At Passion Fruit Partners, giving back is not a one-time event. It is an annual tradition rooted in purpose, and acting as a reminder to why they exist.

As a small team of 25 nonprofit professionals and Salesforce experts, Passion Fruit Partners joined the Pledge 1% movement to formalise what was already in their culture: donating time and resources to the communities they care about.

Each year, the team participates in a company-wide day of service, volunteering their time across various cities in Canada and supporting nonprofits that align with their mission. This year, their focus was on food security, reducing food waste, and providing hands-on community care.

On a single day, team members across five Canadian provinces volunteered with local nonprofit organizations, reinforcing that a small, values-led company can deliver a powerful, lasting impact.

Beyond these donations, Passion Fruit Partners also contributes 1% of annual revenue through an employee-directed giving program. Staff choose the causes closest to their hearts, ensuring the company’s impact extends year-round and reflects the team’s values. 

A Canada-Wide Day of Volunteering

Through their Pledge 1% commitment, the team at Passion Fruit Partners spent the day immersed in community service. They supported local food-focused organisations that are responding to real and growing needs across the country.

Toronto: Sorting 2,775 lbs of Potatoes with Second Harvest

In Toronto, team members volunteered with Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organisation. They helped sort and pack more than 2,775 pounds of surplus potatoes. The produce was boxed up and sent to food banks and community groups to support families in need. The team worked on-site, checking quality, lifting crates, and ensuring that the food was safe and ready for delivery.
 

Calgary: Raising Funds for Holiday Cheer

In Calgary, one team member volunteered at the Calgary Stampede to raise funds for The Magic of Christmas. This volunteer-led nonprofit delivers gifts and meals to families, seniors, and shelters during the festive season. By selling Kinsmen Lottery tickets, she helped raise $10,000 to support this mission. The funds will contribute to supplies, gift deliveries, and transport across the city.

Vancouver: Frontline Support at the Greater Vancouver Food Bank

The Vancouver team supported the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which provides nutritious food to individuals and families across four cities. Volunteers helped distribute food, packed special hampers for seniors, and coordinated safe and efficient parking for those accessing services. Every role contributed to a smooth, respectful experience for the community.

Nova Scotia: Tech Tools for a Local Food Bank

On the East Coast, one teammate volunteered solo at the Berwick Food Bank. He digitised their inventory tracking process, introduced Google Forms for food shipment recording, and set up reporting tools in Google Sheets. He also coordinated a faster internet connection so staff could work more efficiently. The updates helped the organisation modernise key parts of their day-to-day work.

Winnipeg: Rescuing Food and Reducing Waste

In Winnipeg, two team members volunteered with Food Rescue. They sorted and prepared surplus food collected from suppliers, ensuring that it reached shelters, food banks, and community fridges. The work helped reduce waste and increase food access for families across the region.

Supporting Missions Beyond the Day

Volunteering was only one part of this year’s impact. Passion Fruit Partners also made financial donations to each organisation that their team supported. These donations helped sustain vital services, scale successful programs, and support operational costs long after the team’s volunteer day had ended.

• Second Harvest: Funding for national food rescue infrastructure and distribution
• The Magic of Christmas: Resources for gift delivery, food hampers, and outreach
• Greater Vancouver Food Bank: Contributions to support nutrition programs and food distribution
• Berwick Food Bank: Financial support for tech upgrades, supplies, and general operations
• Food Rescue: Funding to expand surplus food recovery and reduce food waste across Manitoba

A Tradition That Inspires Action

Passion Fruit Partners proves that a small team can drive wide-reaching impact. Their annual Pledge 1% day of service is more than a team-building activity. It is a reflection of who they are and the values they bring into their work all year round.
 
PFP’s giving does not stop at volunteering. Through their employee-directed giving program, the company commits 1% of its annual revenue to nonprofits chosen by staff. This model ensures that every team member has a voice in where funds are directed, further embedding purpose into their culture.

If you are a small business considering joining Pledge 1%, this story is your invitation. Purpose does not require scale. Just heart, time, and a willingness to show up.
 

 
Member Stories

Today’s political and economic climate is putting more of the spotlight on companies: how they operate, how they hire, where they work, and how they give. This is requiring many business leaders to rethink how they show up for their customers, employees, shareholders, and customers in today’s climate. 

