Supporting communities in

Switzerland

19 Sep 2018
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5 reasons UBS loves chocolate

Starting a revolution is no small affair. For two friends it began ten years ago. Swiss Christoph Inauen and Frenchman Eric Garnier were happily working in the fair trade chocolate industry and, as part of their job, regularly visited the Huayabamba Valley in Peru. They thought their work in fair trade was creating better lives for local cacao farmers. The problem was, it really wasn't.

Find out why

Transforming plastic waste into life changers

How two young designers and a UBS banker bonded over a prosthetic leg made from recycled plastic.

More information

Our success in numbers (2018)

4,573

Number of volunteers

42,655

Hours of volunteering

68,771

Number of beneficiaries

UBS Employee Engagement

UBS Employee Engagement

UBS and its employees are involved in numerous projects that benefit the community in Switzerland. Our volunteering program and fundraising activities support and empower people, projects and organizations in the areas of education and entrepreneurship as well as the environment, societal issues and culture. We offer all employees in Switzerland the opportunity to take part in over 100 charitable activities covering every part of the country. UBS provides two paid workdays per year for participation in these activities.

Our common goal is to make a meaningful contribution to our communities all across our home market and to shaping Switzerland's future.

Sustainable impact through long-term partnerships

UBS and its employees support organizations and projects that make a contribution to the welfare of society in Switzerland. We aim to maintain long-term partnerships when providing support in order to ensure the impact is sustainable. In this way, a close and cooperative partnership is built up between charitable organizations and UBS that can do long-lasting good.

Our partners

Education & Entrepreneurship

Wirtschaftswochen - Ernst Schmidheiny Foundation

Since 1974, the Ernst Schmidheiny Foundation has hosted thousands of Business Weeks at Swiss high schools and has thereby furthered the understanding of more than 90,000 students to date in the field of business. A corporate planning game developed specifically for the purpose and overseen by experienced business managers sees the students take on the role of an executive board member.

Since their inception, UBS has supported the Business Weeks financially, as well as with dedicated volunteers. Many of the bank's managers help out as course tutors, providing the young people with concrete support in their professional career.

www.esst.ch

Seif

seif supports social entrepreneurs from all sectors to start, grow and improve their business performance. They are offering coaching, investment opportunities, consulting, courses and general support. Furthermore, social enterprises have the possibility to participate in the annual seif awards.

UBS employees take part in the bi-annual Impact Academy where they mentor social enterprises for six month with the aim of making them ready for impact investments. UBS also awards a seif Award for entrepreneurial innovation once a year.

https://seif.org/

YES

YES is a non-profit organization that develops and supports practical business courses for students aimed at connecting schools with businesses. UBS supports the National Final of the "Company Programs" where students between the ages of 16 and 20 start their own mini-company and experience a school year that is all about being an entrepreneur. In addition, UBS volunteers are volunteering year-round for the "Fit for business" and "Our community" programs. In these programs, school classes benefit from various things: They have a better understanding of how the economy works, get support in making good career choices and managing their application processes, learn how to deal with money and how to take on responsibility in a community. In primary school, instruction is provided on the topics of professions, making decisions, roles and responsibilities in a community.

https://www.yes.swiss/

Environment

Social

Bildungwerkstatt Bergwald

Bildungswerkstatt Bergwald (BWBW) is a charitable foundation present throughout Switzerland for environmental education and the education of young people. Among other things, it runs forest project weeks for adolescents from the ninth grade that are aimed at strengthening their social and personal skills. At the end of 2010, the BWBW was recognized by the Swiss UNESCO Commission as a "United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Activity".

UBS supports the BWBW with the carrying out of various projects and works closely with the BWBW as part of the UBS Employee Volunteering program.

www.bergwald.ch

Züriwerk Foundation

The Züriwerk Foundation is a non-profit organization recognized by the federal government and canton. On behalf of and in the interest of society, it backs the social and economic integration of adults with handicaps. Backed up by its wealth of experience, the Züriwerk Foundation provides professional assistance to the disadvantaged in finding work. Since 2007 it has also been involved in part-pay projects aimed at integrating benefit recipients.

UBS employees regularly perform social work for Züriwerk, working together with the handicapped in production locations.

http://www.zueriwerk.ch/

UBS Educational Initiative

UBS Educational Initiative

Switzerland's economic strength is based on first-class education as well as bold and innovative entrepreneurship. We want to foster both over the long term through the education commitment that we began in 2012 on the occasion of our 150th anniversary.

We support educational projects at all levels – from elementary school through apprentice training, to life-long learning. And we promote entrepreneurship by actively supporting young entrepreneurs and investing into the growing social entrepreneurship community in our country.

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UBS Foundation for Social Issues and Education

UBS Foundation for Social Issues and Education

The UBS Foundation for Social Issues and Education has been doing all it can for the common good in Switzerland for over 50 years. Grants are focused on education, qualification and occupational integration of people with disadvantages or special needs.

UBS Foundation for Social Issues and Education

UBS Culture Foundation

UBS Culture Foundation

For more than fifty years, UBS Culture Foundation has been engaged in promoting cultural life and the arts, the exchange between artists and wider society, and advancing the diversity of cultural expression. In particular, we support the creation, dissemination and mediation of contemporary art and culture in Switzerland.

UBS Culture Foundation

Do you have a question? Contact us

Curdin Duschletta,

Head UBS Community Affairs & Foundations

Name

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