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Philadelphia, PA, April 25, 2012 – The Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council - a partnership of the business community, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service - joined community and government leaders this morning to pledge their commitment to corporate volunteerism through the national movement, A Billion + Change.

A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based service by 2013 to address core issues that communities face across the country and around the world. The goal is to transform how businesses leverage their employees to make a lasting impact on society by engaging, inspiring and mobilizing professional talent to build the capacity of non-profit organizations to better meet community needs. So far, nearly 100 companies across the country have pledged a total of $1.7 billion in skills-based volunteer services to nonprofit organizations.

“The goal of the Corporate Volunteer Council is to effectively harness the incredible resource we have – through the talent and skills of our employees – to meet the real needs of the nonprofit community,” said Diane Melley, co-chair of the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council and Director, IBM Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs. “By companies pledging to be a part of A Billion + Change, they’re raising their hand to say ‘yes, we recognize the social impact we can have through pro bono or skills-based volunteering right here in the Greater Philadelphia region.’”

Ms. Melley was joined this morning by Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service and Jenny Lawson from Points of Light in this call-to-action to the corporate community.  The event also included a message from the Office of Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter and a panel discussion focused on how the business community is already finding innovative ways to balance corporate priorities with community needs, addressing issues such as workforce development, education, at-risk youth and economic development.

"One of Philadelphia's great strengths is the talent and commitment of our workforce," said Mayor Michael A. Nutter.  "I'm excited to see our Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council working effectively to steer their employees' time and skills toward efforts that can make a lasting impact.  By joining the A Billion + Change campaign we continue to show that when the city's business community, non-profit groups, and government step up together, we can meet the challenges our communities face."

“Philadelphia, the birthplace of our democracy and home to many entrepreneurial companies and nonprofits, is an ideal city to demonstrate the power of skills-based volunteering,“ said CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer.  “Ultimately, Billion + Change is about results and impact – making real changes in people’s lives.   America’s workers are the most productive in the world, and when they volunteer their time and skills great things happen -- in their companies and in our communities.”

For nonprofits and communities, skilled volunteer support in areas such as general operations, technology and professional services can be 400 percent greater than the value of traditional volunteering.

For more information on the GPCVC, visit www.LIVEUNITEDsepa.org/volunteer_GPCVC.

To find corporate skills-based volunteer opportunities in Greater Philadelphia contact United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Community Action Center at volunteer@uwsepa.org.

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About A Billion + Change

A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer services by 2013. It was launched by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2008 and continues as an initiative of the federal agency. Reinvigorated in 2011 with expanded leadership under the honorary chairmanship of Senator Mark Warner, it is now housed and managed by Points of Light. The initiative is powered by the support of Deloitte, HP, the Case Foundation and IBM with additional founding support from State Farm, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and Morgan Stanley.

About the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council

The mission of the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council (GPCVC) is to increase the collective impact of employee volunteer engagement in the region by fostering greater collaboration within and across the business and non-profit communities. Operational support for the GPCVC is provided by United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service.  For more information, visit www.LIVEUNITEDsepa.org/volunteer_GPCVC.

About United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania is part of a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and in people’s lives. United Way engages the community to identify the underlying causes of the most significant local issues, develops strategies and pulls together financial and human resources to address them, and measure the results. United Way is advancing the common good in southeastern Pennsylvania by focusing on education for children, income for families and health for seniors. For more information about United Way, please visit: www.LIVEUNITEDsepa.org.

About the Corporation for National and Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, Social Innovation Fund, and other programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.