Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. The philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company is the first to have donated more than one hundred million dollars in partnership with Global Giving. Here to discuss that milestone and the role of large companies in charity is Mary Culler. She is the president of Ford Philanthropy and it's great to have you, marry on. I guess Giving Tuesday was yesterday, but we should always be thinking about what we can do to help out
in global crises. Tell us first of all about Global Giving. You've been in partnership with them for many years and how you work together.
Well, good morning and nice to see you, Matt and Danny. This is a historic milestone and what's really exciting is Global Giving has been a partner of ours for years. They really serve as the bridge for connecting with nonprofits
all across the world. And so when we think about this milestone, it's not only about the money, but it's the multiplier effect that a company liked Motor Company can bring with our employees with the expertise we bring with our vehicles, and of course we have this incredible dealer network all across the globe that all get involved in support of these nonprofits.
Mary, the good news is the contributions you're making to societies. The bad news is how many different things it feels like they're out there that need this kind of funding, be it rising inequality, be it issues of climate change, and by the way, all those things happening in very many different places in the world. It can be enough to kind of feel paralyzing. So how do you afford filmthrop at Ford decide exactly where that money goes and what projects to take on.
Well, I think that's a great question because there is so much need and so what we try to do at Ford Philanthropy is really bring our superpower to the table, and so we have really focused on things like disaster relief, community building because what we've learned is in partnerships with nonprofits, we not only bring the philanthropic dollars, but we can
bring things like our vehicles. So imagine during a hurricane or during some kind of disaster, there is a need for nonprofits to have sort of an increase of vehicles to get out and do the work they do. So we have a loaner program through our dealers for that. We have our people. We've extended our volunteer policy so that people can deploy when there's a disaster and go
and actually you know, get in there and help. And then the dealer network, As I said, what I've been incredibly impressed by is that because we are more focused in these areas together as a company, we've been able to network together incredible impacts. So for example, you know, we have dealers who are doing blood drives, we have dealers who are doing food drives, all in sort of support of this combined effort. And just recently, dealers across the world actually did a food drive and there was
a donation of two million pounds of food. We've done blood drives where the American Red Cross has said this is so incredible because you're getting new blood donors. So I think a company, if we can find our sweet spot like we have in these areas, can bring the full power of what you know, we can do to help.
Yeah. So I mean Ford has like something like one hundred and seventy thousand employees, right, but if you include the massive dealership network and the supplier network, it's going to I imagine grow to millions. You're also very global right. I know that you have production facilities for example, for example in Valencia where you've been able to help out with the horrible flooding that they had. You've been able to help out in Turkey where they had awful earthquakes.
These global crises, do you feel a responsibility to respond not just to what's going on in the US but around the world.
Absolutely. And I think what's really great is because we have this focused effort around is US relief. We have a turnkey, you know kind of moment where we already have our nonprofits established. You know, we have the dealers sort of ready to go, we have ourmployees ready to volunteer.
And so recently, for example, during the Texas flooding, within twenty four hours, the dealers were already activated, we had vehicles on the ground helping our nonprofits, we had our volunteers deployed, and we were doing everything we could to help in that situation. And I think that's the power of a company like Ford. You know, when our backs against the wall, there's no better company to kind of
rise to the occasion. We've seen that throughout history, and our commitment community is so great that if we can find that sort of sweet spot where we can bring the entire power of our company to bear. I think we just have a much better opportunity to make a difference.
You know, the aim of the more libertarian administrations in this country is to pull back on what the government pays for because then the private charity will step in. And I wonder if you feel more pressure on that front lately as you cross this milestone.
Well, we've certainly gotten a lot more. And you know, at the end of the day, there's not enough money to sustain all the need, you know, as Danny said, And so what we really try to do at Ford Philanthropy is not only to bring whatever monetary resources we can bring, but I think we have these incredible employees,
these incredible volunteers, and they bring their expertise. I mean, for example, recently, food has been a real issue and one of our employees was actually volunteering at a food bank and she was with our supply chain group, and she got there and she realized that the way they had set up the entire supply chain for that food distribution was not as efficient as it needed to be, and so she kind of took it on as her own personal project to help them and so they're much
more efficient, they're getting much more food out every day, and so I think that's really the exciting thing is that, you know, I'm proud of our employees who always look for opportunities to give back and I think in a really meaningful way.
Can I just quickly ask also how closely you work with Bill Ford and the Ford family, because I know he has been a proponent of the environment for many, many decades now and has tried to do what he can through obviously the Ford Motor Company assets that he owns.
Oh my gosh, there's no bigger champion than Bill Ford on the community front. You know, he really is our north star. You know, he established our volunteer program twenty years ago. He's always looking around corners, he's always thinking ahead, he's always looking for innovation. So he always challenges me personally to look for innovation and philanthropy. And so I couldn't be more proud to be a part of a company that has a family like the Fords behind it.
Hey, Mary, so great to hear about the wonderful work you're doing at Ford Philanthropy. That's Mary Kohler for philanthropy,