CHEVY CHASE, Md. – (February 22, 2016) – On World CSR Day, Sue Stephenson, Vice President of Community Footprints for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, was recognized at the APB News CSR Awards ceremony in Mumbai with a “100 Most Impactful CSR Leaders (Global Listing)” award.
“I am proud to have been honored with this award on behalf of our 40,000 employees around the world who Serve With Purpose in their local communities,” said Sue Stephenson. “By sharing their skills and expertise with others they are helping to impact hunger and poverty, advance child well-being and protect the environment”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Accepting the award on Ms. Stephenson’s behalf, Raghu Menon, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore, was proud to represent the impact his employees are making in the Bangalore community. One of the many programs they are engaged in is The Ritz-Carlton Succeed Through Service program, an award-winning curriculum that is elevating the potential for young people in over 100 communities around the world. The program enables Ritz-Carlton employees to mentor students in low income communities to follow their passions, imagine futures not previously envisioned, understand the value of giving back to their community, and learn valuable life skills that will help them forge a path of success. Since launching in 2009, Succeed Through Service has benefitted over 20,000 students around the world.
Earlier this month, Mr. Menon joined members of his team to introduce 50 9th and 10th grade students at Subhodhini High School in the HSR Layout to the Succeed Through Service “Power of Teamwork” module. Collaborating with Dream-A–Dream Foundation, the volunteers inspired the students about the importance of teamwork through relatable examples of India’s much loved sport, cricket. The students also had the opportunity to collaborate in teams on an issue faced in their immediate locality and were asked to brainstorm ideas for potential solutions. The students identified pollution, water shortage, lack of civic sense and awareness on proper garbage disposal, as well as electricity shortage to be the main issues that were faced locally. At the end of the working session, each student leader presented their team’s solution to the class with the help of their teammates..
“We are committed to enhancing the lives, well-being and career prospects for the young people in our community and our Succeed Through Service program provides a platform for us to deliver on that promise” said Mr. Menon. “Our employees inspire the young students and equip them with skills that will help them to flourish”
A commitment to developing programs that enable employees to share their skills and knowledge to help address serious issues in local communities led The Ritz-Carlton to become the first Founding Partner of IMPACT 2030. This business-led initiative, in collaboration with the United Nations and other stakeholders, is designed to marshal the power of employee volunteering to advance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. “IMPACT 2030 was created as a direct response to the United Nation’s request to expand the private sector’s role in helping to end poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change,” said Sue Stephenson, who also serves as Vice Chair of the IMPACT 2030 Executive Committee. “It’s very exciting to see the powerful impact that partner companies have on the world when their efforts are aligned to these global goals. Together, we can make a difference!”
