportunities
Workshop Helps Rural Women in India Gain Entrepreneurial Skills
Planting a Greener Future
Creating Sustainable Livelihoods to Protect Chimpanzees in Guinea
Proving the Value of Public Libraries
Helping High-Risk Youth Prepare for the Future
Sustainable Logging Project Hits the Right Note
Building Capacity in Communities, Organizations
Safety of Children, Families Priority for Alcoa
Volunteers Go Back to School
Diversity on the Menu at Point Henry
Students Dig Deep to Put Classroom Learnings into Action
Land Reuse Project Brings Sustainable Income, Environmental Protection to Guinea Community
Partnership Serves as Recipe for Success in Land Conservation
Fun, Interaction Spark Interest in Energy
Partnership Revitalizes Community, Preserves Australian History
Taking Steps to Encourage Careers in Science, Technology
Donated Artifacts, Outreach Grant Preserve, Teach North Carolina History
Volunteer Initiative Reduces Personal Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada
Safe and Healthy Australian Children
Developing Australia's Future Leaders
Promoting Community Engagement through Art
Bringing Sustainable Education to Schools
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