CA Technologies kicks off its annual CA Together in Action employee volunteer initiative. The program will run for five days, culminating with events held on Earth Day – Friday, April 22.

CA employees around the globe will take time out of their workday to give back by participating in community based, environmentally-focused projects that include the building of affordable housing, assistance with food banks, and by supporting the advancement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning for young people.

“We are excited to be celebrating the 11th anniversary of CA Together in Action” said Erica Christensen, vice president, Corporate Social Responsibility, CA Technologies. “Participation continues to grow each year, with CA volunteers continuing to demonstrate a true commitment to serving the communities in which they live and work.”

Projects will be held throughout the U.S. in locations including Boulder, CO; Denver, CO; Framingham, MA; Herndon, VA; Islandia, NY; Lisle, IL; New York, NY; Plano, TX; Raleigh, NC; Santa Clara, CA; and Tampa, FL. Global projects will be organized in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Several of the activities are being held with long-time nonprofit partners, including Fondazione Sodalitas, the Henry Viscardi School, IMS Entreprendre pour la Cité, Learning to Work, PENCIL, Robert Moses State Park, and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.

“We are grateful to partner with CA Technologies, whose employees are donating their time to promote environmental awareness,” said Joe Leissle, RMSP Supervisor & Volunteer Coordinator, from Robert Moses State Park. “This year, CA employees will help with the installation of erosion-control fencing, the pulling and replanting of dune grass, and beachfront and dune cleanup.”

“We are proud to continue our partnership with CA Technologies, as we work together to invest in the next generation of STEM leaders,” said Gregg Betheil, President, PENCIL. “Through the CA Together in Action program, volunteers will focus on the development of students’ 21st century skills around STEM subjects which will ultimately benefit them in the future.”

In Europe this month, CA employees in Italy, Spain, France and Germany will get involved in Deploy Your Talents, a program driven by CSR Europe. Deploy Your Talents enables partnerships between schools and businesses to raise awareness among school students of the value of STEM subjects, and to help overcome gender stereotyping.

"CA Technologies has a deep bench of talent, skills and experience to leverage in addressing the STEM skills crisis. Deploy your Talents forms part of Create Tomorrow, a Europe-wide program designed to engage our workforce in programmes to help address the STEM skills gap and encourage more women to enter STEM-related careers,” said Marco Comastri, president and general manager EMEA, CA Technologies.

“The key to Europe’s future economic success and competitiveness is a highly skilled workforce, especially in the areas related to STEM education. The objective of Deploy Your Talents is to help close the gap between the need of new talents in STEM studies and jobs and the interest of young people in these areas. Along with its network of 10,000 companies, CSR Europe is working to find tools and solutions to tackle the challenges of the skills and jobs shortage. This includes the Deploy your Talents project, which falls under the work of the European Pact for Youth, a mutual engagement between business and the European Commission,” said Stefan Crets, Executive Director, CSR Europe.

Since the CA Together in Action initiative launched in 2005, more than 55,000 employee volunteer hours have been contributed and more than 1,100 projects have been completed. CA employees are encouraged to use up to three workdays annually to volunteer for company-sponsored activities of their choice. In addition, each fiscal year CA matches employees’ personal charitable contributions up to $5,000.