REPORT-OUT CONTEST Winner Submitted By Nina Rosskopf

In 2012, Brady continued its partnership with the Strahlemann Foundation, an organization that works to build bridges between school and businesses for young people who would not be able to find the path on their own. Brady volunteers developed a “trade show booth” that is displayed at a local high school. It describes Brady’s apprenticeship program and encourages young people to learn more about a wide range of opportunities. Other activities, like plant tours, are organized by Brady volunteers to further expose students to the Brady organization.

The Brady Foundation has a presence in many areas around the world where Brady operates. One example of this is the Brady China Foundation, which was established in 2009. In 2012, the Brady China Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to the Shanshui Conservation Center, a non-profit organization based at Peking University focused on environmental issues in China. Brady's grant supported a watershed management and pollution control program in the Sanjiangyuan area in rural Northwest China. The program offers support to provide clean water to communities in this area through Zhagu River clean-up, development of modern waste management facilities, and creation of water conservation stations. The project is expected to be completed by June 2013 and will ultimately provide clean water, which is critical for the sustainability of the local communities and the region as a whole.

Brady Emedco site near Buffalo, NY  has been particularly enthusiastic in launching a formal Employee Volunteer program in 2012. Nearly one-fourth of the 150 employees at the site sit on the committee that plans their volunteer activities.Over the past year, they’ve successfully conducted blood drives, food drives, pet food drives and holiday gift donation campaigns. Emedco also runs a scholarship program modeled after Brady’s Academic All-Stars program, for high school seniors in the Greater Buffalo area. Called Signs of Excellence, the program awarded $30,000 in scholarships in 2012.
In 2012, the Buffalo site also partnered with Erie-Niagara Tobacco Free Coalitio, and New York State to place “no smoking” signs in New York state public parks. Emedco donated 1,000 signs and Roswell Park Cancer Institute, a world renowned cancer treatment hospital, purchased and donated an additional 1,000 signs to match Emedco’s donations, bringing the total number of signs to 2,000.

In 2012, the WLA influenced even more women to create and drive their own professional development plans through 14 successful professional and personal development events; cross-functional, cross-level and cross-gender networking opportunities resulting in relationships, awareness and support that did not exist previously; a successful professional mentoring program that can be used as a model for an organization-wide mentoring platform in the future; a strategic community partnerships with Girl Scouts and Junior Achievement to work to develop leadership skills in young females, as well as greater exposure to STEM related careers that will be crucial for Brady's future success; driving more aggressive recruitment efforts resulting in an increase in the number of women on external slates as candidates for open positions; created leadership opportunities for females outside of their traditional roles to showcase their leadership capabilities and extend their reach and influence within the organization; and increasing awareness of the different ways men and women may interact within an organization and how that can impact their rates of success. The group also developed a leadership structure, charter, guidelines, brand and logo with thoughtful intention of building for growth and sustainability.