Following a grant announcement in October, the Foundation’s board of trustees approved another round of funding in November, its third this year. All grants will help advance the Foundation’s giving priorities of education, sustainability, and women’s empowerment. Additional grants, made in consultation with Avery Dennision’s Diversity & Inclusion councils and employee resource groups (ERGs), were awarded to local programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
“Our increased giving is a response to the times,” explained Avery Dennison Foundation President Alicia Procello. “At the end of last year, Avery Dennison made a $10 million donation to the Foundation, providing an opportunity to increase the pace and size of our grantmaking. At roughly the same time, we began to focus on DE & I as an unofficial “fourth pillar” of giving, to align with the DE & I work Avery Dennison initiated as a company last year. Our working directly with the DE & I councils and ERGs mirrors how we approach grantmaking generally, by authentically including employee voices in the process.”
Following is a list of the grants the Avery Dennison board recently approved:
Women’s Empowerment: Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains, South and Southeast Asia
Sponsored by the United Nations Foundation’s Universal Access Project, the Resilience Fund invests in the long-term health and economic resilience of women who form the backbone of the global supply chain by investing in the local, women-led organizations that support them. The Resilience Fund is notable for avoiding the typical “top-down” mandates of philanthropy and instead putting funding decisions directly into the hands of organizations that know their communities best. A one-year, $250,000 Avery Dennison Foundation grant will be part of pooled funding from companies including The Gap, H & M, Ralph Lauren, and others. Funds will help support local organizations serving women in South and Southeast Asia.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Special Olympics in Latin America
Special Olympics provides year-round athletic training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, helping to challenge the stigma, isolation, and injustice that people with intellectual disabilities often face. A $60,000 grant from the Avery Dennison Foundation will support a new curriculum used to train people with intellectual disabilities to advocate, teach and model inclusive leadership, and to help raise awareness of the barriers that those with such disabilities can face. The grant will help train 300 young people in all, and will help produce an online “Latin America Forum for Inclusion,” at which the new curriculum will be launched. In addition, Avery Dennison employees will be offered opportunities to share their stories of personal and professional development at Special Olympics events and training.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Stichting VHTO, The Netherlands
Stichting VHTO offers research-based programs to tackle gender stereotypes in schools and ultimately increase the numbers of women in STEM fields.Through one program, elementary-school students aged 4 to 12 are introduced to women in STEM who share insights from their careers. Another program offers presentations on STEM careers and the social impact of technology for girls aged 12 to 15. A grant of $10,000 will support five lessons in each program, reaching an estimated 300 students. Avery Dennison employees will have the opportunity to volunteer in both programs.
