2021 Community Engagement wrap-up
February 01, 2022
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Looking back at where we donated, volunteered, and continued important initiatives in our communities in 2021
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"text": "Diversity, Inclusion, and Education
Another year has wrapped up, and although we had the ongoing global pandemic, our goal of connecting with communities where we live and work to help strengthen them in meaningful ways was met. Through donations, sponsorships, and volunteering within our four pillars—arts, education, environment, and health and wellness—we were able to donate over $4.41 million to organizations around the globe.
We look for strategic partnerships that leverage and empower entire communities while recognizing that each community has unique needs and opportunities. Although we focus primarily on our four pillars, Stantec also supports diversity in our communities. We celebrate and get involved in activities that nurture inclusion in the broader marketplace, participate in community partnerships, and promote programs that enable engagement with women, members of visible minorities, BIPOC, and people with disabilities.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Education
In 2021, we undertook a series of initiatives to further enhance diversity and inclusion at Stantec and to demonstrate our support of equity and inclusion. Stantec continues to partner with The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Alaska Native Village Corporation Association (ANVCA), to name a few. We also partnered with new organizations like Onyx Initiative and Out for Undergrad (O4U) and many other organizations working in our communities whose work emphasizes diversity and inclusivity.
We saw 30 students from around the globe awarded scholarships through our Stantec Equity & Diversity Scholarship (E&D Scholarship). Five of these students were given internships around North America. This scholarship was created in 2020 when we recognized the need to increase our focus on finding more ways to support underrepresented populations in our industry. This annual scholarship will award $200,000 to students in STEAM. We are currently in our second intake for the scholarship and will be providing scholarships and internships to another 30 students in 2022.
Stantec committed $200,000 annually, above the E&D Scholarship, in support of higher education. We know how important education is and in these uncertain times, we can imagine how difficult it must be for students to focus on the future. We provided over $828,400 in total in scholarships last year.
At Tennessee State University, Stantec started a scholarship fund for $50,000. The funding will be assigned to the College of Engineering and applied to deserving students majoring in civil engineering which includes environmental studies, transportation, and other areas of studies. Some of the funding will go towards specialized projects or organizations like the Society of Women Engineer, National Society of Black Engineers, and others. This is part of our focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as part of our I&D outreach strategy.
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Giving Back to the Community
We expanded our holiday giving support from $50,000 to $100,000 to provide additional and vital support in our communities to address the challenges of the pandemic. We engaged with employees and asked for their input on which organizations they would like to see the funds support—Principles for Responsible Management Education, World Central Kitchen, Habitat for Humanity, Canadian Mental Health Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Beyond Blue, and Mind were selected.
For over 12 years, Stantec has partnered with the ACE Mentor Program (ACE). In 2021, we committed to ACE at the national level for $25,000. We also donated another $25,000 to scholarships specifically for ACE students.
Our Employees
We went ahead with our annual signature Company sponsored volunteer event, Stantec in the Community Week. We had postponed in 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic, but believed it was necessary to go ahead for 2021 to boost employee morale and help the organizations in our communities who were struggling. Through in-person and virtual events, we saw 2,946 employees worldwide donate their time, energy, and expertise to Stantec in the Community Week.
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Through our global volunteer initiative, Dollars for Doers, employees volunteered in their communities and helped raise $36,167 for charities.
We also continued support of our internal community through the Stantec BetterTogether Fund (BTF) which helps Stantec employees who are facing financial hardship immediately after a natural disaster or unforeseen personal challenges. Our Company seeded the fund with a $200,000 donation but also rely on individual donations from employees. Our employees have generously contributed over $46,000 in 2021 to the BTF. The cash grants have provided support to three employees this year, helping them supplement other solutions and filling in gaps when a hardship has occurred, and these valuable colleagues needed help rebounding.
Since we began tracking these donations, sponsorships, and volunteer opportunities in 2007, our Community Engagement contributions have exceeded $31.1 million. We’re looking forward to building on these accomplishments in 2022. We are committed to reaching our 2030 goal—to invest a further $30 million into community organizations around the globe—because we know how important it is to give back to the community. Through funding opportunities, we will not only achieve our goal, but we will continue to help charitable organizations within our communities strengthen their ability to reach their goals, work effectively, and sustain themselves over time.
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