To Our Friends And Communities
It’s my pleasure to share the latest edition of Padilla’s Report to the Community. It demonstrates the impact we make as an organization throughout our local communities and illustrates the creativity and passion we bring when we give back.
Padilla PluggedIn, our agency-wide corporate social responsibility program, supports individual volunteerism, agency pro bono work and charitable contributions. Our employee-led office volunteer activities and Volunteer of the Quarter honorees are examples of how doing good things for our communities results in good things for our own culture. And our Matching Gift program creates a multiplier effect – rewarding those who give with more giving. Our work in 2024 reflects who we are as a firm and who we are as individuals — a team of dedicated, diverse, driven professionals with the ability to make a difference not just with our clients, but with a variety of deserving nonprofits.
This year provides us with even more opportunities to further our reach and deepen our impact. We’re looking forward to continuing our culture of caring in 2025, and we hope it offers some inspiration for others to do the same.
Matt Kucharski
President, Padilla
Founded in 1894, The Virginia Home (TVH) is a 130-bed facility providing nursing, therapeutic and residential care to adults with irreversible physical disabilities. TVH is the only organization of its kind in Virginia and one of only a few in the U.S. With an emphasis on encouragement, support and fostering meaningful relationships, TVH provides residents not only a place to live but the ability to thrive.
Padilla led a story-mining session to help uncover topics used for media relations and social media as the organization prepared to share its plans for a major relocation and expansion project, coinciding with the public phase of a capital campaign. A media event announcing the new facility garnered coverage in targeted local and regional outlets, raising awareness of TVH’s mission and its future campus.
Giants Community Fund
The Giants Community Fund (GCF), the charitable arm of San Francisco’s Major League Baseball team, has touched the lives of more than 400,000 youth in the region, including Willie Mays Scholars, a scholarship program of the GCF, making college aspirations come true for Black youth in San Francisco.
In year two of our partnership, SHIFT amped up efforts to help grow youth participation in the Jr. Giants League, a free, noncompetitive and coed baseball and softball program. Through an aggressive media strategy, we secured 17 feature stories and expanded outreach to include Bay Area social media influencers and paid campaigns. The program shined a light on GCF’s efforts, achieving “grand slam” results that raised its visibility, site traffic and program participation:
- 48 pieces of local coverage
- Over 9k website clicks through paid social
- A record year of registrations for the Jr. Giants
Day of Service
Padilla PluggedIn Day of Service is part of our corporate social responsibility program, and is focused on giving employees an opportunity to volunteer in their communities and expand their horizons. This initiative supports our Shared Values including Walk in Their World and Wonder and Wonder. In 2024, here are just a few of the ways our teammates chose to give back:
The BrandLab is dedicated to changing the face and voice of the marketing and advertising profession. Leah Kondes and Kenny Devine attended an in-person public relations planning session, in partnership with Minnesota PRSA, to help develop a comprehensive plan that expands The BrandLab’s media presence, improves outreach and aligns internal communications to raise its visibility and impact.
BiggerTable supports food banks in the Chicagoland area. Alice Vaught and other volunteers distributed a shelf-stable triple-berry smoothie mix that could be prepared with water, milk or juice. Volunteers selected their charity of choice to deliver the versatile product, and Alice selected Morning Star Mission, a homeless shelter, food pantry and soup kitchen in her hometown of Joliet, Illinois.
Missions, Inc. Program provides housing, emergency shelter and supportive services to domestic abuse survivors and those seeking recovery from substance use disorders. Jessica Davis, along with many family members, served smoked turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans to several hundred people, funded by her cousin’s BBQ food truck and the local Jaycee’s.
Feed My Starving Children provides nutritious meals to malnourished children worldwide. Heidi Murphy and her family, along with other volunteers, packed 30 boxes containing 30 dehydrated meals called Mana packs which include soy, vegetables, rice and vitamins. The meals were shipped to children in Ukraine.
Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation is an open-admission, no-kill shelter that cares for homeless animals. Jenn LaVardera joined its annual visit to Southampton Fresh Air Home, a residential summer camp for children and youth with physical disabilities. Jenn teamed up with other volunteers and staff members to help the kids interact with the shelter dogs — petting them, giving them treats, and letting the small dogs sit on their laps.
Padilla Pluggedin
Our agency-wide corporate social responsibility program includes taking time out for employee-led volunteering activities that help support our local nonprofit organizations:
United Way Richmond
Our Richmond team partnered up with the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg to assemble hygiene kits and create handmade cards with inspiration notes to benefit the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls which helps youth in crisis.
New York Common Pantry
Our New York team volunteered in remembrance of 9/11 by taking and fulfilling individual orders onsite at New York Common Pantry. Its mission is to address the growing hunger and food insecurity in NYC by distributing healthy foods, whole grains and fresh produce.
God’s Love We Deliver
God’s Love We Deliver is a nonsectarian organization that delivers nutritionally appropriate meals to people who are unable to cook for themselves, as well as nutrition counseling. Our New York team packed 3,200 containers of onion soup during their volunteering shift!
United Way Twin Cities
Our Minneapolis team hosted a chili cook-off and silent auction which raised nearly $1K in support of the Greater Twin Cities United Way and its Home For Good program. We assembled 40 first aid kits and 20 tie-fleece blankets which were included in “welcome home” kits for local families and individuals transitioning into stable housing.
