Chevron's community engagement initiatives strive to contribute to economic growth and the well-being of the communities in which we operate. Over the past several years, our programs have focused on building human and institutional capacity. In 2007, we invested approximately $119 million in community engagement initiatives in the United States and around the world, an increase of nearly $30 million over 2006. The increase was due largely to our Energy for Learning education initiative and our alliance with the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership. Overall, approximately 68 percent was targeted toward basic human needs, education and training, and support for local small and medium-size businesses.
Partnerships are at the heart of our community engagement initiatives. We believe that they are essential to creating sustainable programs that build local capabilities. We collaborate with our strategic partners to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate our community engagement projects. Our partners include local and national governments, communities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), development and donor agencies, and multilateral institutions. Through our partnerships, we leverage our own and our partners' expertise, skills, technical knowledge and financial resources.
Enhancing Our Capabilities
At Chevron, we continuously look for ways to enhance our internal capabilities to constructively engage the communities in which we operate and build sustainable partnerships. In 2007, more than 100 Chevron employees from more than 15 countries took part in social impact assessment and stakeholder engagement training sessions in Angola, Canada, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Thailand, the United States and Venezuela. These training sessions were part of the three-year rollout of our Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment process for new capital projects.
We also introduced a new community engagement tool kit, which provides our community engagement staff with guidance in designing, implementing and assessing community engagement programs for all stages of a project's life cycle.
Developing Partners' Capabilities
Chevron's community engagement initiatives rest on a long-term commitment to collaboration and partnership. Our three-year, $30 million commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is one example. The Chevron Management Institute (CMI) is another. The CMI provides four days of intensive leadership and management training to NGO representatives we work with around the world. Since 1995, the CMI has trained approximately 320 NGO leaders.
In 2007, the CMI sponsored two training sessions for our NGO partners. A CMI session in Houston brought together 20 NGO leaders from organizations in Angola, Nigeria and the United States. At a regional CMI session held in Caracas, Venezuela, our Latin American business unit welcomed 26 NGO leaders from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador and Venezuela. The Research Foundation, a Latin American development organization, facilitated the training with faculty from INCAE (Instituto Centroamericano de Administración de Empresas), a nonprofit organization located in Costa Rica supported by the Harvard Business School.
Helping Our Communities
Our employees around the world care about where they live and work. And they demonstrate it by the time and money they contribute to their communities.
To support this spirit of giving, Chevron started an employee giving and volunteer program in 2008 that will provide up to $20 million annually for U.S. nonprofit organizations. The Chevron Humankind program gives employees greater freedom to support many nonprofit groups. By matching employee contributions, Chevron helps the donations make a bigger impact.
Our employees also volunteer their time to help their communities. As part of our new initiative, we provide grants to nonprofit organizations when employees volunteer their time with that organization.
Chevron Humankind is our latest commitment to the communities in which we do business.
Grant Guidelines
Chevron Corporation does not accept unsolicited funding requests, grant applications or project proposals. Most of our partnerships are formed from existing relationships in communities where we operate. On occasion, we seek new partnerships that are uniquely able to address community needs and deliver meaningful results.
Updated: May 2008