Fall 2009

Colleagues,

After the successful launch of the 2008 Citizenship Report in late July, the third quarter marked further progress on building out GE’s Citizenship activities across the world.

From the inauguration of a new clinic program in the United States to continued stakeholder engagement in Washington D.C. and beyond, GE remains committed to its global citizenship strategy.

This quarter, GE received continued recognition for our global commitment to reporting and transparency and our initiatives on rule of law and public policy. In September, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index announced GE as a part of its sustainable index for the sixth consecutive year. For 2008, GE increased its overall score from 78 percent to 81 percent, while also achieving perfect scores (100 percent) in three indicators: Codes of Conduct, Corporate Citizenship/Philanthropy, and Social Reporting. Other awards include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center’s International Community Service Award for the success of GE’s Developing Health Globally program.

Building on the positive results we’ve seen with the Developing Health Globally program — which aims to improve access to quality healthcare for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations — GE announced in October the launch of a U.S.-based version of the program called “Developing Health.” This announcement was an important part of GE’s healthymagination showcase in New York City, and caught the eyes and ears of media and various other stakeholders. The new Developing Health initiative will combine $25 million in GE Foundation grants with GE employee volunteer efforts to provide access to better health for targeted U.S. communities. The program will be lead by GE’s Affinity Networks, who will partner with non-profit health centers and offer volunteer support and business best practice sharing to help clinics reach underserved populations and enable access to primary care.

This fall, the University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business engaged GE in a weeklong case competition for MBA students. The purpose of this case competition was to prompt a discussion around real life dilemmas GE faces in regards to corporate social responsibility — providing students an opportunity to apply learnings to real business issues and giving GE additional perspectives to consider. The dilemmas given to MBA students to consider include: Gender Diversity in the Middle East, Coexisting Environmental Products (i.e. eco vs. non-eco products) and Remedial Responsibility: The Hudson Dredging Project. Student presentations were thoughtful and provocative, and provided GE with new perspectives on these issues to take back to the business.

As we near the end of the year, the successful food and shelter initiative sponsored by GE Foundation also comes to a close for 2009. Launched last December, the Special Food and Shelter Matching Gifts Program matches 2 to 1 GE employee and retiree giving to food and shelter organizations to help fight hunger and homelessness. To date, employees, retirees and GE Foundation have generated nearly $7 million for food and shelter organizations through this initiative and I’d like to thank everyone for their continued support.

Until next time,
Bob Corcoran
VP of Corporate Citizenship