MAYOR CANTRELL WELCOMES JOHNSON & JOHNSON’S
GLOBAL PRO BONO TEAM TO NEW ORLEANS
NEW ORLEANS – Mayor LaToya Cantrell today welcomed the Johnson & Johnson Global Pro Bono team to New Orleans to work on a global pro bono program in partnership with PYXERA Global. The program aims to address healthcare and community issues by harnessing the power of our city's most powerful resource: our people. Mayor Cantrell underscored the need for cross-sector partnerships in order to improve the lives of the residents of New Orleans.
“I am honored that New Orleans has been chosen for this pro bono project,” said Mayor Cantrell. “Public-private partnerships like this one have been a vital part of our City’s resiliency and continued success. My administration is laser-focused on finding ways to improve our systems and processes, and this program is designed to do just that. We’re moving New Orleans forward, and we’re continuing to find smarter ways to do it.”
“We mindfully select community, non-profit, or underserved organizations that are addressing health or critical community issues to work with our participants. Global pro bono allows our employees to build a unique relationship with the local organization and together they build a success plan to address the self-identified challenge from the local organization,” said Yezenia Ramos, Senior Manager, Employee Engagement, Johnson & Johnson. “I’ve seen this program move and change employees. Participants come back as different people after such an immersive and impactful experience.”
The 12-person cohort will engage the skills of employees from Brazil, Colombia, USA and Canada. The teams will work for four weeks with four organizations in the New Orleans area:
- CresentCare, to align key initiatives with the strategic vision of the organization for maximum community impact
- Priority Health Care, to create a strong marketing strategy in order to support customer acquisition
- City of New Orleans, to identify effective and efficient processes to improve operations
- Saint Bernard Project, to develop a performance management program that will better hire, train and retain a diverse workforce
The project will help the City’s Equipment Maintenance Division (EMD) to develop standard operating procedures and a department manual. The project is scheduled to run through the end of May. The project team will work with the entire EMD staff to create these documents (and any other identified needs as the project evolves).
“This program design is impactful because of the triple benefit. For participants, it’s an unparalleled global leadership development opportunity. For the non-profits that host, it’s expertise (through consulting) that would otherwise be unavailable to them. For the companies who participate, it’s insight into new markets, developing authentic reputations in CSR, and a powerful way to engage and develop employees, all while including diversity and inclusion in the new economy,” said Gavin Cepelak, Vice President of Global Pro Bono at PYXERA Global.
This is the third year for the Johnson & Johnson Global Pro Bono program. In addition to the New Orleans team, Johnson & Johnson will send two additional teams – to Antigua, Guatemala and Buenos Aires, Argentina, respectively – later this year. The program aims to enable good health, which is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress.
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