Companies, Organizations & Leaders Giving Back This Holiday Season And Beyond

The holidays are all about gathering with family, friends, and communities to celebrate and give thanks, but most importantly, give back; with inflation causing the cost of food, gas, housing, and other necessities to climb, poverty and homelessness are at an all-time high, and many families are finding it hard to make ends meet. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2021, the national poverty rate in America was 12.8%, with the child poverty rate at 16.9% for people under age 18, 4.2% higher than the national rate.

We can all find ways to give back this holiday season, big or small, and for leaders, it is imperative to show how an organization can give back,

Giving back to the community should be especially important for companies, businesses and corporate leaders, as the impact that an organization with a strong corporate social responsibility program can have on communities and society, in general, can be significant. While many companies believe giving back is valuable, they often fail to invest the time, energy and available resources into building charitable programs and or even offer multiple ways for their employees to contribute.

The benefits that come with giving back go far beyond just ‘doing good,’ charitable work can help companies strengthen their company’s brand and visibility, build a solid and loyal consumer base, aid in recruiting and retaining employees aligned with company values, and even boost revenues.

This holiday season, let’s highlight some leaders, brands, organizations and startups whose philanthropic efforts lie deep in its DNA.

Daniel Feldman, Founder of ZITA

Daniel Feldman is the Founder and Chief Executive of ZITA (Zona Industrial Taller de Arquitectura), a Bogota (Colombia) based mission-led architecture firm that focuses on community buildings through participatory processes, environmental design, and alternative forms of urban development through preservation. Feldman was named the best young architects in Latin America in the 2018 Venice Bienalle, thanks to a series of early childhood development centers his firm designed and built in the war-torn jungles of Colombia.

Goodhope

This holiday season, make sure your gingerbread cookies and cranberry cakes will contain sustainably sourced and produced ingredients. Goodhope, a Singapore-based palm oil company whose subsidiary is one of Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerates, aims to innovate by enhancing traditional agricultural excellence with cutting-edge technology and management practices. Their main objective is to develop and manage oil palm plantations sustainably by implementing best management practices developed by recognized industry associations, including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

The company aptly demonstrates that sustainability and profitability need not be mutually exclusive. Goodhope is a Group Member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), with four of the Group’s oil palm processing mills and its two manufacturing facilities in Malaysia having been awarded RSPO Certification.

Prior to any new plantings the company commits to ensuring the completion of relevant social and environmental assessments. Furthermore, the infrastructure in their concessions (totaling 5,377 hectares across all operations in 2017) includes mills and facilities and services such as roads, housing complexes, schools and clinics — aiming to create and maintain safe and prosperous environments in which people want to live and work and are committed to continuously improve their environmental health and safety performance.

Dr. Danielle Robinson, Chief Diversity Officer, DIAGEO

Dr. Danielle Robinson is Head of Community Engagement and Partnerships at DIAGEO. Dr. Robinson played a significant role in leading the spirit conglomerate to receive numerous awards, including Top 100 Companies for Working Mothers, Top 100 Companies for Executive Women by NAFE, Top Diversity Employer, Top 100 Companies to Work by the Human Rights Campaign and Top 25 Diversity Councils.

Furthermore, as a proud partner and avid supporter of HBCUs, Dr. Robinson is a part of the team that reinforces DIAGEO’s commitment to advancing the Black community by pledging $10 million to create permanent endowments at 25 HBCUs across the country to develop future diverse leaders and help shape a more equitable society. As a result, earlier this year, DIAGEO has given both Grambling State University and Southern University each $250,000 to create a permanent endowment fund and provide financial aid to thousands of students, deepening DIAGEO’s commitment during the 49th Annual Bayou Classic Fan Fest and Game (2022).

Ghetto Gastro x I.W. Harper

Ghetto Gastro is a global mainstay of food as culture, using ancestral ingredients to bring many flavors and recipes to eaters everywhere. Ahead of this holiday season, Bronx-based culinary collective Ghetto Gastro celebrated their first-ever cookbook, Black Power Kitchen, to give back to the poorest congressional district in the country and provide nourishing meals for families in need. Ghetto Gastro’s Black Power Kitchen is the trio’s “love letter to the Bronx” that aims to celebrate Black culture, food and the feeling of exquisite harmony we get when coming together over a meal. Recently the trio partnered with I.W. Harper for an exclusive book signing where proceeds of the sales, along with a matching donation from I.W. Harper, benefitted the Bruckner Mott Haven Community Garden, all while championing the individuals redefining and shaping their local communities.

TABLE FOR TWO USA

Almost 900 million people world-wide suffer from hunger, while another 2 billion suffer from obesity and other diet related illnesses. TABLE FOR TWO USA (TFT) is a 501(C)(3) organization, that started in Japan and is expanding globally. TFT fights this global food imbalance through a unique meal-sharing program. TFT partners with corporations, restaurants, schools and other food establishments to serve healthy meals, and for each healthy meals they served, $0.25 is donated to provide one school meal for a child in need. The TABLE FOR TWO initiative was initiated by and is an official affiliate of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

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Adolophine

At Adolophine, their mission is simple: To bring African artisanal craftsmanship to the world through luxury goods while promoting the preservation of culture, economic sustainability, and charity by partnering with organizations that believe in creating change in Africa.

Adolophine supports economic sustainability of its artisans as well as the preservation of the cultures from which their products originate. One of their goals is to educate and spread the passion and craftsmanship of their artisans and their cultures to the world. Some of the organizations they work with include schools, women’s co-ops, and other charities that support the health and economic well-being of underserved communities throughout the continent.

Adolophine specially curated products are authentic and made by artisans who have been producing goods passed down from generation to generation. These Artisans include basket weavers, bespoke tailors, shoemakers, jewelry makers and more.

Martha Cardoso x Adobe Brick Project x Astral Tequila

Astral Tequila, known for its crisp citrus, clover honey, and bright white pepper-tasting notes, has taken its sustainability efforts to a new level. They partnered with civil engineer Martha Cardoso of the Adobe Brick Project to turn the agave leftover from their distillation process into adobe bricks, which will be used to build homes and community centers in local communities in Mexico, creating more places to gather with loved ones and feel connected. Martha Cardoso has been building homes in Oaxaca, Mexico since 2017. So each time you take a sip of Astral Tequila you’re also giving back, and we can’t think of a better reason to raise glass to these efforts this holiday season.