For many, past strategies for sustainability, ESG, DEI, and other corporate impact initiatives are no longer resonating, but these commitments have become increasingly important, even if expressed in new ways. 

Despite the changes happening around us, there is a evolution happening within corporate impact and outside of the spotlight that is redefining how companies – their teams, products, and assets – can make a positive difference in today’s constantly changing and increasingly uncertain world. This is creating new pathways for companies to grow and is providing business leadership with a remarkable opportunity to lead with their beliefs, values, and vision for the future.

• The lexicon of sustained impact
• Digging deeper into our values
• Continuing commitments to communities in need
• Redefining what it means to lead
• Strategies to do good while doing business
• Re-envisioning, not retreating

We first convened leaders of the Pledge 1% community in March 2025 to understand their perspectives, challenges, and responses to the political and economic changes following the US election. This same group of companies met again in June 2025 to further discuss how they have adapted their impact strategies and continued to support their ecosystem of partners, employees, shareholders, and customers in today’s climate.

During these convenings, we learned that there are a number of driving forces causing companies to reevaluate and revise their corporate impact programs. These include (among others):

• Changes in political tone and climate: Executive orders from the current administration that are targeting DEI programs in federal agencies and encouraging private sector rollbacks and are putting at risk many government contracts.
• Economic uncertainty: Changing decisions around global tariffs, US trade agreements, and other economic policies are heavily impacting investor decisions and determining how US-based corporations operate.
• Reputational concerns and stakeholder pressure: In an increasingly polarized environment, companies are balancing demands for corporate impact leadership with the need to avoid politicized backlash—making strategic positioning more critical than ever. 
• Regulatory uncertainty: Delays in ESG-related disclosure rules in the US and EU have introduced ambiguity, prompting companies to take pause in releasing reports as they closely track peer activity and regulatory developments.

These conditions are constantly evolving, and yet one force has remained constant: companies’ unwavering commitment to make a difference. 

Based on current news and research, as well as feedback and ideas shared during convenings with Pledge 1% Builders, we explore a few key strategies that businesses are adopting to continue to have a positive social impact in our increasingly challenging world. 

We recognize that current events are impacting this space daily, but so are business leaders, who are choosing to lead with their values. While no one can  be certain of what the future holds, we can share  key learnings and strategies that are helping companies be a positive force for change.

The lexicon of sustained impact

Diversity. Inclusion. Sustainability. Social good. Terms like these are being questioned and even removed from the current lexicon, but that does not mean the values are being deprioritized. In fact, many companies are doubling down on how they engage different customers and employees; they are just using different terminology and strategies to do so.

Many companies are doing this by broadening their impact themes to:

• Include more widely recognized social causes and actions, which benefit different demographics of beneficiaries across communities
• Use words like “belonging” and “equality” to celebrate their values
• Focus on “employee well-being” and “employee experience” 
• Launch new internal “Inclusion Groups” or “Employee Communities” 
• Reframing their ESG goals under their sustainability interests and business goals
• Among other things

The data overwhelmingly shows that businesses are better when they pay attention to diversity and inclusion – when they prioritize strategies to reach different customers, employees, and stakeholder groups. Sustained commitment, rooted in purpose, not performance, has become a practical approach for many—allowing companies to protect impact efforts while minimizing external risk.

The words have changed. Our actions have not. 

Digging deeper into our values

There is a myth that corporate impact has taken a backseat. It has not. The increased political pressures and scrutiny around corporate social initiatives has instead resulted in many companies integrating these values even deeper into their core operations. This is enabling companies to strengthen (not suppress) their corporate impact strategies and to ensure that their programs are sustainable, secure, and resilient to future challenges.

A new emphasis on “inclusive growth,” for instance, is providing companies with more opportunities to incorporate values like diversity, inclusion, and sustainability into every aspect of their business and to develop new strategies to meaningfully engage employees and customers across different communities. This includes consolidating DEI functions into broader HR or “people experience” teams, or reassessing how diversity goals should be embedded into performance metrics. 

To ignore social diversity is to ignore our reality – something most companies cannot afford to do. Instead, many companies are restructuring their operations and goals to stay even more relevant, responsive, and representative of the communities they employ and serve. This is both good for business and good for the world.

Continuing commitments to communities in need

In a time when government aid is getting cut and traditional civil society infrastructure is struggling, corporate giving has not stopped. Companies are stepping up in new and creative ways to more effectively distribute financial resources back to the customers and communities they care about.
 
