BLOG UPDATED 8/11/15
This morning, The San Francisco Business Times presented the NCG sponsored, Corporate Philanthropy Awards & Summit. The event honored the Top 83 Bay Area Corporate Philanthropists who made a combined contribution of $263 million in cash to Bay Area charities and organizations in 2014 as well as more than 1.9 billion in cash worldwide. Those donations are in addition to in-kind gifts and volunteering.
NCG Board Chair Diane Parnes presented some of the top ten awards, and NCG Board Secretary/Governance Breanda Solorzano, Chief Program Director for NCG member Blue Shield Foundation moderated a philanthropy breakout session Partnership in Workforce Development.
NCG is proud to announce that 19 of our corporate members were on the list and three of them were in The Fab Five. Join us in congratulating our members!
“We want the Valley to be seen as not just a place to work and build the next great thing, but as a community of families and interconnected neighborhoods that are vital to the economic success that this region is known for” said Rick Williams, CEO of the Sobrato Family Foundation.
“It is important to us to revitalize and stabilize communities through programs that create and sustain affordable housing, finance and support small- and micro-businesses, and provide workforce development and job training” said Randy Chun (pictured far left with Mario Diaz, Top Giving Officer), Vice President and Community Affairs Officer for Wells Fargo Corporate Giving.
“When we extend our resources, expertise and relationships, we contribute to strong economies that broaden opportunities for more people to prosper. I’m proud that thousands of employees join Cisco in this work by volunteering, serving on boards and making personal donations” said Ricardo Benavidez, Government and Community Relations Manager for Cisco Systems Foundation.
7. PG&E Corp.
9. Bank of America Charitable Foundation
12. Genentech Inc.
14. Oracle USA, Inc.
19. MUFG Union Bank
21. Gap Inc.
28. Schwab Community Services & Charles Schwab Foundation
42. Heffernan Insurance Brokers
43. CSAA Insurance Exchange AAA
55. Bank of Marin
Following the awards presentation, NCG member The San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell joined a distinguished executive panel which included Deloitte & Touche Western Region Manager Partner Teresa Briggs, Twitter Head of Community Outreach & Philanthropy Caroline Balerin. They shared their views on balancing social responsibility with bottom line accountability, local income inequality, how they make their giving decisions and the impact they are making on the Bay Area.
“What we need to do is disrupt the wage gap and think about how we can disrupt the impact of a zip code. We need to figure out how we can, together, create neighborhoods of prosperity and opportunity” commented Blackwell.
After multiple rounds of applause for his comments, when he was asked for a summation rally cry, he responded by saying,
“In addition to corporate philanthropy, the rallying cry should be about leadership–beyond the transaction. We need to use our leadership to get there.”
Read more about the top corporate philanthropists in the Bay Area.