At Ultragenyx, we believe we can have a greater impact together than we can as individuals – both when it comes to developing rare disease medicines and our social impact around the world. We are committed to building stronger and healthier communities where we operate and beyond.
Recently, teams from across Latin America (LatAm) illustrated two of our core values, “generosity” and “dynamism,” in a way that inspired the entire global organization. Team members from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and our LatAm headquarters in Miami came together with the goal of creating an International Day of Service, with coordinated volunteer initiatives to give back to the communities in which we live and work. After weeks of planning, coordination, and logistics, the Ultragenyx LatAm Day of Service took place in November 2022, and in each country our teams showed up for their chosen causes.
Without question, planning and executing an international volunteer effort requires being dynamic. Working and collaborating across five countries and three languages is nothing new to this team, but it is a testament to their flexibility and dedication. The cross-geography effort required a decentralized approach to planning – each country’s office chose the local causes they would support, and each had a volunteer coordinator who worked with local organizations to plan each volunteer activity.
Our LatAm team members contributed to a range of causes including building meal kits for families in need in Mexico, volunteering at a food bank in Colombia, giving blood in Brazil, removing invasive plant species from a state park in Florida, and beautifying a neighborhood school in Argentina. We had 78 percent participation in the Day of Service – more than four times the reported average for corporate volunteering across all industries in 20221.
“Working as a team with the purpose of contributing to people in conditions of food vulnerability made us feel that we can always give and share more without limits.
Getting out of our routines and spending time thinking about the well-being of others fills us with JOY!”
PATRICIA BARRERA, Ultracare Liaison, Ultragenyx Colombia
“It’s a pleasure to volunteer with my Ultragenyx Brazil team – everyone donate love, time, caring and effort to make this a very special day with many activities that make a difference for these individuals and society.
It is very rewarding for me to donate blood and play a part in saving lives. I believe everyone has a unique purpose to help others.”
LILIAN OLIVEIRA, Ultracare Liaison, Ultragenyx Brazil
Ultragenyx has built a team of mission-driven individuals who are as passionate about meeting the needs of their local communities as they are to transforming the lives of individuals living with rare disease. I’m proud of the impact our team had with our first-ever International Day of Service and I’m thrilled to see what more we can accomplish together as we continue to find new opportunities to give back generously and dynamically.
Eduardo Thompson is senior vice president and region head for Latin America at Ultragenyx.
Related Content:
- Ultragenyx’s Corporate Sustainability Journey
The company was recently named one of the industry’s top-rated companies for ESG (environmental, social and governance) reportingNovember 22, 2022
Source:
- Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose 2022 report “Giving In NumbersTM” https://cecp.co/home/resources/giving-in-numbers/ Accessed 30-Nov-2022.
