3 ways Bloomberg Philanthropy and Engagement changed the world in 2018

Our philanthropic programs at Bloomberg allow employees to develop their skills and expertise by applying them to help local nonprofits, small businesses, and students around the world. Together, we invested our time, resources and skills to connect our business with the local communities where we live and work, to create a sustainable impact that we can continue to grow throughout the year.

Looking back on 2018, we celebrate three standout Bloomberg Philanthropy and Engagement initiatives that worked to harness innovation and improve lives around the world.

Partnerships for good

In 2018, we cohosted the second graduation ceremony of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) program in Baltimore — the program’s first-ever co-investment between Bloomberg Philanthropies, Goldman Sachs and the Goldman Sachs Foundation, to help create jobs and stimulate economic growth. The program, launched in 2017, has now graduated more than 125 small business owners in Baltimore through four education classes. Bloomberg also cohosted the fifth Annual Coaching Session at Bloomberg’s Global Headquarters in New York, and the second annual coaching day in London, where employees used their professional expertise to provide guidance on topics such as financial modeling and development strategies for small businesses. Since its inception, this one-day coaching session has provided U.S. and U.K. small businesses more than 3,400 cumulative hours of pro bono services from more than 300 volunteers.

“I have not stopped talking about how incredible my time was with my dedicated team at Bloomberg. I feel so honored and privileged to have had some of the greatest business minds diving into my small business. In just one day, my Bloomberg team created the framework that will allow my company to truly accelerate our growth smartly and quickly. That same framework may have taken years without their guidance and expertise.”

Gwen Jimmere CEO and Founder, Naturalicious Brooklyn

Fortune Fellowship at Bloomberg

2018 saw the expansion of our pilot career and workplace readiness program with the Fortune Society, establishing a fellowship for justice-involved individuals returning to the workforce to achieve sustainable, full-time employment. 19 Bloomberg Fortune Fellows graduated from the program this year after having worked in one of seven units within Bloomberg. Since the launch of the program, 29 of 31 participants have completed the program (94 percent) and 86 percent of graduates are employed full time.

“My fellowship at Bloomberg allowed me to see what I was really capable of. I took the time to watch and learn from managers, received advice from fellow colleagues, and had a great mentor and role model in Alyssa Lewis Matabeek. Alyssa is a sales manager who has a unique perspective, so even after my fellowship ended, I was able to consult her for advice on interviewing and she helped me strategize next steps. The program had a profound impact on my life, giving me a new way to approach situations both in a professional setting and at home.”

Clyde Meertens, 2018 Fortune Fellow at Bloomberg New York

Financial journalism training

With the aim of advancing opportunities for students and journalists in the fields of finance and business, Bloomberg supports a wide range of Financial Journalism Training Programs centered on reporting on financial markets and global economies. The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa (BMIA), the largest of these programs, is a pan-African program designed to strengthen media capacity and improve access to information on the continent. With the success of the financial journalism training program in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, in 2018 BMIA sought new partnerships with universities in Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. Bloomberg News journalists around the world support these programs, from developing and delivering course materials, to conducting Bloomberg Terminal training, or providing mentoring to interns in our global news bureaus.

“Participating in BMIA’s Financial Journalism Training helped me create new content and present the content in a different way than I would usually do with colleagues in the company.”

Cherian Thomas, Training Editor, Bloomberg News

Want to learn more? Explore Best of Bloomberg: A Year in Review

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