Corporate philanthropy must evolve to meet rising, multifaceted community needs, including record-breaking natural disasters and increasing food insecurity. Demand for nonprofit services has grown significantly, creating urgency for new approaches. Funding remains essential, but companies should also mobilize nonfinancial assets such as products, technologies, and logistics infrastructure to multiply impact. Examples include deploying mobile command centers to restore connectivity and using distribution networks to deliver resources quickly. Corporate dealer networks and mobility expertise can serve as hyperlocal activation hubs to support local drives and services. Strategic alignment of core competencies with community needs can increase effectiveness and reach.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the power of corporate philanthropy, especially at a company like Ford that has a 122-year history of supporting communities around the globe. We have stepped up to help during world wars, pandemics, and global disasters. But the needs of today's communities are increasingly urgent and varied. Our country faces record-breaking billion-dollar natural disasters, and food insecurity affects one in five children.
Earlier this year, I participated in a great discussion at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on how corporate philanthropy can better align its core competencies with the needs of the communities they serve. AT&T Foundation president Nicole Anderson shared how AT&T deploys mobile command centers to help people impacted by disasters access internet connectivity. PepsiCo Foundation president C.D. Glin talked about engaging PepsiCo's distribution network to get resources to communities in need.
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