Community Link: Community Engagement

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On this week’s Community Link, we are discussing the importance of community engagement with Brandi Davis-Handy, who is the vice president of communications at OneAmerica.

Community engagement is a significant part of the OneAmerica culture. Tell us what are the benefits you see. 

One America has been a part of this community here in Indianapolis for 140 years and throughout that time our community stewardship has been a truly a top priority of who we are as an organization and the reason is very simple. We have nearly a half million associates who call Indianapolis home, so they live here so we want to invest in this community to make it a better place for them to raise their families and also ultimately grow their careers and we focus on a number of community areas which includes community vibrancy, education, safety and there are also studies to show that the more you keep your employees engaged in the community the happier and more productive they are. 

What are some of the community programs that are important to OneAmerica and how do you get the team engaged?

There are so many activities and programs that we have been involved in throughout the years, some more notable. A lot of people are familiar with our involvement. Our strategic partnership with the United Way of Central Indiana is a really great example. The United Way has told us we’re one of the only one organizations within central Indiana right now that has taken their day of caring to a week of caring. Last year was a great example we had more than 700 associates who were donating in significant organizations throughout the community and that translated to 2,000 volunteer hours.

We also have the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon. We are on the heels of our 14th year as a title sponsor and this is a great example of not only investing from a financial standpoint but also investing the time of our people so we’re a part of this event from beginning to end, serving on the planning committee to the events that take place that week in May. Our people are a the start line waving the green flag, at the end hanging out the medals, you know it’s a part of who we are and within OneAmerica it comes from the top. Our CEO Scott Davidson truly holds these beliefs and it’s felt throughout all the layers of our organization. 

OneAmerica has begun a partnership to give minorities and underprivileged youth the opportunity for internships. Talk to us about it. 

We are really proud of the partnership that we have with is doing it’s incredible and it’s important to us as an organization. And I can tell you as an alumna I know first hand the great work that they are doing. And you know I mentioned that one of our focus areas from the community investment standpoint is workforce development and we know that through their efforts they are preparing youth with not only what happens in middle school, high school and college, and so as we look for growing the company and how do we build a more diverse workforce, we know that cld is going to be a critical partner.