SIBUR's volunteers have implemented 260 social projects over five years
12 october 2022
People Changing the World, SIBUR’s Corporate Volunteering Program, has turned five. Over these years, SIBUR’s volunteers have initiated and implemented more than 260 social projects and have helped involve more than 20,000 local residents in transforming the cities where the company operates. At the Third Forum of SIBUR’s Volunteers, held in Moscow on October 7, its attendees reviewed the program's five-year history, honored the most active volunteers and discussed approaches to engaging and motivating people involved in the social sector.
SIBUR’s volunteering movement got its start when scores of caring people representing the company's various sites became involved in performing acts of charity. Nowadays, the company counts over 6,000 volunteers. That’s a considerable team of people who are ready to take on responsibility, take leadership and do thousands of important things, big and small, every day, dedicating their private time to other people, Mikhail Karisalov, SIBUR's CEO, stated at the awards ceremony.
Inclusion as a pathway to engagement was chosen as the forum's primary focus and the main theme of its panel discussion. Marina Medvedeva, SIBUR’s board member and managing director, Marina Loshak, director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Inna Shirshova, head of Inclusive Environment at Sberbank's Investing in the Future Charitable Foundation, and Alexander Trembitsky, director of St. George School, were among the panelists. The discussion was moderated by Yulia Varshavskaya, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Life and Forbes Woman.
Diversity and inclusion are among SIBUR's sustainable development strategy’s top priorities. If the company wants to keep growing and generate value, inclusion as an integral element of its social responsibility becomes a part of the business’s DNA. When you become everyone’s partner, you get stronger yourself, Marina Medvedeva noted.
Marina Loshak stressed that an inclusive environment means a shared environment. We are talking about a sustainable world and an accessible museum. It is important to realize that people with disabilities do not seek to be in comfortable but segregated spaces. They want to be together with everyone else. We have to try to create a space where everyone can feel happy, comfortable, and fascinated.
Inna Shirshova noted that inclusive projects' beneficiaries are not only the people these projects are intended for, but also their originators and society as a whole: By supporting each other, we grow stronger as a community. The speaker stressed the importance of volunteering for developing the public welfare sector: Volunteers inspire professionals involved in the sector. They bring a new breath of life to the field and help experts take a new look at what is happening with their charges.
According to Alexander Trembitsky, trust is an important tool for keeping people involved in the field of inclusion motivated: People who come to our school are already sufficiently motivated. As a manager, I have come to the realization that the most important thing is to keep out of their way. Trust is important, as is having the opportunity to do something creative in the process. We have children with special needs. Each one of them needs a different approach, you can’t use the same yardstick to measure all of them. Our teachers get to invent a great deal in the process of teaching, and I think this helps them in their challenging occupations.
Participants of the forum took stock of the accomplishments that SIBUR's volunteers working together with the company and with local residents have achieved over the period of five years. Over those years the volunteers have helped over 10,000 children and hundreds of families who found themselves in a difficult situation. 1,000 employees donated their blood and bone marrow. As part of SIBUR’s contest of volunteering projects, various initiatives of the company’s employees and students with a focus on environmental protection, improvement of public areas, social security, and support for people with disabilities have been successfully carried out. The program's geography spanned 32 cities.
Presentation of awards to participants of the volunteering program was another important part of the event. Alexey Kozlov, member of the management board and SIBUR’s managing director, thanked the activists who had received awards in such categories as "Long-term Contribution to Corporate Volunteering," "Animal Volunteering," "Eco Volunteering," "Family Volunteering," "Inclusive Volunteering," "Best Volunteering Project in 2021 - 2022," "Contribution to Information Support for the Volunteering Program”. The awards were presented to 48 employees of the company.