Ten IKEA U.S. Co-workers Return From IWitness Ambassador Trips Here and Abroad
(Conshohocken, PA – June 13, 2016) – IKEA U.S. announced today that ten IKEA U.S. co-workers have returned from their IWitness Ambassador trips; five went to Cambodia to visit and experience the IKEA Foundation funded ‘Soft Toys for Education’ programs managed by Save the Children and five others visited the IKEA Group Wind Farm in Cameron County, Texas.
The Cambodia trip was a meaningful experience for co-workers to learn more about the IKEA Foundation’s ‘Soft Toys for Education’ campaign. Since 2003, this program has contributed $97.7 million (€88 million) to Save the Children and UNICEF, helping to increase school attendance for some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable children. Funds have also helped train teachers, provide educational materials and improve child‑protection systems in schools and communities.
The trip to Cameron County, Texas was arranged to view the Cameron wind farm. For background, in November 2015, The IKEA Group purchased its second wind farm in the United States from Apex Clean Energy: a 165-megawatt wind farm in Cameron County, Texas. This represents the single largest renewable energy investment made by the IKEA Group globally to date. The wind farm will contribute significantly to the IKEA Group 2020 goal of producing as much renewable energy as the total energy the company consumes globally. The Cameron wind farm is now fully operational.
The IKEA IWitness Ambassador Program supports understanding how improving opportunities for children and their families has great value. Each year, IKEA U.S. co-workers travel around the world to witness first-hand what a difference IKEA support makes in the lives of children and refugees. On a national level, IKEA co-workers experience IKEA U.S. environmental programs. These ‘IWitness Ambassador’ co-workers are selected based on their video and personal applications that include their experience and interest in social and environmental programs.
In 2016, 14 IKEA U.S. co-workers have participated in three different IWitness trips: four co-workers have traveled to rural West Virginia to visit Save the Children literacy programs funded by IKEA U.S.; five co-workers traveled to Cambodia to visit educational programs funded by the IKEA Foundation Soft Toys for Education program; and five co-workers traveled to rural Cameron County, Texas to see the most recent IKEA U.S. wind farm purchase.
The IWitness program is just one of many reasons why IKEA is a great place to work. IKEA U.S. was recently listed on the 2016 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® List, which highlighted the company’s strong culture and values of humbleness, willpower, simplicity, and togetherness and enthusiasm.
To see the co-workers’ experiences, click here: https://www.instagram.com/ikeausajourneys/
For further information, please contact: Mona Astra Liss, IKEA US PR Director, Mona.Liss@IKEA.com, 610.834.0180, ext. 5852
About IKEA Group
The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. There are currently 328 IKEA Group stores in 28 countries. Additionally, there are 40 IKEA stores run by franchises. There are 41 IKEA stores in the U.S. In FY 15, IKEA Group had 771 million visitors to the stores and 1.9 billion visitors to IKEA.com. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information, please visit www.IKEA.com, facebook.com/IKEAUSA, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA, http://pinterest.com/IKEAUSA/, www.youtube.com/IKEAUSA, www.theshare-space.com, www.theshare-space.com/en/Blog
About IKEA Foundation
The IKEA Foundation aims to improve opportunities for children and youth in some of the world’s poorest communities by funding holistic, long-term programs that can create substantial, lasting change. The IKEA Foundation works with strong strategic partners applying innovative approaches to achieve large-scale results in four fundamental areas of a child’s life: a place to call home; a healthy start in life; a quality education; and sustainable family income. Currently-funded programs benefit an estimated 100 million children. Learn more at www.ikeafoundation.org and www.facebook/IKEAfoundation
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