Staples strives to make a positive impact in the communities where our associates live and work.
We do this by creating new jobs, financial giving, in-kind donations, and associate volunteering. Community involvement enriches our brand, engenders customer loyalty, fuels local economies, and helps attract and retain top talent.
Staples Foundation for Learning
As the cornerstone of Staples efforts in the community, the mission of Staples Foundation for Learning (SFFL) is to support organizations that provide educational opportunities and job skills. Since its inception in 2002, the Foundation has awarded more than $17 million in grants across nearly 360 communities. www.staplesfoundation.org
Following are examples of our three key global partnerships; Ashoka, Global Campaign for Education, and TakingITGlobal. Additional partnerships exist at a local and regional level throughout Europe.
Ashoka
Ashoka is the world’s leading association of social entrepreneurs and the pioneer of the social entrepreneurship movement. Ashoka believes it is critical that people discover early on in their lives that they can lead social change, so they invest in young people to design and lead their own ventures that create social impact. www.ashoka.org
Youth Venture
Staples Foundation for Learning has supported the Youth Venture program since 2005, which empowers youth to act as positive agents for social change in their communities by participating in and leading projects that increase their life, learning, and leadership skills and motivate them to be highly engaged community members. Established by Ashoka, Youth Venture works around the world to build an Everyone a Changemaker™ society. www.genv.net
Global Campaign for Education
The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a network of major non-governmental organizations, teachers’ unions, and civil society in more than 120 countries that promotes action on making quality public education free and available for everyone. www.campaignforeducation.org
1GOAL
Staples Foundation for Learning supports GCE and their 1GOAL campaign. 1GOAL is a new campaign designed to ensure that every child worldwide has the opportunity for an education. Global football stars and the football world are behind 1GOAL – asking fans to sign up to give 75 million children a chance in life. Together, name by name, we will make a difference and call on world leaders to ensure education for all. 1GOAL is a part of the Class of 2015 initiative, also led by the Global Campaign for Education. www.join1goal.org
TakingITGlobal
TakingITGlobal envisions youth everywhere actively engaged and connected in shaping a more inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable world, enabling a collaborative learning community which provides youth with access to global opportunities, cross‐cultural connections, and meaningful participation in decision‐making. www.tigweb.org
Tread Lightly: Staples and Students Together for a Smaller Footprint
Staples Foundation for Learning supports TakingITGlobal and their Tread Lightly program: Staples and Students Together for a Smaller Footprint. This initiative incorporates artistic expression, e-learning tools and resources, and a global 40-day challenge to engage and support secondary school students and teachers along with Staples associates in understanding and minimizing their ecological footprints.
www.treadlightly.me
Associate Volunteering
In 2009, Staples Europe held our first Community Day in the Netherlands and Germany to offer hands-on volunteering opportunities to our associates. The mission statement for Community Day was simple and straightforward, and helped to set the framework for community activities throughout Staples Europe: To engage with the communities in which we live and work and have a positive impact; making a difference is easy. The vision of this program is to encourage and support volunteering by all associates, resulting in more cohesive relationships with our colleagues and communities, while positively influencing society as a whole through active engagement. Over 60 associates participated in the Netherlands event, logging more than 350 volunteer hours in our community.