JP Morgan Chase 2014 Annual Report Download - page 60

58
Corporate Responsibility
Peter Scher
Head of Corporate Responsibility
A common challenge facing commu-
nities around the world is the need
for greater economic growth and
more widely shared prosperity. Creat-
ing more jobs, starting and expand-
ing businesses, and removing barriers
to opportunity will not only benefit
society but, by extension, our firm.
At the core of our business, JPMorgan
Chase is in a unique position to help
our clients navigate an ever more
complex global economy and spur
the growth that fuels their progress.
We not only understand the chal-
lenges clients are facing, we have
the skills, resources and expertise
to make a meaningful dierence in
helping solve them.
Our corporate responsibility work
has the same objective – to use the
skills, resources and expertise of our
firm to support the economic growth
and progress of our communities.
In recent years, we have sharpened
that focus. With millions of people
around the world migrating to urban
areas, cities are fast becoming the key
drivers of global economic growth –
and essential linchpins in expanding
access to opportunity. So we have
refocused many of our eorts on
helping develop strategies to bolster
the long-term economic vitality of the
world’s cities.
In 2014, we developed and expanded
our programs with a focus on three
distinct challenges:
First, we are helping metropolitan
regions compete more eectively in
the global economy. Through our
Global Cities Initiative with the Brook-
ings Institution, we have expanded
our work to help cities in the United
States, Europe, Asia and Latin America
develop strategies for increasing inter-
national trade and investment ties.
Second, we are helping cities around
the world address one of their biggest
challenges: the need for a better
trained workforce to fill the millions
of jobs left open due to a shortage
of applicants with the right skills.
Through our New Skills at Work
program, we are developing strate-
gies that align workforce training
with the skills employers seek and
are providing much-needed data to
strengthen workforce systems.
Finally, we are helping cities create
thriving small business sectors
centered around high-growth indus-
tries through our Small Business
Forward initiative.
All of these challenges come together
in Detroit. In 2014, we made a $100
million, five-year commitment to the
city’s economic recovery that brings
together both business and philan-
thropic resources to support and
accelerate some of the most innova-
tive eorts underway to revitalize
an iconic American city. But we’re
putting more than just our money
to work; our people have significant
expertise to oer, and, in 2014, we
sent a dozen of our top managers
from around the world to Detroit
to work with local nonprofits. It’s
a model we plan to replicate and
expand in the coming years.
Underpinning all of these eorts is
the belief that achieving meaningful
impact requires us to apply the
same standard to our philanthropic
investments as we do to our business
investments: a genuine commit-
ment to accountability, transparency
and impact.
To that end, we recently formed a
five-year partnership with the Urban
Institute, one of the most well-
respected nonprofit research organi-
zations in the United States, to assess
our major philanthropic initiatives –
to analyze our eorts, produce inde-
pendent research and strengthen our
programs – further advancing our
commitment to maximum impact
for our communities and account-
ability to our shareholders.
We are very proud of our work over
this past year and are committed to
making our communities and our
firm even stronger.
Peter Scher