Xylem Inc., the water technology company headquartered in White Plains and ITT Corp. spinoff business, this month was recognized by an international corporate philanthropy group for its social investment program to provide and protect clean, safe water and sanitation systems in communities worldwide.
At an annual corporate philanthropy summit in New York City, Xylem received the President”™s Award for Excellence from the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, a group of more than 180 business CEOs and chairpersons whose mission is to raise the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. Committee members represent companies that account for more than 40 percent of reported corporate giving in the U.S
The president”™s award is given to a company with annual revenues of $20 billion or less. An external committee of judges based their decision on evidence of strong CEO leadership, commitment to innovation, dedication to measurement and cultivation of strategic partnerships, according to a Xylem spokesman.
“To have achieved this recognition in our first year as an independent company is a true accomplishment and a testament to our employees everywhere who take very seriously our tagline ”“ ”˜Let”™s solve water,”™” Xylem President and CEO Gretchen McClain said in the company”™s award announcement. “These three words capture what we aim to do through our products, our applications solutions, our research and development and our initiatives in sustainability and corporate social responsibility.”
Launched in 2008 by ITT as Watermark, the philanthropic program initially pledged $4 million over three years to three nonprofit partners in India and China ”“ Water for People, China Women”™s Development Foundation and Mercy Corps. The company in that time surpassed its goal to reach 500,000 people with its clean-water efforts.
In 2010, the ITT program committed to reaching an additional 1 million people by 2013 through school and community water projects, disaster risk reduction for water supplies and disaster relief efforts. In 2011, after ITT”™s spinoff of its water businesses, the newly formed Xylem said it would fulfill ITT”™s commitment to the Watermark program and pledged $10.5 million over three years.
With its nonprofit partners, Xylem has completed school projects in Honduras and Guatemala and currently manages community water projects in India, China and Peru. Its water-related disaster risk reduction programs operate in Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nepal, China and Tajikistan. Xylem Watermark also has provided emergency relief in countries that include Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Niger, Liberia, Libya, Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Japan.
Later this year, Xylem plans to expand its strategic global partnerships to reach what company officials described as some of the world”™s most vulnerable communities in South America and Asia. Xylem will provide funding and employee volunteer hours to Fundacion AVINA and Planet Water Foundation to provide access to clean water to more than 40,000 people in Brazil, China, India and the Philippines.
In addition to its work with partners in the field, Xylem Watermark sponsors the annual Stockholm Junior Water Prize, an international award that recognizes the most innovative water projects of young student scientists.
According to Xylem researchers, 884 million people worldwide lack access to safe water supplies and about 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. Diseases associated with unclean water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene account for 50 percent of hospitalizations worldwide.
The world”™s largest provider of pumps and water treatment and transport equipment, Xylem Inc. in 2011 reported revenue of $3.8 billion. The publicly traded company has 12,500 employees, 100 of whom are based at its 1133 Westchester Ave. headquarters.
