[GLOBAL FINANCE AWARDS] Citibank Korea seeks real change with contributions beyond charity

Citibank Korea runs a number of programs that contribute to Korean society based on three principles -- employee participation, long-term commitment and leading activity.

The bank does not simply deliver donations but also makes contributions to drive real change by partnering with nonprofit organizations to plan programs and giving them long-term support. It also encourages employees to voluntarily participate in these programs.

On of the programs is “Citi Global Community Day” which began in 2006 to bring Citi employees and their families around the world together to serve communities. Another, “Citi Building Hope & Home,” which involves building houses for those who can’t afford a home of their own in small and medium-sized cities nationwide, was launched in 1998 when Citibank became the first company in Korea to join hands with Habitat for Humanity Korea.

Citibank has also provided financial education to about 560,000 teenagers to date through “Think Money”; cultivated financial talents via “Ewha-Citi Global Finance Academy”; and nurtured healthy civil society leaders through “Citi-Kyung Hee Univ. NGO Internship Program” since 2006.

Each of these programs have been conducted for more than 10 years with the voluntary participation of employees of Citibank Korea as lecturers, volunteers, and mentors.

Citibank also established “Korea Social Enterprise Awards” in 2017 with Joyful Union to recognize social enterprises for their commitment to creating jobs and addressing social issues facing the underprivileged as well as to spread best practices. The bank also launched the “Impact Career Y (Youth)” program with Root Impact in 2018 to help find jobs for youth who want to deal with social issues in innovative ways.

As for its commitment to environmental, social and governance values, Citibank Korea has signed a climate action partnership with WWF-Korea called “Change Now for Tomorrow” to achieve the goal of keeping the average temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also seeks to raise awareness among companies through a “Climate Action Roundtable” which shares specific climate action plans for a carbon-neutral era. The bank also runs green campaigns internally to reduce plastic consumption, use of tumblers and unnecessary office supplies and collect and share available resources.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)