For some companies, this involves tightening grantmaking criteria—especially for nonprofit partners whose missions are explicitly aligned with identity-based causes. In some cases, legal teams are now reviewing grantee language to ensure that terms like “equity” or “anti-racism” do not pose reputational or compliance risks for the company. Organizations are reframing programs in more general terms like “future workforce development” or “community empowerment.” This is enabling many companies to continue their commitment to diverse organizations, despite increased public scrutiny around certain social causes. 

Redefining what it means to lead

People around the world are looking for stronger leaders; for clarity, for consistency, for hope. Today’s business leaders have an incredible opportunity to redefine what it means (and what it takes) to lead, starting with their corporate culture.
 
Employees are navigating an uncertain economy, a shrinking job market, new foreign and domestic policies, and unprecedented changes at home and in the office. This is being felt across industries and generations, with some corporate impact leaders reporting that Gen Z employees are more likely to treat work as a job—not a community hub or moral platform. As one individual put it: “We used to think that workplaces were becoming the new third space. Now people are asking, ‘Why should I go above and beyond for a job that might cut me tomorrow?’” 
 
In an era where workplace dynamics and employee expectations are evolving, a strong corporate culture can make all of the difference when it comes to engaging teams and promoting a healthy bottom line. Today’s business leaders are using this moment to define their culture and stand out to employees, customers, and shareholders alike. Employee engagement and community giving programs are proving to be successful strategies to boost morale and foster connections across teams and customers. These activities are driving employee retention, ethical decision-making, performance, and long-term business success. At a time when the world is feeling more and more polarized, companies can uniquely provide their teams with a positive space to collaborate, learn, and thrive.

Strategies to do good while doing business

The good news?
 
Companies are still giving, and corporate impact leaders are finding new ways to integrate their impact programs into the core of their operations. This is ultimately leading to stronger, more sustainable programs that could transform how companies shape our world for the better. 
 
Now is the time to lead. 
 
Businesses large and small — and across every industry — have an opportunity to lead by example and leverage their assets – their team, profits, products, equity, brand, and more – to do good. 
 
The strategies outlined below are being shared to help all types of businesses maximize their ability to serve their customers, teams, and communities in today’s environment. Every business – large or small – can make a difference and collectively, we can form a movement that redefines corporate leadership for generations to come. We hope these strategies will help your organization realize their ability to lead in this moment, and join us and thousands of others in redefining how companies can positively shape our world, all while navigating today’s evolving dialogue, risks, and political changes:
 
Integrate Impact Values into Core Business Functions
In today’s climate, employees and consumers alike are prioritizing brands that align with their values. Data repeatedly shows that companies integrating impact goals into their business and operations are recruiting and retaining better talent, creating stronger brand positioning with customers, and maintaining a healthier bottom line. 
 
By integrating company values into all aspects of your core business functions, you can seamlessly work towards your impact goals while building stronger teams and connecting your product and services to purpose—a win-win for you and your stakeholders. 
 
Invest In & Celebrate Your Communities by Adopting Issue- or Place-Based Approaches
Reframing your impact narrative by focusing on the communities that are important to you as a business can engage consumers and investors, and open the doors for you to drive equity outcomes. This could be your city, state, or town, or a new market you are looking to expand into. You could also focus on broadly resonant themes like mental health, education, food insecurity. 
 
Build Cross-Functional Accountability
Restructuring your impact program offers a great opportunity to think about internal ownership and how your broader team can champion and be a part of your impact goals. Consider integrating impact KPIs into different departments, or establishing internal councils or committees that allow for shared ownership models to drive impact decisions. This can be a great way to promote cross-functional collaboration – all while proactively managing risk.
 
Strengthen Internal Measurement and Materiality
Use data, materiality assessments, and internal dashboards to inform decisions around your community investments and/or internal policies and programs. You can use this moment to connect your impact goals to business KPIs and to more deeply understand their impact on your financial, marketing, hiring, and other organizational outcomes. 
 
Partner Strategically and Engage Employees Authentically
The best news about enhancing your impact program? You never have to do it alone! There are many third-party intermediaries and platforms to help drive your funding, employee giving, product donations, and broader program delivery. 
 
This includes solutions to help streamline employee engagement, including pro bono giving and matching funds. 
 
