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Steelcase
901 44th Street SE
Hero Story
At Steelcase, our purpose is to help people do their best work by creating places that work better. Steelcase is a global design and thought leader in the world of work. Along with our expansive community of brands, we design and manufacture innovative furnishings and solutions to help people do their best work in the many places where work happens.
As a company, we care deeply about positively impacting our shared world, so for over a century, our business has been a force for good. Mindful of the needs of people and the planet, we design with intention. Committed to equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all, we build community. Steadfast to ethics and core values, we partner with integrity.
There’s always more to do, but we believe better is possible as we promise to help the world work better.
With our Better Futures Community, we’re asking ourselves, what is better? We believe that better can be a future of work that is equitable, accessible, and sustainable, though we understand that the starting point for what is “good” and what is “better” isn’t the same for everyone. So, how do we make better possible in the places where we live and work throughout the world?
To advance this exploration, we created The Better Futures Community, a community of changemakers exploring bold new approaches to equity, education and the environment.
The Better Futures Community is deserving of the Governors Service Award because of its transformative approach to the role business plays in society and the power of its global multi-sector network. The Better Futures Community is not separate from the Steelcase business. It’s part of the business.
Within the Better Futures Community, we’ve designed three pathways for our multi-sector community to engage:
The Better Futures Lab brings together multi-sector stakeholders: employees, clients, nonprofits, government, educational institutions, and business for global keynotes, partner panel discussions, regional workshops, and social impact design challenges on topics of equity, education, the environment, and ESG. The Lab creates a global community of shared learning and shared practice.
An example of how we are bringing together thought-leaders to move the needle on impact is with our Better Futures Lab Speaker Series: most recently, Jamon Alexander, president and CEO of WMCAT in Grand Rapids, and Sophie Jonke, Local Head of ReDI Schoolf of Digital Integraiton in Munich, Germany, discussed how they’re enabling the next generation to participate in a future economy. This partner panel was moderated by the Social Innovation team at Steelcase.
The Better Futures Fund invests in promising ideas by providing capital, consulting, employee time, furniture, and more to create lasting, positive impact for community nonprofit partner organizations. With the Better Futures Fund we approach traditional philanthropy through a new business innovation lens, understanding that impact is collaborative and collective, and solutions change over time. Programmatically, we leverage the entire Steelcase value stream when building transformative—not transactional—relationships with our partners.
One example of how we’re engaging in collaborative partnership through the Better Futures Fund is “Steelcase Scholars,” a 6-month long career exploration program co-designed by Univesrity Prep Academy (UPrep) Grand Rapids and Steelcase, for the entire 11th grade class (64 students). Students explored 9 departments at Steelcase through 15 workshop sessions. 50 Steelcase employees from around the globe locations were onboarded to become 1:1 volunteer mentors for the duration of the program. The program combines teacher-led preparation and learning activities, career exposure and business simulation, and group mentoring. This work is critical to shaping equitable talent pipelines for the future workforce.
In our 2023 fiscal year, Steelcase invested $2,949,184 into our communities around the world. This was activated through our Social Innovation partnerships, a United Way Employee Giving campaign, and match funding from Steelcase Foundation. So far in fiscal year, 2024, we have invested $403,188 in cash and in-kind support in community partnerships worldwide.
Steelcase Changemakers
At the heart of our work is people, and we've created a culture where changemaking and community engagement is encouraged and celebrated.
Our volunteerism programs provide Steelcase employees with opportunities to help communities grow and prosper and establish a foundation for lasting change.
Whether lending a helping hand to the local community or scaling up global social impact, we recognize that donating time and talent are valuable assets that are vital to making the world we share a place where everyone can thrive.
At Steelcase, we’ve set the bold goal to contribute 100,000 volunteer hours in the communities where we live and work from 2020-2030. We are on track to meet this goal with 40,315 hours contributed from 2020-2023
Steelcase
901 44th Street SE
Hero Story
At Steelcase, our purpose is to help people do their best work by creating places that work better. Steelcase is a global design and thought leader in the world of work. Along with our expansive community of brands, we design and manufacture innovative furnishings and solutions to help people do their best work in the many places where work happens.
As a company, we care deeply about positively impacting our shared world, so for over a century, our business has been a force for good. Mindful of the needs of people and the planet, we design with intention. Committed to equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all, we build community. Steadfast to ethics and core values, we partner with integrity.
There’s always more to do, but we believe better is possible as we promise to help the world work better.
With our Better Futures Community, we’re asking ourselves, what is better? We believe that better can be a future of work that is equitable, accessible, and sustainable, though we understand that the starting point for what is “good” and what is “better” isn’t the same for everyone. So, how do we make better possible in the places where we live and work throughout the world?
To advance this exploration, we created The Better Futures Community, a community of changemakers exploring bold new approaches to equity, education and the environment.
The Better Futures Community is deserving of the Governors Service Award because of its transformative approach to the role business plays in society and the power of its global multi-sector network. The Better Futures Community is not separate from the Steelcase business. It’s part of the business.
Within the Better Futures Community, we’ve designed three pathways for our multi-sector community to engage:
The Better Futures Lab brings together multi-sector stakeholders: employees, clients, nonprofits, government, educational institutions, and business for global keynotes, partner panel discussions, regional workshops, and social impact design challenges on topics of equity, education, the environment, and ESG. The Lab creates a global community of shared learning and shared practice.
An example of how we are bringing together thought-leaders to move the needle on impact is with our Better Futures Lab Speaker Series: most recently, Jamon Alexander, president and CEO of WMCAT in Grand Rapids, and Sophie Jonke, Local Head of ReDI Schoolf of Digital Integraiton in Munich, Germany, discussed how they’re enabling the next generation to participate in a future economy. This partner panel was moderated by the Social Innovation team at Steelcase.
The Better Futures Fund invests in promising ideas by providing capital, consulting, employee time, furniture, and more to create lasting, positive impact for community nonprofit partner organizations. With the Better Futures Fund we approach traditional philanthropy through a new business innovation lens, understanding that impact is collaborative and collective, and solutions change over time. Programmatically, we leverage the entire Steelcase value stream when building transformative—not transactional—relationships with our partners.
One example of how we’re engaging in collaborative partnership through the Better Futures Fund is “Steelcase Scholars,” a 6-month long career exploration program co-designed by Univesrity Prep Academy (UPrep) Grand Rapids and Steelcase, for the entire 11th grade class (64 students). Students explored 9 departments at Steelcase through 15 workshop sessions. 50 Steelcase employees from around the globe locations were onboarded to become 1:1 volunteer mentors for the duration of the program. The program combines teacher-led preparation and learning activities, career exposure and business simulation, and group mentoring. This work is critical to shaping equitable talent pipelines for the future workforce.
In our 2023 fiscal year, Steelcase invested $2,949,184 into our communities around the world. This was activated through our Social Innovation partnerships, a United Way Employee Giving campaign, and match funding from Steelcase Foundation. So far in fiscal year, 2024, we have invested $403,188 in cash and in-kind support in community partnerships worldwide.
Steelcase Changemakers
At the heart of our work is people, and we've created a culture where changemaking and community engagement is encouraged and celebrated.
Our volunteerism programs provide Steelcase employees with opportunities to help communities grow and prosper and establish a foundation for lasting change.
Whether lending a helping hand to the local community or scaling up global social impact, we recognize that donating time and talent are valuable assets that are vital to making the world we share a place where everyone can thrive.
At Steelcase, we’ve set the bold goal to contribute 100,000 volunteer hours in the communities where we live and work from 2020-2030. We are on track to meet this goal with 40,315 hours contributed from 2020-2023