Abby Hoats
Abby Hoats is an environmental engineer
with Chevron Energy Technology Co. in
Richmond, California, where she works
on water technology projects. In July, she
volunteered her skills and her vacation to
a more basic water project — getting clean
drinking water flowing throughout the
remote village of Ngelenge in the southwestern
corner of Tanzania.
A member of the San Francisco chapter
of Engineers Without Borders, Hoats
donated her time throughout the year as
a project manager and donated her travel
expenses this summer to lead an implementation
team. Chevron Humankind,
the company's matching and volunteer
program for U.S. employees and retirees,
played a role, providing a $1,000 grant
in recognition of Hoats' volunteer hours.
The program also matches an employee's
financial contribution made directly to a
nonprofit up to $4,000.
"Chevron Humankind," says Hoats, "is
extremely generous. It's easy to use and it doubles my financial impact to causes
I care about."
Women in Tanzania carry gravel from the Ruhuhu River to their village.
Once the multiphase project is complete,
the community will benefit because running
water reduces the burden on women
in the village, who traditionally collect and
carry water. This will allow them to spend
more time growing cash crops that would increase their household income.
Hoats benefited because, as she explains, "I
gain project management experience in the
developing world. Experiencing those challenges
helps in the work I do at Chevron."
She also reaps personal satisfaction. "To
see a community where day-to-day life is
very different from mine, to see how much
water means, and to see a productive and
vibrant community despite less material
wealth — it's a great learning experience."
Luis Moreno, Executive President of Banauge, Caracas, Venezuela
Chevron Management Institute (CMI) sponsors
leadership and management skills
training for nonprofit leaders. Since 1996,
CMI has trained more than 400 leaders
from around the world. The curriculum
includes 360-degree feedback, practices
of exemplary leadership and personal
coaching. CMI also serves as a forum for
attendees to learn from one another.
Luis Moreno is the executive president
of Banauge, a nonprofit organization in
Caracas that provides lending and training
to microentrepreneurs in the poorer district
of Venezuela's capital. Moreno credits
his attendance at the 2007 CMI in Caracas
with helping him turn Banauge into a learning
organization. "We learned about the
power of example we have as leaders," he
explains, "and how a leader who encourages
confidence and teamwork will build an organizational climate that will lead to
success for management and the organization
as a whole."
Dr. Michele Rogers attended the CMI program
in California in September 2008. An
active volunteer, she was impressed with
the range of practical tools she could apply.
The 360 Leadership Review, whereby colleagues
anonymously comment on their
peers' leadership skills, was particularly
helpful. "We all think we are good leaders,"
she says. "So it's good to see how others
perceive your leadership abilities. People
said I should trust and delegate more, that
I could share goals and incorporate their
suggestions. So that's my focus: Enabling
others to act. Because of CMI, I am delegating,
involving others and building their
confidence to carry out decisions. This is
one way I am becoming a better leader."
Yangon, Myanmar, after Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on May 2,
2008, causing widespread destruction
along the country's southern coast
and southeast regions. Chevron made
a $2 million contribution divided among
the International Federation of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Save
the Children, International Organization
for Migration, Mercy Corps, and Pact.
The organizations
all had a presence in
Myanmar prior to the cyclone and were
able to provide access to basic human
needs and other relief to affected communities.
They provided food, water,
shelter materials, hygiene kits, health
care, and cash grants for rehabilitation
and agricultural activities. Chevron
employees throughout its Asia South
business units followed with a donation
of $7,992, which Chevron matched with
an additional $50,000.
On May 12, 2008, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake
struck Sichuan Province in Central
China, where our Chuandongbei project is located. The earthquake left more than
80,000 people dead or missing and left
millions homeless. After the quake, Chevron
immediately contributed $1.4 million to support
disaster relief efforts. Also, Chevron
employees throughout China and other
Asia South business units donated $20,729,
which Chevron matched with an additional
$50,000. The total donation of $1.47 million
was transferred to the Red Cross of Dazhou
city and is being used to support the reconstruction
of schools, hospitals and other
public utilities in the local communities.
The newly constructed Politeknik Aceh grants degrees in applied engineering and technology.
September 8, 2008, was the first day of
classes at the newly constructed Politeknik
Aceh in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, where 30
teachers and staff welcomed 240 students,
25 percent of them women, to the vocational
training institute. The polytechnic
will grant full diploma degrees in applied
engineering and technology fields that correspond
with local industry needs and are
critical to the long-term reconstruction and
development of the province following the
2004 tsunami.
