Avery Dennison’s strong philanthropic ethos started with our founder Stan Avery more than eight decades ago, and continues to live within our company through financial support and employee volunteerism.
The Avery Dennison Foundation serves as our primary charitable vehicle to support non-profit, non-governmental organizations in markets where our employees live and work across the world. We concentrate our philanthropic efforts in three important areas – education, sustainability, and women’s empowerment. We demonstrate our commitment to these three focus areas through numerous grants and employee volunteerism.
Governance
With Board oversight from the Governance Committee, The Avery Dennison Foundation’s Board of Trustees is responsible for guiding our funding priorities and decisions aligned with the Foundation’s mission and objectives. The Board of Trustees is composed of current and former Avery Dennison employees from a cross-section of the company’s business units and global locations. When deciding on funding priorities and strategic programs, the trustees take in consideration employee feedback. The Foundation holds informal working discussions with employees to better understand community needs and areas of potential impact, in addition to engaging local employees on specific initiatives. Incorporating our employees’ voices into the Foundation’s initiatives ensures we fund in a way that truly represents Avery Dennison.
Supporting Employees and Communities in Response to COVID-19
In 2022, the Foundation focused on its historic funding areas (education, sustainability and women’s empowerment); continued to address the impact of COVID-19 through food insecurity; continued to support organizations promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across our operating regions; and supported individuals affected by the war in Ukraine.
Programs and Performance
In late 2020, Avery Dennison Corporation made a $10 million contribution to the Foundation to ensure it is able to increase the scope and pace of its support for communities in which Avery Dennison has operations. Through grants and volunteerism we are able to make significant impacts on our communities while also providing opportunities for employees to participate in being a Force for Good.
Grantmaking
Grantmaking is the primary avenue the Foundation uses to contribute to communities, aided by our employees worldwide who help identify deserving organizations. In 2020, The Avery Dennison Foundation donated $3.5 million to various organizations in addition to its support related to COVID-19.
We also encourage employees to identify local organizations for grants through our Granting Wishes program. In 2020, Granting Wishes continued to support 48 grantees that remained in good standing, had the capacity to receive funds quickly, and had a stated COVID-19 response. These grants served communities in nearly 30 countries. Our business units also engage employees in campaigns where they choose a cause that they are passionate about to receive funding.
We take pride in knowing that our dollars benefit our communities, whether it be the people or the planet. To ensure this effort, we ask that our grantees complete a progress report and final report where we can see the progress of the objectives agreed upon.. We continually search for innovative ways to relay our metrics to our stakeholders to best display our efforts.
In 2021, the Foundation plans to review its grantmaking areas of focus to ensure continued alignment with our company’s reframed strategies and advance our broader commitment to D+I, while continuing to support the communities in which we operate.
Employee Volunteerism
Our employees enthusiastically support their local communities through giving and volunteerism, which is demonstrated by our over 150 global employee teams that coordinate volunteer activities. When an organization applies for funds they are asked “How can Avery Dennison employees volunteer?” because we want to support opportunities where employees can directly give back to their communities.
To track the impact our employees have, employees can log event summaries, upload photos and note who participated and for how long in a data tracking platform. This new feature will be formally launched in 2021 on our new intranet site where we can see individual and total volunteer hours and begin awarding individual employees, sites, and regions for their commitment to giving back to their communities.
Focus Areas
We determined the Foundation’s funding priorities of education, sustainability and women’s empowerment with employee input. For example, employees told us women’s empowerment was not just important and a strategic priority in the workplace but also in their communities.
Education
Grantmaking in education provides funding for educational improvements to elementary, secondary, post-secondary and/or vocational schools; and focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or graphic and visual arts educational efforts. These grants direct services to typically underserved populations due to gender, socioeconomic status, or geography.
InvEnt Spirit of Invention
The goal of the Avery Dennison InvEnt Scholarship Program is to recognize and reward invention, innovation and excellence at selected higher education institutions in India. InvEnt helps students meet their financial needs during their university attendance, and also offers training opportunities, leadership development and mentorship with Avery Dennison offices. The program aims to foster the development of talent and human resources, nurture creativity and inspire young people to engage in the spirit of invention.
U.S. Scholars Program
The U.S. Scholars Program recognizes the academic achievements and potential of the sons and daughters of company employees and helps them obtain a college education. Since its inception in 1977, the program has supported more than 650 students across the United States in their pursuit of higher education. This scholarship program is administered by Scholarship America. Sending a child off to college is one of the great moments of a parent’s life, and the Avery Dennison Foundation is proud to support such moments.
Sustainability
Grantmaking in sustainability provides direct support for projects that conserve the natural environment and contribute to the social, environmental and economic well-being of communities.
WRAP
WRAP is a global NGO working with partners in over 25 countries. WRAP’s mission is to accelerate the move to a sustainable, resource-efficient economy by re-using and recycling products and waste reduction. The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $200,000 grant to WRAP to support public and private partnerships to reduce food waste in Indonesia by 5% over the next few years.
The Ocean Cleanup
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest threats facing our global environment, from poisoning and injuring marine life to littering our landscapes and clogging landfills. The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $200,000 grant to The Ocean Cleanup — a nonprofit using innovative technologies to remove plastic pollution from the world’s oceans. Our support of The Ocean Cleanup reflects our belief that innovation and sustainability go hand-in-hand.
Women’s Empowerment
Grantmaking in women’s empowerment provides support for projects that address gender equality, equity and opportunities in Avery Dennison communities.
Opportunity Trust Foundation
Economic hardship is just one area that prevents many girls from getting a good education. The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $50,000 grant to support the Avasar Scholarship Program which provides education, training, and mentorship to young women in Bangalore, India. The scholarships help ensure that girls stay in school by paying school fees and expenses - including supplies, clothing, transportation, and meals - that their families might not otherwise be able to afford.
World Memon Organization
The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $7,500 grant to support the World Memon Organization’s Pakistan Chapter, a vocational and training institute for low income youth. Young women receive training in sewing and embroidery at the commercial and domestic level to help them earn additional income.
Smile Foundation
The mission of the Smile Foundation is to empower underprivileged children, youth and women through relevant education, innovative healthcare and market focused livelihood programs to promote Civic Driven Change. The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $124,000 donation to empower women in Delhi with reproductive health education and women’s entrepreneurship development.
World Vision Honduras
World Vision Honduras works to address education, health, economic development, emergency response and disaster prevention across Honduras. The Avery Dennison Foundation made a $200,000 contribution to the Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) initiative. The contribution will provide Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. to 1,100 women and support and strengthen 30 entrepreneurship initiatives and women’s clubs in the community.
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