The Value of Public and Private Partnerships
Joe Naylor, vice president for Policy, Government and Public Affairs, and Jennifer Ganten, general manager for Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility recently discussed our strategic social investments in partnerships. The conversation coincides with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Global Development Forum held in Washington D.C., which is sponsored by Chevron. At the CSIS conference, Naylor spoke about the business case for private sector engagement in global economic development.
Why are partnerships important — for Chevron and for our communities?
Joe Naylor: Every single day, the people of Chevron are working to develop the energy that improves lives and powers the world. And partnerships — with other companies, governments, national oil companies, foundations and nonprofits — are key to the success of our endeavors.
Everywhere we work, we strive to build lasting partnerships to create prosperity now and for decades to come. Beyond contributions to our partner countries through direct business investments and payments, we contribute to local communities by making strategic investments in three core areas: health, education and economic development.
How does your sponsorship of the Global Development Forum fit with Chevron’s approach to these sorts of partnerships?
Naylor: We value our partnership with CSIS, which goes back over two decades. Since 2011, our work on development has created a new policy conversation about the vital role of the private sector in development, economic growth and prosperity. It has facilitated ongoing engagement with leading policymakers and thought leaders.
For Chevron, the Global Development Forum provides a tremendous opportunity to engage with development experts and policy leaders as we discuss current and future trends in development.
What is our business rationale for investing in health, education and economic development? And how are these investments tied to public-private partnerships?
Jennifer Ganten: As we work toward our business mission to develop the energy resources the world needs, we’re also advancing and enabling human progress. This is our purpose. As stated in The Chevron Way, “We develop the energy that improves lives and powers the world forward.” We know through experience that our business success is deeply linked to society’s progress. Health, education and economic development are our core areas of social investment because they are essential elements of human progress.
But we can’t do it alone. So, we partner with companies and organizations who have a shared passion for development in those strategic areas. This is, among other reasons, why we have close and longstanding partnerships with agencies like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with nongovernmental organizations and with the national governments and local leaders where we operate. It is a business strategy that has helped establish Chevron as partner of choice in communities around the globe.
Chevron has launched workforce development partnerships in the United States on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, as well as in countries around the world. What kinds of initiatives do you have underway and why are you investing in these areas?
Ganten: Increasing access to and support for quality education around the world are critical components of long-term societal development and economic progress. An educated and skilled workforce leads to economic growth — for our business and business partners, and for the communities where we operate.
For this reason, we’ve invested in a variety of educational programs working toward these goals. In the U.S., the Appalachia Partnership Initiative works with local partners to implement K-12 programs and workforce training in 27 counties across southwestern Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio.
The Thailand Partnership Initiative is an example of an effort to strengthen Thailand’s competitiveness and innovation by increasing the quality of science and mathematics teaching. We worked with NGOs, universities, the government and the private sector to establish 18 training hubs and promote the study of STEM.
We’re also proud to support the World Economic Forum and the Society of Petroleum Engineers on the Human Capital Development Initiative. Recently, the Republic of Kazakhstan was selected as the first country to pilot this new initiative. Our support is based on our company’s longstanding commitment to workforce development initiatives for our Kazakhstani employees, contractors and the broader community.
When the TCO joint venture was created, half of TCO employees were Kazakh citizens. Now, Kazakhstani citizens hold 86 percent of TCO positions with 76 percent of supervisors and managers being Kazakhstani. Ongoing training and development programs build local capacity and support the advancement of employees to positions of increasing responsibility.
What have you learned about the value of partnerships through our various social investments?
Naylor: Everywhere we operate, we’ve seen that our success is interconnected with the prosperity of the communities around us. Over the past 10 years, we have invested significant resources into innovative approaches to supporting our host communities.
I recently had the opportunity to see first-hand the programs underway through Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI), and its implementing partner the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND). The initiative helps to reduce the underlying and interrelated causes of poverty and conflict by focusing on economic development and peace building.
Like our other initiatives, the core to NDPI’s approach is partnership — while there, I met with private sector and civil society stakeholders who all feel vested in NDPI’s success.
Garnering such collective commitment is critical for creating the type of high impact needed in the Niger Delta.
Ultimately, through partnerships like NDPI, we realized how we work with communities is as important as what we do. Although the what may change depending on the needs of a region, the core principles of our approach remain. We have learned a great deal through these efforts and want to share those lessons to promote stronger development outcomes for communities around the world.
What are some of those specific lessons?
Ganten: One key lesson is the importance of empowering people and building institutional capacity. Building durable stability and security means empowering and enabling individuals and existing organizations to learn, grow and share best practices with others.
We’ve also learned that partnership takes time. Achieving trust and commitment only happens with intense, sustained engagement and a long-term approach.
The ultimate lesson is that partnerships are critical, starting with the community. Development only works if the community wants it to, and our program success is heightened when we partner with local organizations.
We greatly value our partners who help us achieve our goals in communities and we will continue to work with them in the future for one simple reason: partnerships are the difference between success and failure in many of our ventures, whether they be social investments or our core business, delivering the energy the world needs.
