Ayala group of companies
A seed of social involvement was planted in the early 1800s. It was sown and nourished in a spirit of meaningful giving.
At a time when Manila was little more than a large town and the rest of the country was a rural landscape, Margarita Roxas de Ayala already saw the need for quality education, particularly for girls. The wife of Antonio de Ayala and daughter of Domingo Roxas – the two men who founded Destileria y Licoreria de Ayala y Compania, the precursor of Ayala Corporation – invited Spanish nuns to come to Manila and set up a school for girls. On land and with startup funds the Ayala family donated, a school was established that still operates today as La Concordia College.
The philanthropic fervor flourished over time. It became an institutional initiative – the Ayala companies themselves developed social development initiatives – and expanded to reach more and more people and eventually entire communities. Today, over 170 years and seven generations later, Ayala's social endeavors remain unparalleled in sustained depth and scope.
The efforts toward improving lives derive not only from the vision Margarita Roxas de Ayala had pioneered but also from a fundamental belief in the Filipino.
For more than 170 years, in good times and bad, Ayala has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the Philippines . Its major investments have always been in the country and its business focus has always been on Filipinos. The social awareness and the resulting developmental involvement emanate from that fact.
In 1961, the nexus between private philanthropy and corporate social responsibility gave birth to Filipinas Foundation, known today as Ayala Foundation, the first corporate foundation established in the Philippines .
Today, together with Ayala Foundation or on their own, the companies—Ayala Corporation, Ayala Land, Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecom, Inc., Manila Water Co., Inc., Integrated Microelectronics, Inc., and Ayala Automotive Corporation—carry out specific programs in the exercise of corporate social responsibility.
"Corporate social responsibility is, I believe, a natural impulse to help those in need," says Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chair and chief executive officer of Ayala Corporation, and known as JAZA in and outside of the business community. "It is a spirit of goodwill, expressed in activities that promote social development."
He continues, "We have always found it very important to engage in businesses that not only create value for our shareholders but also result in a developmental impact on society by contributing positively to the national development agenda."
It is also a strategic necessity for a big conglomerate. "Any large business depends on existing social conditions of its country," says JAZA, "such as a healthy population, an educated workforce, a sizable consumer market with growing household incomes, a sustainable environment and adequate infrastructure."
As national and community resources are clearly scarce, large companies can become involved in social initiatives and apply their own areas of competence. "Corporations can bring their unique, valuable capabilities into the tremendous effort needed to achieve positive social change," says Fernando Zobel de Ayala , president and chief operating officer of Ayala Corporation. "This could well be more valuable than the funds we channel into our social responsibility programs."
The goal, says JAZA, is "to be an effective enabler for community and social development and to find lasting solutions that will create a permanent improvement in the lives of individuals and communities."
Valued Partnerships
In many of its social undertakings, Ayala collaborates with local and international institutions and government agencies as well as with NGOs, academic institutions, and other business groups. The partnerships transcend individual, parochial or business interests, as key people of different institutions come together to work for a common agenda. These public-private partnerships or social consortia have become instrumental in taking on large issues and pursuing projects of national significance.
Ayala and its executives have been at the forefront of these partnerships, among which are Children's Hour, World Wildlife Fund, Habitat for Humanity, and GILAS, or Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students.
Ayala strongly and firmly believes in the value of partnerships as through them corporate foundation can extend reach, replicate and scale up successful programs to address a wider market.
Employee Volunteerism
Volunteerism, encouraged officially, is a pervasive spirit within Ayala. Almost everyone, from top to bottom in all companies in the group, participates and spends personal time and resources in a chosen cause.
Ayala believes in fostering a strong congruence between the corporate values and the values that its employees live by. In the process, employees become deeply motivated advocates and supporters of Ayala's corporate social responsibility programs.
Change seekers
The conglomerate as an agent of change works with other "change seekers." These include organizations that exert active effort to improve life in the Philippines . They also encompass consumers of Ayala's services and products, Ayala's business partners and suppliers, and employees of companies in the group.
Change seekers, too, are the people the efforts serve: Filipinos who want things to improve.
Clearly the needs are numerous and varied. While there are diverse ways to address them, the results cannot be uniform. For this reason, Ayala focuses on the most effective means and has chosen three "pillars" on which to continue expanding its exercise of social responsibility: education, environment and entrepreneurship.
Within each broad area, it has chosen a "flagship program" that every company in the group can contribute to or implement in a strategic manner.