Politeknik Aceh builds on the success of
Politeknik Caltex Riau, which opened in
2001 to offer degrees in engineering, telecommunications
and computer science.
The Aceh polytechnic marks the completion
of a $16 million partnership with the government of Indonesia, the local government
of Aceh Province, the Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and
Nias, and the United States Agency for
International Development.
Chevron spent roughly $6 million on the
polytechnic, fully funding the construction
of the facility. Chevron contributed a
total of $14.7 million for disaster recovery,
which included the funding for the polytechnic
and roughly $9 million to support
long-term economic development and
sustainable growth initiatives. In addition,
Chevron leveraged these contributions
with about $15 million in partner funding.
For example, we partnered with
Mercy Corps on the Aceh Barat Business
Recovery program, which created access to financial services in 100 communities —
including 1,089 loans valued at more than
$80,000 to project beneficiaries — through
microfinance institution partners. An
important outcome of the project was the
improved capacity and functionality of
partner institutions, a necessary factor
in sustaining the transformation of these
devastated regions.
More than 100,000 people in Aceh have
been helped by the company's efforts.
An aerial view of the Niger Delta
Between 2005 and 2006, Chevron Nigeria
Ltd. (CNL) signed Global Memoranda of
Understanding (GMOUs) with eight clusters
of communities and their state governments
in the Niger Delta. The GMOUs are
intended to empower communities by
promoting responsible, participatory development,
improve relationships between
CNL and community stakeholders, and foster
collaboration in the Niger Delta region.
The GMOUs resulted in increased dialogue
and improved issues management between
the company and the community.
Shifting from a more philanthropic to
a sustainable community development
model, the GMOUs are intended to shift
ownership and control of Chevron-funded
programs to the communities. The participatory
partnerships formed in this process
include a range of stakeholders in the
planning, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of programs in a transparent
manner.
Seventy-one settlements and approximately
600,000 residents, are represented by
Regional Development Councils (RDCs), with
membership drawn from the communities.
In some cases, groups that were engaged in
armed conflict a few years prior now work
in collaboration within the councils to define
community needs and execute plans. To
foster collaboration and effective operation, CNL provides training in planning,
administration and funds management.
By 2008, the councils had completed
sustainable-livelihood assessments, which
were created with community input and
document such information as demographics,
income sources and patterns of conflict.
Also by 2008, many projects had been
implemented or were in development, such
as water and rural electrification, education
programs and microcredit lending to
women. Since signing the GMOUs, CNL
has dispursed more than $32 million to
the councils.
The first GMOU expired in 2008, and most of
the remaining seven will be renegotiated in
2009. Against this backdrop, CNL undertook
a comprehensive participatory evaluation
of the process to better understand its successes
and areas for improvement.
This model invited those involved in the
GMOUs — including community representatives,
RDC members, Nigerian government
officials, local nongovernmental organizations and CNL — to jointly design
the evaluation and analyze the data with
consultants from three organizations:
Consensus Building Institute, Search for
Common Ground, and Research Triangle
Institute International. A data-collection
team conducted interviews and focus groups with more than 1,000 individuals
over a five-week period in all five states
where the RDCs are present.
The evaluation surfaced a range of views,
from positive comments about the impacts
and processes to concerns over the equitable
distribution of benefits. Broadly, the
GMOUs were recognized as a useful mechanism
that should be continued and could
be improved. Many stakeholders believed
the GMOUs were effective at promoting
sustainable development, transparency
and community empowerment. A large
number of stakeholders felt CNL's relationship
with the communities had changed for
the better.
Stakeholders felt that additional funding
from other sources would become
necessary to meet future needs. Although
CNL and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corp. have been the sole funders, it is
part of each council’s mandate to diversify
the funding base. CNL is helping
secure external funding partners — a
significant challenge given the instability
of the region.
Stakeholders remarked that coordination
with government and other development
organizations could be improved
to strengthen government support and
reduce the likelihood of project duplication.
Some communities did not understand the
GMOU process or the roles and responsibilities
of council leadership. Outreach
mechanisms could be enhanced by implementing
the town halls, annual meetings
and other mechanisms built into the process.
Additionally, the evaluation surfaced
a need for greater inclusion of women.
While the evaluation indicated that some
stakeholders were concerned with the process,
many closely involved had endorsed
it. A number of suggestions to improve
the model are being incorporated into
GMOU renegotiations by CNL and other
participants.