Amazon recognized as a top corporate philanthropist in the Washington, D.C., metro region

Amazon was acknowledged as one of many high company philanthropists this 12 months within the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia metro area by The Washington Enterprise Journal. This recognition is a testomony to our dedication to the realm, which is dwelling to our second headquarters (HQ2) in Arlington, Virginia, and it’s solely the start.

Since asserting that Amazon’s HQ2 could be situated in Arlington in 2018, we’ve dedicated greater than $88 million to native nonprofits, neighborhood teams, and colleges across the area. This assist is targeted on addressing challenges like inexpensive housing, racial fairness, sustainability, and fairness in schooling.

We all know that success and scale convey broad duty, and we attempt to be neighbor within the communities the place our staff and their households dwell and work. After we selected Arlington as the location of our second headquarters, we made a dedication to weave ourselves into the material of our HQ neighborhoods and be among the many most trusted enterprise and neighborhood companions within the area.

We work day-after-day to be a trusted neighborhood companion, and it’s an honor to obtain this recognition. We’re grateful to the various neighborhood leaders and organizations that we companion with to make sure we’re making probably the most impactful contributions—whether or not that be our volunteer time, in-kind donations, or monetary assist.

Not too long ago, Amazon was additionally acknowledged by the Enterprise Journal as the highest company philanthropist within the Puget Sound area, dwelling to our different headquarters.

Learn extra about a few of Amazon’s investments in Arlington:

Uplifting communities

We’re partnering with nonprofits, civic teams, and neighborhood leaders to spur inclusive financial progress throughout the HQ2 area with a selected give attention to schooling, racial fairness, inexpensive housing, and regional financial improvement.

This consists of our partnership with the nonprofit Doorways VA and its work to create pathways for folks out of homelessness, home violence, and sexual assault into safer, extra steady, and empowered lives. On the peak of the pandemic, because the group was pushed past its capability, we supported Doorways VA in its efforts to increase shelter and community-based companies. We additionally supported Doorways VA because it expanded housing for purchasers and elevated entry to disaster, authorized, and medical counseling.

Fairness in schooling

We all know probably the most essential methods we will drive inclusive financial progress within the area is by supporting equitable outcomes in schooling and expertise coaching. We’re grateful for and proud to assist the work of our companions, just like the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia. The nonprofit’s mission is to show adults the fundamental expertise of studying, writing, talking, and understanding English to allow them to entry employment and academic alternatives. Our funding supported the group’s pivot to digital studying in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve continued to assist their now hybrid schooling mannequin.

We’re additionally proud to be working with the NAACP Future Leaders Scholarship Award program that gives scholarships to Arlington college students with monetary wants.

And we’re advancing schooling efforts in science, expertise, engineering, and math (STEM) within the area via the first-ever AWS Suppose Large House at Wakefield Excessive College. The Suppose Large House is an built-in surroundings the place all the things—from the furnishings to the expertise to the curriculum—work collectively to assist interactive hands-on studying. The Suppose Large House prioritizes customized studying to have interaction college students of all ages, pursuits, and skills.

Regional cultural occasions

Amazon is dedicated to supporting beloved regional occasions, together with the Nationwide Cherry Blossom Pageant, and utilizing our assist to drive patrons to the small and minority-owned companies in our new neighborhood, Nationwide Touchdown. This 12 months, we introduced the Nationwide Cherry Blossom Pageant to Nationwide Touchdown via occasions like a kite competition at Virginia Highlands Park and a music competition at Lengthy Bridge Park. We additionally supported Capital Delight—and for the primary time, greater than 100 Amazon staff walked within the Delight Parade this 12 months in assist of the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood.

Sustainability

We’re dedicated to and invested in sustainability as a result of it’s good for the planet, for enterprise, for our clients, and for our communities. Within the HQ2 area, we’re partnering with EcoAction Arlington to extend the tree cover in communities with higher-than-average minority populations and other people dwelling in poverty. Information reveals that these neighborhoods are sometimes probably the most impacted by inadequate tree cowl. The shortage of timber has a real-world impression that may result in poor bodily and psychological well being outcomes, increased utility prices, and a decrease high quality of life.

Dedication to housing fairness

Probably the most vital challenges we face within the area is the provision of inexpensive housing, and we consider that the non-public sector and governments can do extra to companion collectively.

By means of the Amazon Housing Fairness Fund, we’ve contributed greater than $900 million to assist inexpensive housing within the Arlington and metro-Washington, D.C., areas, with extra to return. Because the launch of Amazon Housing Fairness Fund in mid 2021, our efforts have helped create and protect greater than 6,000 inexpensive houses. Primarily based on knowledge supplied by Arlington County, the funding has helped improve long-term inexpensive multifamily housing inventory in Arlington by 22%.

We all know there may be extra work to be achieved. That is just the start of our assist of the broader neighborhood all through the HQ2 area. We’re grateful to all of our companions and neighbors, and we stay up for working collectively to proceed to drive inclusive financial progress throughout the area.