BMW Group honours outstanding voluntary commitment of employees

“BMW Group Recognition for the Social Engagement of Our Associates” – Awards ceremony held at the BMW Museum.

Munich.  With the “BMW Group Recognition for the Social Engagement of Our Associates” the BMW Group honoured outstanding voluntary commitment of employees. The accolade has now been presented for the second time to employees around the world working for BMW AG or its subsidiaries.

Running under the patronage of Board Member for HR Milagros Caiña-Andree, these awards are the BMW Group’s way of expressing its recognition for the outstanding voluntary commitments of its staff and their important contributions to society. A further Special Award from the Doppelfeld Foundation was on offer to committed young people, and each winning project also obtained prize money of €5,000.

Four employees from Germany and elsewhere were delighted to see their outstanding commitment to society acknowledged with an award presented at a special ceremony. Speeches were held by former Board Member for Finance and BMW AG Works Council Chairman Volker Doppelfeld, current Works Council Chairman Manfred Schoch, Oliver Zipse (responsible for corporate planning and product strategy) and Dr Nicole Haft-Zboril (responsible for strategy, project, value stream and complexity management).

Milagros Caiña-Andree, who also chaired the awards jury, was full of praise for the voluntary efforts of these associates: “Each and every one of the projects submitted is of huge benefit to society. They show just how varied a commitment to society can be and how important diversity is, not just for us as a company but for society as a whole.”

The awards
The projects were selected by a 12-strong jury consisting of the four speakers along with Works Council members, main department heads from within the company, and Oda Heister, managing director of Aschoka Deutschland.

BMW trainee Florian Valbert is the co-founder and coach of the Inclusion football team in the Bavarian village of Oberpframmern. Since 2010 his team has been offering disabled and underprivileged children the opportunity to train alongside other young players and take part in tournaments. In doing so, it supports the integration of children with disabilities. Highly committed, Florian Valbert has even set up a special training programme to meet the specific needs of his players. He would now like to work with other trainers to establish further Inclusion football teams.

Dr Hamdi Louati is the Chairman of Haus International Landshut, which has been working for the last 35 years to promote equal opportunities for children and young people from foreign backgrounds. Of Tunisian origin himself, he knows the difficulties of gaining a foothold in a new country and is aware of what causes problems. Haus International Landshut takes care of 200 refugees, including some 70 children. As well as offering language courses, it sets up festivals to promote better intercultural understanding. In 2012 it opened a literacy training centre.

With its “Recyclables Collectors in Cairo” project, the non-profit organisation “Afrika Freundeskreis e.V.” has been supporting the collection of domestic waste that would otherwise end up on the streets or potentially in illegal desert landfills. Working with her group since 1996, Daniela Feuchtmayr has been supporting recycling operations in a waste-picker settlement in the Greater Cairo area. As well as benefiting the health of local residents, the project is bringing lasting improvement to the ecological and financial well-being of people in Cairo.

The Doppelfeld Foundation Special Award went to 27-year-old Alexis de Chabot, from France. Since 2009 he has been an active member of “A Bras Ouverts”. Over the last 27 years this non-profit organisation has enabled more than 600 children with disabilities to spend weekends and holiday weeks away from their special clinics. De Chabot has already been responsible for organising 30 weekend and holiday trips for up to 20 disabled children each. His efforts allow them to enjoy a piece of normality and help them integrate into society.

The Doppelfeld Foundation

The Doppelfeld Foundation was established by Volker Doppelfeld and his wife Vera. After 17 years as Board Member for Finance with BMW AG, Volker Doppelfeld joined the Works Council in 1998, where he was Chairman from 1999 to 2004. Even during his time with the BMW Group, showing commitment to society was a matter particularly close to his heart.

Social responsibility at the BMW Group

A global commitment to society has been integral to the BMW Group’s corporate culture for decades and is fundamental to its Sustainability Strategy. Work in this area focuses on topics that are relevant to the company itself, such as efficient use of resources, intercultural innovation (social inclusion) and neighbourhood help.