Chevron
/OVERVIEW: Chevron is one of the world’s largest corporations. While not a foundation, the company’s philanthropy prioritizes education, and community health and development.
IP TAKE: Chevron's grantmaking supports the communities in which it operates. It prioritizes funding for larger programs and partners with organizations for the long term, so it’s a great funder for those looking for more than just monetary funds. However, it does not accept unsolicited proposals, making it less accessible. You can’t network through employees for funding here. It prefers a proactive grantmaking approach. It’s also a bureaucratic funder.
Given its corporate sister’s impact on the environment where it drills for oil and refines it, as well as on climate change, it remains to be seen if this funder will add funding for the environment or climate change beyond corporate sustainability measures.
PROFILE: Chevron is a multinational energy corporation, active in 180 countries. It is one of the world’s largest companies with roughly $140 billion in revenue each year. It seeks to “enable human progress in a sustainable manner to serve the world’s growing population and create a better future.” In recent years, Chevron has made a major push for a gradual transition from oil and gas to cleaner energy; however, it has not made many grants to that effect. Its grantmaking supports Education, and Community and Global Health and Development. It also makes occasional grants for disaster relief, although it does not have a dedicated program for that.
Grants for STEM Education
Inspired by the widely reported shortage of American graduates prepared for technical jobs, Chevron commits millions to Education, STEM education in particular. Chevron’s funding prioritizes new standards implementation for STEM K-12 education, professional development for instructors, and informal education that emphasizes hands-on learning. This is Chevron’s largest grantmaking area.
Chevron also funds several ongoing programs that support universities and schools at smaller levels. The University Partnership Program (UPP), for example, funds over 100 individual campuses internationally and in the U.S. Funds go toward financial aid, department and faculty funding, and lab upgrades. For some non-partners, Chevron also offers funding to “develop talent in disciplines such as engineering, earth science, finance, information technology and environmental science.” Chevron additionally offers technical training through a similar community college program.
The corporation’s grantmaking prioritizes minority involvement through its work at historically black colleges and its partnerships with minority professional associations including the GoldShirt program at the University of Colorado and the Leadership in Engineering Advancement, Diversity and Retention program at the University of California, Davis.
Ultimately, aside from the university program, corporate higher education grantmaking is fairly selective.
Grants for Public and Global Health
Chevron’s Health program primarily supports programs and organizations that improve the well-being of Chevron employees; however, Chevron does make grants to support health initiatives in communities around the world in which the company has a presence. In China, Chevron created the Walk Wise Road Safety program to address the hazards of unsafe driving and poorly maintained roads. It also supports programs that address infectious diseases around the world, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Zika, dengue fever and others.
Past grantees include the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and Baylor International Pediatric AIDS.
Grants for Housing & Homelessness, Community Development and Grants for Global Development
Chevron supports local and global development through its Economic Development program, which invests “in programs that provide support for small businesses and entrepreneurs with financial health training and soft skills training.” Chevron supports programs that improve life for people in the Permian Basin by “making roads safer, improving schools, upgrading health care, increasing affordable housing and training the next generation of workers.” It has also invested in infrastructure and social programs in Kazakhstan. In Argentina, Chevron partnered with the Other Voices Foundation, whose Entrepreneurs in Action program assists women “in the development of their cooking, sewing, reflexology, hairdressing and dry construction businesses.”
Important Grant Details:
While some corporate grantmaking programs mostly support their communities through medium-sized grants, Chevron prefers larger programs they can fund as branded partnerships. New grant seekers can explore Chevron’s Partners and Programs page to get a broader sense of what its biggest partners are doing. It does not accept unsolicited applications or proposals.
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