The Maynard Childhood Cancer Foundation
The Maynard Childhood Cancer Foundation provides funding for research for pediatric cancers. Our Richmond team donated toys that were delivered to children in local hospitals over the holiday season.
Each quarter, Padilla recognizes employee volunteer efforts outside of the office and makes a $250 donation to the nonprofit charity of their choice.
Mariann Hohe
Out of a desire to give back to Children’s Minnesota, where her son had been treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Mariann joined the health system’s Families as Partners Program and Family Advisory Council. She volunteers by sharing her family’s story at internal meetings and collaborates with staff to enhance the patient and family experience – from improving design of the short-stay unit to communications in resource materials.
Yoni Aguilar
New York has been experiencing an enormous influx of refugees seeking political asylum, and churches have stepped in to provide temporary housing. Most refugee families have no English language skills and need help with registering children for school, filling out job applications, getting local IDs, and scheduling doctor’s appointments. Yoni volunteers with families living in St. Matthew’s church school, by preparing meals and creating resumes in English.
Alan Dunton
Alan has been a longtime supporter of The Ocean Cleanup which develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans and rivers of plastic. He volunteers at the organization’s media events, such as the return of its fleet to San Francisco following the cleaning of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world – sharing news about the next phase of the cleanup.
Jill Donahue
Jill and her Irish Terrier, Tige, volunteer through Pet Partners which helps connect organizations to therapy dog teams and promotes the human-animal bond. They regularly visit seniors in a memory care unit, and women and children in a domestic violence shelter. Through the Pet Partners Read With Me program, children read to Tige at libraries to help build children's self-confidence in their reading ability.
We offer ongoing training for staff, which includes bringing in guest speakers, as part of our Bubble Break series, to help commemorate observances such as Asian American Pacific Islander Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Pride Month, Earth Month and more.
Our support for local PRSA chapters includes regular sponsorship for the Jeff Wilson, APR Scholarship of Excellence. Presented by the Richmond PR Foundation – the charitable arm of PRSA Richmond – the scholarship is awarded annually to a college student of color in central Virginia pursuing a career in public relations. Jordyn Isaacs, a student at Hampton University, was the 2024 scholarship recipient.
Padilla partners with other agencies to offer an inclusive communications career exploration externship program for students interested in public relations and communications. In its fourth year, the Take Flight program has 26 students participating from 10 colleges and universities.
Our partnership continues with The Collective, a select group of diverse external advisors who provide insight and guidance to ensure our work for clients is inclusive and culturally appropriate.
Padilla is a signatory for The Diversity Action Alliance (DAA), a coalition of public relations and communications leaders joining forces to accelerate progress in achieving meaningful and tangible results across our profession. Jeff Wilson, VP of Social Impact at Padilla, was recognized among the 2024 DAA G.E.M.S. cohort as a Top Five honoree for elevating leadership, innovation and excellence in communications, significantly contributing to the public relations industry.
FoodMinds, a division of Padilla, is a sponsor for the Diversify Dietetics Internship Program. Its mission is to prepare graduates to be culturally-sensitive RDNs who advance the science and practice of nutrition and dietetics for all. Funds support tuition-free internships for BIPOC students.
Walk In Their World. Wonder And Wander. Think As Many. Work Brave. Build Trust. Own It And Act On It. Make It Better.
+48%
Increase in BIPOC employees
(vs. 2020) from 10% to 14%
(vs. 2020) from 10% to 14%
70%
Women in Senior
Leadership Roles
Leadership Roles
27%
of suppliers are small and underrepresented businesses
8
Inclusion and Belonging Trainings and Guest
Speaker Series
Speaker Series
61%
Women in
Non-Leadership Roles
Non-Leadership Roles
11
Collective
Advisors
Advisors
25
Inclusion and Belonging Council, Champions
and Supporters
and Supporters
1,350
Hours: Pro Bono/In-Kind
Sponsorship
Sponsorship
26
TAKE FLIGHT
Career EXPLORATION
Students
Career EXPLORATION
Students
Giving Our Time, Treasure And Talent
Giving Our Time, Treasure And Talent / Giving Our Time, Treasure And
Talent / Giving Our Time, Treasure And Talent /
Giving Our Time, Treasure And Talent / Giving Our Time, Treasure And
Talent / Giving Our Time, Treasure And Talent /
Launched in 2023, Padilla contributes up to $250 for employees’ volunteer organizations and $1,000 for employees’ board service. In 2024, Padilla’s Matching Gift program helped support organizations that hold personal connections with our employees.
In addition to the nonprofit organizations the agency supports with financial donations and/or employee volunteering efforts, our senior leaders also give back through board service or significant volunteer engagements.
2024 Organizations:
Back Pack Buddies Foundation
Better Way Foundation
Commission on Public Relations Education
Deep Run Hunt Horse Show Association
East Town Business Partnership
Financial Executives International (Twin Cities)
Minneapolis Downtown Council
Minneapolis Parks Foundation
Minnesota Public Relations Society of America Chapter
Minnesota Technology Association
Northern Star Scouting (Boy Scouts of America)
Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever
Pillsbury United Communities
Public Relations Society of America Technology Section
Red Door Community
Science Museum of Minnesota
St. Cloud Fireworks
Stillwater Area Hockey Association
University of Minnesota Cancer Philanthropic Board
Visual Arts Center of Richmond