Ultimately, your impact program offers an incredible opportunity to engage your team (virtual or remote). You can always tap into your talent for guidance and ideas about the issues that matter to them the most. By including them in your planning process, and by offering VTO days, employee volunteer events, you can significantly strengthen your internal culture and provide hope and purpose for your employees, especially in these times of uncertainty. These can lead to increased employee retention, productivity, and workplace satisfaction. Use your impact program to show up for your team, so they will continue to show up for you. 

Re-envisioning, not retreating

Corporate leaders are standing at a critical juncture. They are being compelled to address new language, restrictions, and pressures around how their business impacts the world. At the same time, many are continuing to leverage their talent and resources to innovate and create new opportunities for corporate philanthropy. 
Companies are stepping up in new and more integrated ways. They are positioning, measuring, and aligning their impact programs with their business goals, and the companies that are succeeding – that are attracting customers, engaging team members, and meeting stakeholder expectations – are the businesses that are adapting without sacrificing their culture and values. 
 
Re-envisioning your corporate impact goals and initiatives in today’s environment demands nuance, strategy, and discretion. It is also sparking more creativity and leadership  around approaches that will ensure long-term corporate impact for years to come.
 
Pledge 1% can help you navigate the trends in corporate impact by providing you with a flexible framework and practical resources to build, sustain, and continually evolve your impact program.

You can join the movement for free and access more examples and tools at www.pledge1percent.org.
 

Original article here

SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Airwallex, a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, has been recognised as a Company of Good (COG) by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) for its meaningful and growing contributions to corporate purpose and community impact in Singapore.

This national recognition affirms Airwallex’s ongoing commitment to building a more inclusive and sustainable future through purposeful business practices, in line with the Forward Singapore movement and COG’s five pillars: People, Society, Governance, Environment, and Economic.

“At Airwallex, purpose is central to our mission,” said Lucy Liu, Co-founder and President, Airwallex. “We’re proud to be recognised as a Company of Good and to do our part in strengthening the communities in which we live and work. We believe innovation and impact go hand in hand – and we’ll continue finding new ways to use our time, product, and expertise to drive economic empowerment, inclusion, and opportunity.”

Airwallex Impact: Turning purpose into action

Airwallex’s recognition is a strong endorsement of Airwallex Impact, its global social impact programme launched in late 2024, grounded in the company’s pledge to the Pledge 1% movement – a global initiative that encourages companies to commit 1% of equity, product, profit, and employee time for the greater good.

Since committing to Pledge 1%, over 120 Airwallex employees globally have contributed volunteer days across a diverse range of activities in the first half of 2025 – a 58% uplift compared to the whole of 2024.

Through Airwallex Impact, the company will continue to deliver volunteering initiatives, forge social impact partnerships, and establish donation frameworks across its global offices, including its Singapore headquarters.

Creating lasting impact on the ground in Singapore

In Singapore, Airwallex employees have already begun making a tangible difference through a range of volunteering initiatives in 2025 that support youth empowerment, marine conservation, and environmental innovation.

Highlights include:

• Inspiring the next generation of tech leaders: In partnership with United Women Singapore’s Girls2Pioneers initiative, Airwallex hosted 16 aspiring young women for a hands-on FinTech & Career Readiness Workshop. The experience included crash courses in Engineering, Product, Commercial, Brand and People Operations – giving participants a real-world window into STEM careers.
• Marine conservation in action: Employees took part in a reef survey with Marine Stewards, contributing data to preserve Singapore’s marine biodiversity and protect its coastal ecosystems.
• Ocean clean-up initiative: Airwallex employees joined Ocean Purpose Project – a Pasir Ris-based social enterprise – for a half-day kayak clean-up and learning journey. Participants collected trash from the sea, explored a native seaweed farm, and learned how plastic waste is being converted into low-sulphur fuel and bio-stimulants to restore our oceans.

Looking ahead: ‘Invest In Our Home’ with Endowus

Airwallex is also proud to be the Gold Partner for the upcoming Endowus Giving Machines (EGB) Campaign, running from August 2025 to January 2026. These islandwide “virtual giving machines” – which can be found at high traffic areas such as MRT stations, bus stops, malls and cinemas – enable individuals to make charitable donations to a wide range of causes. Since its launch, the initiative has raised nearly S$300,000 in donations for over 40 local charities. This year, EGB is held in conjunction with SG60, aligning with the theme of “Building Our Singapore Together” where contributions may be eligible for the SG Gives matching grant.

