“Building a Better Tomorrow”: Partnering NGOs, JLL raises environmental awareness among youth and communities

SHANGHAI, 9 January 2020 – JLL, the world’s leading real estate services firm (NYSE: JLL), formed a partnership with Junior Achievement (JA), one of the world’s largest youth-serving nonprofit organizations in 2018. Under the partnership, JLL provides funding to JA China, helping it to deliver a program customized for primary school students in China. Titled “New sustainable city”, the program aims to help students understand the significance of sustainable development of cities.

For the program, JLL expanded the enrollment in 2019, to include more staff members as volunteers and benefit more students. Last year, 145 JLL employees in China became volunteers after attending JA’s training. These volunteers held classes on the said theme for more than 660 primary school students in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. 

JA-designed “New sustainable city” program aims to teach these students the concept of sustainable development from an economic perspective. JLL volunteers conducted two classes on “Building a city” and “Ecological footprint”, in four cities. They used easy course modules and interactive ways of teaching to help students understand a city’s functional zones and citizens’ responsibilities. The program also encourages students to learn the importance of making small efforts toward a sustainable way of life. 

“JA China and JLL have joined hands for the second year with up to 145 JLL enthusiastic employees participating in volunteering activities, which have received positive feedback from schools,” said Judy Wu, Senior Director of Project Development and Fundraising Cooperation for JA China. “Through innovative educational programs and teamwork activities, children can learn about sustainable development and gain insight into cities in which they live! We too look forward to continuing to grow the youth of China along with JLL and more partners.”

Tammy Hu, Head of Marketing for JLL Greater China, said: “JLL is passionate about helping more youth learn about the social ecosystem, the value of the resources, and the importance of protecting the environment. Leveraging JA’s platform and JLL’s own expertise, we want to inspire and prepare the future generation to succeed in the global economy by building the right character and skills.”

In October-November 2019, JLL also partnered with WWF to host the screening sessions of "Our Planet: Our Business" film in 15 JLL offices across China. Edited by Netflix's famous documentary, Our Planet, the film illustrates the impact of climate change on the future development of individuals and businesses. More than 450 JLL employees watched the film and many of them were actively involved in post-movie discussions on how individuals and businesses could better practice environmental protection.

“As an important part of JLL's global strategy, the 'Building a Better Tomorrow' sustainability initiative has a high degree of recognition within the company. From our leadership teams to employees of various cities and business lines, everyone at all levels of expertise took active participation in contributing to our communities and cities in a variety of public activities. We firmly believe that a business is creating true value only if it contributes to the well-being of mankind in a broad sense.” Hu said.

JLL’s 10th annual Global Sustainability Report reflects its comprehensive approach to sustainability. JLL has set a focus on achieving its ambitious 2020 sustainability targets defined within the “Building a Better Tomorrow” program. The achievements highlighted in the report include:

• Helped clients achieve a record 254 sustainable building certifications, covering over 98 million square feet of floor space
• 40% of JLL’s Board of Directors are female, and the company set a target to increase the gender balance of its leadership population in the eight largest countries by 2021
• 39% of JLL’s own offices, larger than 10,000 square feet, had a sustainability certification – a good base for meeting its target of 100% certification by 2030
• JLL staff donated a record amount of their working time – 12,245 days in total – to charitable causes in their communities. The company is well on its way to meeting its 15,000-day-per-year target by 2020

Established in 1919, JA Worldwide is one of the largest youth-serving NGOs with over 100 member countries reaching 10 million students annually. Founded in 1993, JA China partners with the business and education sectors to cultivate students about work readiness, principled entrepreneurship, and financial literacy, preparing them for success in the global economy.