Across the country on Friday, September 30, more than 23,000 EY (No. 3 on the Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies list) professionals participated in the seventh annual “EY Connect Day,” the firm’s annual day of service. This dedicated day of volunteerism provides Ernst & Young LLP professionals the opportunity to share in the firm’s purpose of building a better working world and spend the day giving back to classrooms, community centers, the environment and other nonprofit organizations.
Twenty-two offices across the Northeast Region participated in over 215 volunteer activities, which resulted in more than 6,800 EY professionals dedicating over 35,000 hours of service to local charity organizations.
Volunteers chose projects that are rooted in the firm’s corporate responsibility focus areas of growing the positive effects of entrepreneurs, developing future generations of talent and building a more diverse and inclusive society.
“We are proud to organize a day where our professionals come together locally and across the country to simultaneously strengthen our firm and our communities,” said Rich Jeanneret, EY Americas Vice Chair and Regional Managing Partner for the Northeast Region of Ernst & Young LLP. “Community engagement is embedded in our culture and is integral to how we build strong teams, engage our people and live our values every day.”
EY Connect Day included a variety of activities, from performing cleanup and restoration, to tutoring underprivileged youth, to collecting basic necessities for the less fortunate. In addition to this one day of service, EY Northeast professionals also serve their community throughout the year. Last year alone, tens of thousands of hours were donated by volunteering at various local nonprofit and charitable organizations.
Due to the impact these volunteer efforts make, a number of local mayors deemed September 30, 2016 as “EY Connect Day.” Boston, Philadelphia, Iselin (NJ), Stamford and Washington D.C. are among those that were given mayoral proclamations.
“We are humbled and appreciative for the support of the mayors’ offices,” said Jeanneret. “Our area EY professionals are continually participating in the many community programs, activities and educational initiatives throughout their towns and are dedicated to making a difference.”
EY Connect Day volunteers shared their experiences via social media channels using the hashtags #EYConnectDay and #BetterWorkingWorld.
Learn more about EY Corporate Responsibility efforts here.