“We’re excited to partner with Airwallex on the Endowus Giving Machines campaign to make giving more accessible, visible and impactful across Singapore,” said Gregory Van, Co-founder and CEO, Endowus. “Airwallex’s commitment to social impact aligns with our shared belief that finance can be a force for good – not just in building wealth, but in enabling broader social impact. Together, we’re empowering more people to support meaningful causes that they care about in simple, everyday ways.”

As Airwallex continues to grow in Singapore and across the region, its focus remains clear: to create long-term value for businesses, communities and the broader economy by pairing world-class financial infrastructure with strong corporate purpose.

About Airwallex

Airwallex is a leading financial platform building the future of global banking for modern businesses. By combining proprietary infrastructure with software and AI, Airwallex is reimagining how businesses manage accounts, access capital, control spend, and embed financial services.

Designed to replace fragmented, legacy systems, Airwallex offers a unified platform for global financial operations – providing everything from multi-currency business accounts to payments to spend management and embedded financial products.

Founded in Melbourne and trusted by over 150,000 businesses worldwide – including TikTok, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, and SHEIN – Airwallex is powering a new era of global banking without borders.

Learn more at www.airwallex.com

News

Original article here.

Launched by the founders of Salesforce, Atlassian, and Rally, Pledge 1% has grown into a worldwide initiative embraced by over 19,000 companies across 130 countries. Industry leaders like Twilio, Zoom, and Canva have also taken the pledge, setting a new standard for corporate responsibility and community impact.

At CBTW, this commitment is not new. More than 20% of our company’s equity is already owned by a charitable foundation, underscoring our belief that the value we create should contribute directly to a better future. By formally joining Pledge 1%, we’re reaffirming and building on that founding principle.

In addition to equity, we’re pledging 1% of our global annual profit to support global and local education and health initiatives – an extension of the values that have always guided our work.

While we help organizations grow through technology, data and AI, we believe access to quality education and healthcare are essential to building resilient, equitable communities.

This belief fuels our Social Impact strategy.

• In 2024, we focused on education – championing digital inclusion, promoting STEM learning for underserved youth, and increasing access to knowledge. Our commitment through Pledge 1% formalizes and strengthens this mission. In fact, our efforts have been underway since 2019 – with each year expanding our reach and deepening our impact.
• In the APAC region, that impact is already taking shape. Since 2023, we’ve worked with partners like Saigon Children’s Charity and the Library of Dreams to establish fully equipped computer rooms and school libraries, providing approximately 800 students each year with access to digital learning tools and enriched educational resources. Through our long-standing internship program with Passerelles Numériques Vietnam, CBTW has welcomed 43 interns since the partnership began in 2015, offering hands-on experience, structured training, and mentorship from our experts. And through our contribution to Heartbeat Vietnam in 2024, we’re helping fund life-saving surgeries for 15 children with congenital heart defects, with ten already treated and more surgeries scheduled.
• Our commitment to education and social inclusion extends well beyond Asia. Across Europe, our teams continue to champion inclusive education and community empowerment. In Belgium, our long-term partnership with De Brug has helped enhance the learning experience for children with autism and learning disabilities, supporting 70 young students each year through the funding of an Omivista interactive sensory device. Through our ongoing collaboration with TADA, we have provided hundreds of socially vulnerable youth each year, giving them access to weekend schools, alumni programs, and pilot initiatives that develop personal skills and promote greater inclusion within society.
• Continuing this global commitment, in Africa, our efforts focus on education access and child protection. In Madagascar, we continue our multi-year support for Akamasoa, helping maintain a school that provides education to over 1,300 children from disadvantaged communities. In partnership with WAPA, we’ve contributed to reintegration programs for nearly 100 former child soldiers annually in recent years, building on a collaboration that began in 2018. We also support their efforts to prevent the recruitment of children in armed conflicts and raise awareness through education and advocacy initiatives.
• Likewise, in the Americas, we focus on empowering teachers as key drivers of quality education. In Haiti, through our sustained collaboration with L’Appel, we’ve provided partial scholarships for 30 teachers to pursue further education, enhancing their teaching skills and creating lasting impact in local classrooms.

*Our focus areas – education, digital inclusion, and health access – align with global goals such as SDG 3, SDG 4, and SDG 10, reinforcing our commitment to building resilient and equitable communities.