Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream, which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone.
– John F Kennedy
Deutsche Bank AG is a corporation with global interests and global ties, which considers social engagement a responsibility, particularly in communities in which we are present. With more than 10,000 employees in New York alone, we have many strong ties with the USA and staff on both sides have therefore learned to communicate and work with each other across both the Atlantic and the gap in understanding of the opposing culture. Deutsche Bank co-founded the Transatlantic Outreach Program with exactly this in mind. The program supports social studies teachers in the teaching of German culture and economy as a whole through publications, workshops and the chance to travel to Germany itself. We consider the promotion of understanding and tolerance essential to the future of business relations, as well as the many other relations between our two countries, be they social, political, economical, or simply as friends. As may be seen from our diverse social initiatives, we believe that sharing knowledge through education and learning is an effective way of promoting tolerance and erasing prejudice.
Our commitment to these principles goes beyond the Transatlantic Outreach Program to many other initiatives. The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation supports social integration, for example through the Deutsche Bank Community Development Group, which uses a strategic program of loans, investments and philanthropic grants to assist distressed communities. The Supportive Housing Acquisition and Rehabilitation Effort (SHARE) provides multi-year resources to organizations in the process of locating and securing real estate that can be developed as permanent housing for the homeless with special needs. The Deutsche Bank also supports the education and learning of those further afield, such as our direct support of the South African Wildlife College, which provides training and jobs for locals to become members of staff of the Peace Parks set up by the Peace Parks Foundation. The role of the Peace Parks is to ensure the preservation of the natural resources in Africa, in particular nature, wildlife and intact environment. The courses on offer range from park rangers to hotel staff and all those in between, who are vital to the upkeep of the Peace Parks. In Germany itself, the Deutsche Bank Alfred Herrhausen Foundation – Helping others to Help Themselves has long been running education and learning programs, one of which is called Youth-School-Industry. This project encourages young people to think actively about economic issues, to tackle them directly and to read newspapers regularly. At the same time it gives them a head-start for working life by fostering crucial abilities and qualifications. These examples are merely a taste of Deutsche Bank’s wide-ranging and diverse commitment to society. More information about all of our initiatives of the Deutsche Bank, can be found by logging on to our web site (see link below).
