|
 |
 |
|
| Citizenship Focus |
|
| At Citi Philippines, our citizenship efforts focus on issues where we can naturally contribute our resources and expertise as a financial services company: Microfinance, which helps individuals become economically self-sufficient; Enterprise Development that leads to economic expansion and job creation; Youth Education and Livelihoods, which prepares young people for personal and professional success; and Financial Capability and Asset Building so individuals and families can make informed financial decisions. |
|
| Our workforce is steeped in volunteerism and dedicated to community service. We take an active role in helping improve the quality of life in many local communities, extending our resources to create economically healthy communities for the benefit of all. |
|
|
|
| Microfinance |
|
| Citi empowers low-income individuals to build viable businesses and we are committed to providing assistance - funding, on-the-ground partnerships, and employee engagement - to microenterprises that have no access to commercial banking due to limited resources or lack of credit history. |
|
 Know More |
|
- Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year (MOTY) is one of the flagship citizenship programs of Citi, started in 2002, in partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines. Supported by Citi Foundation, the program honors the best Filipino microentrepreneurs around the country, to help raise awareness of microfinance and its benefits in impoverished communities, create role models, and inspire others to become more enterprising.
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Citibank-Bayan Entrep Eskwela is a nine-day program designed to develop the entrepreneurial competencies of high potential clients of microfinance institutions around the country. In 2010, more than 100 small and micro entrepreneurs from all over the Philippines were the program's beneficiaries, which included clients of ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation and Citi Microentrepreneur of the Year finalists and winners.
- MFI Management Training Accreditation Program was funded by Citi Foundation and developed by the Asian Institute of Management in collaboration with Citibank Philippines' senior officers. These train-the-trainer modules on management development and quality and credit risk management have so far been offered to more than 100 trainers of various microfinance institutions across eight countries in Asia Pacific. These trainers, in turn, are expected to be able to train more than 5,000 internal staff and field officers, and filter down best practices to their own organizations.
|
|
|
|
|
| Enterprise Development |
|
| Citi Philippines is also committed to helping small enterprises grow by providing access to technical assistance and investment capital, and helping them adopt better business models to achieve financial stability. Citi Philippines believes that these small businesses stimulate the country's economy and help create more jobs for our countrymen. We also support green enterprises that generate "triple bottom-line" economic, environmental, and social benefits. |
|
| Know More |
|
- Gawad Kalinga's BayanAnihan aims to provide farmers a sustainable source of livelihood. With Citi Foundation's contribution, and the support of Citi Philippines, BayanAnihan shares the basics of commercial farming with an initial 30 families. Commercial farming will focus on the organic production of high value crops like yam or ube, and the farmers are also provided a ready market for its produce. Basic entrepreneurship classes are also incorporated in the training module.
- The Philippine Business in Development (BiD) Challenge is an online business competition initiated in 2004 in the Netherlands. In 2008, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) was appointed as the local franchise organizer of the competition, and partnered with Citi Philippines and Citi Foundation in recognizing the most creative and enterprising business plans prepared by existing or hopeful entrepreneurs. The process starts with the assessment of business concepts submitted by participants. These are then narrowed down to 40, who qualify for the coaching and business plan writing program. An assessment of their full business plans is made before they are matched with potential investors. Citi Philippines employees serve as volunteer assessors and mentors to these entrepreneurs. Ten winners are selected, to whom Citi Foundation grants P1,000,000 start-up capital. The top two winners go on to compete in the International BiD Competition in the Netherlands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Youth Education and Livelihoods |
|
| Expanding educational opportunities and helping improve academic achievements of the youth can help drive economic growth as well. Citi Philippines supports these programs that help the youth develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors that can increase their chances of obtaining a college degree and eventually, better job opportunities. |
|
| Know More |
|
- Buildings for Literacy, Understanding, and Education (BLUE) is a school building program, which started with two-classroom school buildings for 11 elementary schools in Laguna. Slowly, the program added more buildings to schools in Paranaque, Malabon, Southern Leyte, and Cavite. The biggest BLUE school building is in Tipas Elementary School in Taguig. To date, Citi Philippines has been able to provide 40 brand-new classrooms to 16 public schools in Metro Manila, Southern Leyte, and Laguna.
