Barclays Citizenship Awards 2015 Winners Announced
This year’s Citizenship Awards winners were announced at the Barclays 325th Anniversary Citizenship Awards ceremony in London last night. The evening marked the culmination of months of judging to shortlist 900 nominations from 31 countries to the final winners.
We are proud of our people and the exceptional contributions they make which bring to life our Citizenship ambitions. Congratulations to all our winners.
The way we do business:
Winner – Path to Prime Team, US
Highly commended – SEC Be Green Project, Portugal and Spain
Contributing to growth:
Winner – Linkage Banking Team, Uganda
Highly commended - Women in Leadership and Return on Disability Team, US and UK
Supporting our communities:
Winner – Shawn PM Golhar, US
Highly commended – Overcoming Challenges Team, UK
Special Recognition Award:
Overcoming Challenges Team, UK
The People’s Vote winner:
Pressley Ridge, Europe
Citizenship Awards winners
Read the winner’s stories:
Winner, The way we do business: Path to Prime Team, Barclaycard US
The team developed ‘Path to Prime’, an innovative product helping customers with poor credit histories earn their way to a prime credit status, enabling them to improve their credit scores as they make payments on time. Barclaycard colleagues created the concept, completed customer research and designed what the product would look like. The scope of the solution is far-reaching – tapping into the under-served market could sustain 200-300,000 accounts annually and customers’ APRs could be lowered by as much 10% as they make timely payments. Importantly, the product advocates for customers who are working to improve their credit health, helping them reach their personal goals and stabilise their financial futures.
Watch the video to find out more about the Path to Prime Team (new window)Path to Prime Team video
Winner, Contributing to growth: Linkage Banking Team, Uganda
Working with the Grameen Foundation, the team identified a unique way to scale up the financial inclusion of Savings Groups in rural Uganda, using mobile technology. Securing funding from the Barclays Social Innovation Facility, two mobile apps ‘Ledger Link’ and ‘Ekeys’ were launched to help informal savings groups in Uganda gain better access to formal financial services. To date, the project has helped link 500 savings groups to Barclays branches, providing more than 14,000 individuals with access to financial services. These innovations are also contributing to the success of Barclays’ Banking on Change programme, which aims to link 5,000 savings groups in five countries to formal financial services.
Watch the video to find out more about the Linkage Banking Team (new window)Linkage Banking TeamFind out more about Barclays’ Banking on Change programmeBarclays’ Banking on Change programme
Winner, Supporting our communities: Shawn PM Golhar, Investment Bank, US
Shawn co-founded America Needs You (ANY), a mentoring and professional development not-for-profit organisation, providing intensive skills training to more than 500 low-income, first-generation college students. The programme has achieved great results with 97% of students graduating or on-track to graduate within six years, versus 11% nationally for first-generation US college students. 94% completed internships in 2014. Equally as important, 90% of the alumni are employed or enrolled into graduate school within six months of graduating, with 92% working in their industry of choice.
Watch the video to find out more about Shawn PM Golhar (new window)Shawn PM Golhar
Special Recognition Award: Overcoming Challenges Team, Operations and Technology, UK
The team delivered overcoming challenges and interview skills workshops to support young people in prison during the pre-release process, ultimately helping them become more productive members of their communities. The team, supported by Manchester College and HMPYOI Hindley, managed 30 events over a year, training 50 colleagues to support their delivery. Together, they have helped nearly 100 young people leaving prison.
Highly commended, The way we do business: SEC Be Green Project, Barclaycard, Portugal and Spain
In 2014, Barclaycard Spain followed the success of the 2008 ‘Be Green’ campaign in Portugal, to encourage customers to sign up for e-statements. Since the project began, 241,000 customers have gone paperless. These efforts are helping make a real difference to the way we do business – making smart changes that benefit customers whilst also delivering a positive social impact.
Watch the video to find out more about the SEC Be Green Project (new window)SEC Be Green Project
Highly commended, Contributing to growth: Women in Leadership and Return on Disability Team, US and UK
The team pioneered the development of diversity-focused investment products with the intent of catalysing social change through the public markets. Very few channels exist for clients looking to make investments in gender and disability-related products, helping to establish Barclays as a leader in diversity-focused investment products. The products are expected to scale over the coming years as investors are increasingly looking for ways to invest in socially-responsible themes.
Highly commended, Supporting our communities: Overcoming Challenges Team, Operations and Technology, UK
The team delivered overcoming challenges and interview skills workshops to support young people in prison during the pre-release process, ultimately helping them become more productive members of their communities. The team, supported by Manchester College and HMPYOI Hindley, managed 30 events over a year, training 50 colleagues to support their delivery. Together, they have helped nearly 100 young people leaving prison.
The People’s Vote
This year, a special category was added to the Citizenship Awards to commemorate Barclays’ 325th anniversary. A total of £325,000 is being donated to projects nominated by colleagues, which help young people achieve their ambitions. The response we had was incredible, with 537 nominations received from employees in 29 countries. Five projects were selected to represent each of
Barclays’ regions: Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the UK. Each project has already won £45,000.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the vote. The winner was announced last night and will receive an extraordinary £100,000 to help more young people achieve their ambitions.
People’s Vote winner: Pressley Ridge, Associação de Solidariedade Social
Nominated by Francisca Macedo, Barclaycard, Portugal
The organisation supports ‘Bread with History’, a social enterprise with a clear goal – to create jobs and reduce school drop-outs by training young people on how to run a business. Pressley Ridge is uniquely placed to identify and help young people, through its operations as a bakery with a youth club. In an area of Lisbon that has high levels of poverty and limited access to transport, this enterprise will be providing cheap food in a neighbourhood where few alternatives exist.
The £145,000 donation will accelerate the creation of a self-sustaining business and help young people to develop bakery skills and learn how to keep the business running. Barclays colleagues will be providing holistic support by mentoring the young people, coaching them to improve their financial and employability skills and providing business development training to capacity-build the organisation.
Watch the video to find out more about Pressley Ridge (new window)
