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Community Involvement
Sunoco and its employees are strong supporters of the United Way, which is one of the largest, oldest, and most respected health and human services organization in the area. The United Way searches for the most pressing and critical needs in the community, and then gathers the people and resources to meet those needs. Sunoco’s partnership with the United Way is the primary way that Sunoco and its employees make an investment in the social services throughout the Delaware Valley.
Sunoco employees serve on boards of directors for organizations such as Philadelphia Academies Inc., Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, Pan American Association of Philadelphia, Urban League of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Futures, PathWaysPa Inc., American Association of Blacks in Energy, and the Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia, Inc. The company also continues to provide financial assistance to community organizations that help women and minorities and is a member of local chapters of groups such as the National Minority Development Council and the Women's Business Enterprise Council.
Catalyst
Catalyst is a non-profit research and advisory organization that works with business and the professions to advance women. Its dual mission is to help women achieve their full professional potential and employers capitalize on women's talents and abilities. Sunoco has been a corporate sponsor of Catalyst since 1994.
The Catalyst's Annual Awards Dinner and Conference highlights companies with successful initiatives that promote women's career development and advancement. Each year, Sunoco sends a delegation of women leaders to the event to learn proven diversity strategies from recognized industry leaders.
Sunoco encourages participation not only to recognize the women in leadership but also to encourage them to delve further into best practices upon their return to the workplace.
INROADS
Sunoco's partnership with INROADS, a non-profit organization that trains and develops talented minority students for professional careers in business and industry, began in 1981 and continues to grow and develop to this day.
Since the beginning of the partnership, Sunoco has provided numerous INROADS interns the opportunity to train within several fields, including marketing, accounting, communications, human resources and engineering.
To help interns gain more from their INROADS experience with Sunoco, Sunoco expanded its program to include mentor/mentee pairings. Through continued involvement, the mentor offers the interns (mentees) support, guidance, and assistance as the intern faces new challenges in the workplace environment. In addition, the Sunoco Scholarship for Academic Excellence was established for students who maintain a minimum GPA of 3.7.
The INROADS interns, in Sunoco's program, are recruited from local colleges. They major in business, engineering, or technical disciplines, and work full-time during the summer months. They apply the knowledge they gained from their classroom experiences to real-world business situations within the organization. This two-pronged approach allows the interns to gain the confidence necessary to become potential leaders in the business community.
Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG)
Formerly known as the Philadelphia Diversity Group, the organization started out as a 12-member task force in 1999, and since has solidified into a nonprofit corporation. The group emerged in response to a survey that found that five years after pledging to increase the number of minority lawyers in Philadelphia, area law firms still had only a nominal number on staff.
Sunoco, an originating founder of the PDLG, participates in their summer diversity program, which enables talented 1st year law students to obtain jobs either at major Philadelphia-area law firms or local corporations. To participate, students from surrounding universities submit an application, which includes transcripts, application, writing samples, personal statement and references. That information coupled with the student’s maturity, judgment and integrity will be used as the criteria for student selection.
When students are selected, they are assigned interviews by a lottery process. Sunoco will interview up to three candidates and will hire at least one of the students for a summer internship. Hired students will have an opportunity for a 2nd-year interview with all participating firms and corporations. While interning for Sunoco the student will perform a variety of work assignments that will prepare them for a career in either a law firm or legal department environment.
School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Academies
In 2004, Sunoco made a commitment to the Philadelphia community by founding the Academy of Process Technology, in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Academies.
The Academy of Process Technology housed within the Edward W. Bok High School in South Philadelphia, focuses on process technology, math, computers, science, language, team building and problem-solving. To assist in delivering these objectives, in 2005 a state of the art process technology lab was opened at the Edward Bok Technical High School.
During 2006, over 100 Academy students were educated about the process technology industry, while interacting with Sunoco professionals both in the classroom and at Sunoco refineries and chemical plants. Engineering summer camps, class trips and social events augmented the student’s learnings and development.
In June 2007 the Academy of Process Technology will mark the first graduating class. We anticipate a gala graduation event showcasing students receiving job offers from partners like Philadelphia Water Department, Rohm & Haas, as well as Sunoco Chemicals & Refining & Supply.
Sunoco will also present scholarship offers to local community colleges and three $20,000 stipends ($5000 for four years) to three deserving students. (The stipend can be used for tuition, books or expenses.) This program fully demonstrates the Sunoco commitment to first class development.
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