Partnership Overview

This story highlights how corporations dedicated to social responsibility can make a tremendous impact through meaningful partnerships with nonprofits, beyond just philanthropy. Citizen Verizon is the company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental, and social advancement. Citizen Verizon empowers Verizon to deliver on its mission to move the world forward through action by expanding digital access and resources, protecting the climate, and ensuring people have the skills needed for jobs of the future. Through Citizen Verizon, and the key pillars of Digital Inclusion, Climate Protection, and Human Prosperity, the company is committed to providing 10 million youths with digital skills training by 2030, supporting 1 million small businesses with resources to help them thrive in the digital economy by 2030, achieving net zero emissions in its operations by 2035, and preparing 500,000 individuals for jobs of the future by 2030. Learn more at CitizenVerizon.com.

CareerVillage.org became a non-profit partner of Verizon in 2016, intending to provide global volunteer opportunities that can accommodate a wide variety of employee skills, preferences, and time zones and help advance Verizon’s commitment to human prosperity. CareerVillage.org’s mission to democratize access to career information and advice for underrepresented youth, combined with Citizen Verizon’s commitment to Human Prosperity, is the foundation for a partnership that has already seen an incredible scale of impact through employee volunteerism.

The CareerVillage Corporate Partnership Program has been a flexible model for Verizon volunteers through its offerings of both large-scale live volunteer events and independent volunteer opportunities. CareerVillage has hosted an average of 15-20 live volunteer engagements each year, including gatherings of large Verizon teams, various employee resource groups, or events open to employees across the company. In addition the hosting live volunteer events, the CareerVillage team markets year-round ongoing opportunities for Verizon volunteers to log volunteer hours – many of them like to log their volunteering in increments of 15 minutes!

As of 2023, 3,000+ Verizon employees have volunteered on CareerVillage.org and written 12,000+ pieces of advice, which have received over 10 million views from online learners!

Volunteer Highlights

In 2023, 95% of Verizon volunteers reported they would sign up to volunteer on CareerVillage again.

Verizon employees have demonstrated the potential for meaningful impact through corporate volunteerism with the amazing impact they’ve had on CareerVillage learners across the globe. Their sincere enthusiasm for providing CareerVillage learners with superb advice has been invaluable to CareerVillage’s community of learners.

Many Verizon employees have shared how much they value making an impact by volunteering anytime, anywhere. Saron Bynum, a Verizon volunteer and CareerVillage champion, sums up the sentiment perfectly: “It only takes a minute to change a life. It is important that we pour into the next generation of leaders. They need the benefit of our stories and our history. Leave a legacy by giving back and making a difference.”

Check out a few more quotes from Verizon employees on why they volunteer on CareerVillage:

• “I like mentoring and providing individuals, young and old, with ideas they never thought about as they try to sort out their lives.”
• “I volunteer at CareerVillage to give the students of today the opportunity to get insight and information by a seasoned professional. Career development is important to me as a mother, as a member of a hiring group, and as a member of society.”
• “Sharing career experiences and advice is a great way to help the future of our world.”
• “I started participating with CareerVillage in 2021, and it is pretty rewarding when the students respond to your feedback, even if it is only with a ‘thumbs up.’ It is especially neat when they take the time to comment back with more questions. Then you KNOW you have caused them to think.”

Volunteering on CareerVillage is something that any and every employee at a company can participate in. The program has been a rewarding experience for so many volunteers and built unity around the mission of serving the young people who need it most. The flexibility of the program that has allowed 7,000 Verizon employees (and counting) to help so many students online has certainly been a win-win.

Summary

The CareerVillage team has been incredibly grateful for Verizon’s dedication to our mission and the ongoing mutual success of this partnership. Reach out to rebecca@careervillage.org for more information on how CareerVillage’s partnership program can fit your company’s needs.