- Citi Junior Bankers Congress is a partnership with the FINEX Foundation. The top 30 finance students from the Inter-Collegiate Finance Competition participate in the Congress to gain first-hand knowledge about the banking industry. The program, launched in 2002, aims to develop the next generation of responsible leaders in the banking and finance sector.
- Knowledge Channel Foundation is another beneficiary of Citi Foundation and Citi Philippines. At the start of the partnership with Knowledge Channel Foundation in 2001, 16 public schools in Metro Manila and Cebu were granted access to curriculum-based educational TV programming. Citi Philippines later collaborated with the Knowledge Channel to develop educational modules for TV: the Citi Learning Series from Estudyantipid 1, Estudyantipid 2, and Agham Aralin.
|
|
| In 2009, Asian CSR gave Citi Philippines an Excellence Award for Support and Improvement of Education in recognition of the Estudyantipid program. |
|
| Future plans include an entrepreneurship learning series using the Department of Education's Bureau of Alternative Learning System, targeting out-of-school learners nationwide, aged seven to 83. |
|
- Pres. Cory Aquino School Desk Project is an initiative of former President Corazon Aquino which started in 2003. The late President saw the perennial problem of insufficient school facilities and wished to make a contribution by ensuring that schools around the country will have new and more school desks to accommodate the growing number of students. Citi Philippines was one of the first that pledged support for the project, and inked a multi-year commitment to reach out to as many schools all over the country. Through the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Citi Philippines has donated a total of 8,691 chairs to 35 schools, including those in disadvantaged communities in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Sarangani.
- Sa Aklat Sisikat (SAS) brought a unique and innovative reading program starting from three schools in Bulacan to nine public schools in San Juan, Metro Manila, and now, nine public schools in Pasig City in its partnership with Citi Philippines. In 2010 alone, more than 20,000 elementary students and teachers benefited from SAS reading activities as well as supplementary materials like books, reading passports, and progress charts. An extra hour devoted to the program not only encouraged a love for reading among the students, but also expanded their vocabulary, improved writing and communication skills, and enhanced creativity and artistic talents. Citi Philippines also supports the publication of Star Teacher, a magazine for and about teachers published by the SAS Foundation.
|
|
|
|
|
| Financial Capability and Asset Building |
|
| As part of a nationwide campaign to help individuals secure their financial future, Citi Philippines has supported the following programs: |
|
| Know More |
|
- The Citi Let's Talk Money Series was launched in 2005 in partnership with ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation and ABS-CBN Publishing to give low-income women entrepreneurs access to values formation seminars and training on the basics of entrepreneurship. In the same year, Citi Philippines also helped develop workshop materials, and published the Making More Money booklet.
- Use Credit Wisely was launched in 2004 to promote financial literacy especially among first-time credit card holders. Initially, information was made available on demand via a website, before the book and flyer versions were released. The program is the longest running credit education campaign in the country.
|
|
| The goal of the campaign is to help bank clients maximize the use of their credit card, while creating awareness for the need to be responsible consumers as well. Use Credit Wisely contains information on a wide range of topics such as keeping a budget, building your savings, and preventing credit card theft. |
|
| Click here to visit the Use Credit Wisely website. |
|
|
|
|
| Global Community Day |
|
| Every year, Citi Philippines, together with Citi employees all over the world, celebrate Global Community Day with various activities such as farm builds, marathon runs, and home and school rebuilding programs. Apart from this annual tradition, throughout the year, employee volunteers gather on weekends to reach out to those in need, by way of reading clinics, feeding programs, and community building efforts, among others. |
|
| 2010 Global Community Day |
|
| Citi Philippines Marks 2010 Global Community Day |
|
| Over 2,400 Citi volunteers, together with friends and family, come together to run, read, and rebuild for a cause. |
|
| Three straight weekends. An impending typhoon. Fourteen exciting activities. More than 2,400 Citi employees. |
|
| Nothing could stop Citi Philippines from celebrating the 5th Citi Global Community Day this year. Family members and friends came with Citi employees to do their share for the environment, repaint homes and schools, bring cheer to underprivileged children, and help conduct feeding programs. |
|
| Starting with its participation in A Run for Pasig River marathon on October 10, Citi Philippines went on to facilitate a reading program with Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation (SAS) at a Makati City public school and repainting of schools in support of the nationwide Brigada Eskwela on October 16, before repainting homes and helping build a farm in Tanay, Rizal with Gawad Kalinga, on October 23. |
