The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS, the world’s express carrier and package delivery company has outlined five new focus areas to align with UPS’s vision for the future.
The five new focus areas of economic and global literacy, environmental sustainability, nonprofit effectiveness, diversity, and community safety are built upon its rich experience and are aligned with UPS’s vision for the future.
According to UPS, these focus areas, together with the powerful impact of UPS volunteers, create a comprehensive portfolio for the Foundation.
This ongoing evolution reflects the Foundation’s commitment to innovative ideas that leverage the strength of UPS and its people to address the many challenges facing the communities it serves.
It said that "economic and global literacy - illiteracy remains a tremendous barrier to economic empowerment around the world – especially for women and developing countries. Enhancing the economic literacy in communities through programming that teaches the fundamentals of free enterprise and the foundations of economic education is the focus of this initiative. UPS will also support emerging entrepreneurs through grants to innovative micro enterprise organizations"
"Environmental sustainability - while UPS’s role in this focus area is emerging, its objective is to support organizations and programs which educate communities on how they can take positive steps to improve and protect the environment through activities like conservation, recycling and green space initiatives. Similarly, it is also important that these programs facilitate a better understanding of what causes adverse impacts to the environment and non-profit effectiveness - the UPS Foundation will build on its long-standing commitment to helping nonprofit organizations operate more effectively and efficiently so they may strengthen the impact of the valuable services they provide to communities. Areas of interest include volunteer management, leadership development and capacity building through new technology" it added.
The foundation also said that "valuing diversity - from the empowerment of women to equal opportunity for the underserved and underprivileged, UPS has supported minority-focused organizations dedicated to inclusion and diversity since the 1960s. Today’s diversity issues encompass more than race and gender. It extends to the full myriad of issues ranging from ethnicity to sexual orientation. The company’s continued goal is to help communities thrive by embracing and leveraging the unique experiences, cultures, and ideas of the people living and community safety - this focus area will support programming aimed at sharing UPS’s safe driving expertise in order to improve the skills of young drivers. We will also work to enhance the strategies and efficiencies of organizations involved in disaster relief"
The UPS Foundation pursues these initiatives by identifying specific projects where its support can help produce a measurable social impact. In 2007, The UPS Foundation donated more than $46 million to charitable organizations worldwide.
