United Technologies Corp., a leader in aerospace and building technologies, announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA), a leading nonprofit dedicated to building a better world. The partnership enhances UTC's support of EWB-USA's domestic and international volunteer projects, including disaster relief assistance, while increasing the company's financial support for programming growth in UTC communities.
"Our employees take great pride in bringing their knowledge and expertise to helping build more resilient communities through sustainable infrastructure projects in partnership with Engineers Without Borders USA," said Greg Hayes, United Technologies Chairman and CEO. "We've seen the impact these projects can have in the communities in which we live, work and do business, and are thrilled to expand our partnership and commitment to achieve even more."
EWB-USA's volunteers address some of the world's most pressing infrastructure challenges by designing and implementing sustainable solutions. EWB-USA supports thousands of projects in 44 countries.
"UTC is incredibly responsive in not only understanding the need to address our infrastructure challenges but in mobilizing their talent in advancing a collective response. That's what being a good corporate citizen means. We are proud to have UTC's creativity, intelligence and support in helping communities thrive. Together, we can create meaningful, measurable change," said Cathy Leslie, P.E., Chief Executive Officer, EWB-USA.
EWB-USA's corporate engagement programs provide meaningful volunteerism while leveraging the skills of committed employees who want to give back to their communities and around the globe. The UTC and EWB-USA partnership includes the following:
- What's in My Backyard? is an educational and outreach campaign promoting EWB-USA's Community Engineering Corps program. UTC employees will provide pro-bono engineering solutions to underserved communities in the United States unable to retain or afford traditional infrastructure services.
- The International Program will support UTC teams volunteering for global projects. Currently, UTC has Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney employees in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Georgia and Puerto Rico preparing for a project scheduled to commence later this year in Central America.
- UTC will support disaster relief efforts focusing on developing a coalition of volunteer engineers to enhance disaster preparedness and responsiveness for emergencies, including ongoing disaster recovery work in Puerto Rico.
- Growth and expansion of EWB-USA in key UTC geographies will be enabled by UTC's financial support.
Hayes announced the partnership expansion during a community event with EWB-USA in Hartford, CT. Both organizations joined local non-profit KNOX in building a rainwater catchment system that will provide low-cost sustainable water access for a community garden. The project is part of an overall collaborative plan to construct the specially designed system for several of the 23 KNOX community gardens in Hartford. Students from Hartford High's Academy of Engineering & Green Technology also participated in the event and will have more opportunities to remain involved in future projects. The school is a recipient of UTC funding aimed at attracting more young people to careers in STEM.
The work with EWB-USA started in 2010 with Pratt & Whitney. And the company's engineers have participated in numerous projects around the globe, including a project in Tanzania in May. This water supply project supports hundreds of people.
UTC's partnership with EWB-USA is one of a number of corporate social responsibility initiatives that tackle local and global challenges. The company published a summary of its global CSR activities in its 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report.
Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is a nonprofit organization that builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world's most pressing challenges. EWB-USA's thousands of highly skilled volunteers work on more than 650 projects in partnership with local communities, NGOs, governments and UN agencies in 45 countries to design and implement sustainable and technologically appropriate infrastructure solutions. For more information visitewb-usa.org and connect on EWB-USA onFacebook,LinkedIn andTwitter.
About United Technologies
United Technologies Corp., based in Farmington, Connecticut, provides high-technology systems to the building and aerospace industries. By combining a passion for science with precision engineering, the company is creating smart, sustainable solutions the world needs. To learn more about UTC, visit www.utc.com or follow the company on Twitter: @UTC.