|
| Run, Read, and Rebuild |
|
| Led by Country Head and Citi Country Officer for the Philippines Sanjiv Vohra, over 300 Citi volunteers sporting "Powered by Citi" singlets joined the run together with hundreds of thousands of Filipinos to Save the Pasig River last October 10. The run helped raise funds for the clean-up of one of Manila's most polluted rivers. |
|
| Meantime, despite the threat of a super typhoon last October 16, F. Benitez Elementary School in Makati City was filled with more than 400 Citi volunteers who spent time reading with at least 400 students. Organized in partnership with SAS, one of the long-term community partners of Citi Philippines, the activity was designed to promote the love of reading in Filipino children. |
|
| On the same weekend, at Upper Bicutan Elementary School in Taguig City, 50 Citi volunteers armed themselves with buckets of paints, brushes, paint rollers and enthusiasm and gave new life to nine classrooms. |
|
| And on October 23, the red-letter day for Citi volunteers around the world, Citibank Philippines volunteers plus their friends and families repainted homes at the Gawad Kalinga Ave Maria Village in Tanay, Rizal. For this BayanAnihan farming community program, bamboo fences were erected, a compost shed was constructed, soil was tilled, and flowers and vegetables were planted - all at a record time of 1 hour and 13 minutes! Citi bested close to a dozen corporations who have attempted to build a similar farm in an average of 3.5 hours. |
|
| But Citi's community building efforts do not end here. More volunteers participated in activities involving communities in Batangas, Cebu, Dagupan, Manila, and Pampanga in November. |
|
| A Strong Commitment, Valuable Partnerships |
|
| "Many Citi employees volunteer year-round and Global Community Day has become a strong tradition in the bank to celebrate what we do to make a difference in our communities every day," related Vohra. |
|
| On Global Community Day, Citi employees, along with families and friends, come together as a global volunteer team working in North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "We're engaging in a variety of projects addressing specific community needs including literacy, housing, environmental protection, nutrition, and health care," added Vohra. |
|
| "It's our 5th run and I continue to be amazed by the fact that all over the globe, in more than 75 countries, in more than 460 cities, there are more than 45,000 Citi volunteers who are helping our communities, making things better, giving our time, and giving of ourselves," explained Vohra. |
|
| Citi's valuable contribution does not go unnoticed. According to Mike Dimagiba, Executive Director of Gawad Kalinga BayanAnihan: "We're glad that we found the perfect partnership with Citi, as they help us empower communities to eradicate hunger." |
|
| Dimagiba credits Citi's effective teamwork in successfully gathering its employees from different departments to participate in community building activities, and accomplish these challenging tasks. |
|
| In the same way, Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation underscores the importance of partners like Citi who support its dream of building a nation of readers. According to Lizzie E. Zobel, SAS Vice-President and Treasurer, and Christine Araneta-Ferreira, SAS Executive Director, "The smiling faces of the children and the laughter confirm the positive effect of Citibank's Global Community Day." |
|
| "On this annual occasion where we all come together for the less fortunate, I am humbled to see bankers become teachers, farmers, painters - all in an effort to make a difference," concluded Vohra. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 More of Citi in the Community |
|
- The FINEX-Citibank Rafael B. Buenaventura Outstanding Finance Educator Awards, started in 2006, gives recognition to the most outstanding tertiary level finance educators in the country. The nationwide search has inspired teachers to achieve excellence in finance education, and promote it as an important component of tertiary level education. Nominees are evaluated based on their knowledge of finance, effectiveness of teaching approach, and involvement in professional organizations and community projects.
- Gawad Kalinga (GK), has been a partner of Citi Philippines since 2004, with almost 200 houses built in GK Citi Villages in Parañaque and Quezon City, as well as supporting schools in the same areas with programs for health and education. GK activities have also drawn a high level of interest and involvement among Citi Philippines employees. More than 300 employees regularly volunteer at various GK sites in Metro Manila. Greening of GK communities, house builds, repairs and painting remain a favorite activity of Citibankers during the annual Global Community Day, a Citi tradition started in 2006.
- Citi Philippines has also provided support for :
- ABS-CBN Foundation's e-Media Program
- Kythe Foundation
- United Way Philippines' Munting Pangarap Project
- Casa San Miguel Foundation's Music and Arts programs
- Tuloy sa Don Bosco's Alternative Education Program for Streetchildren
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
