Diversity and international initiatives

Cynthia Reyna, 2008 recipient of the National Youth Award in Engineering and Mathematics from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation

We work to ensure that access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education is made widely available, particularly to women and minorities in the United States. We continue to support the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, United Negro College Fund, American Indian College Fund, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. The Corporation also funded programs at universities and national associations to increase the enrollment of women and minority students in geoscience degree programs.

International education initiatives
Around the world, improving education can have different meanings. ExxonMobil addresses this challenge by relying on local country affiliates to evaluate educational needs and make country-specific community investment decisions.

For example, in China, we are working with the Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women to provide literacy classes in remote areas. In 2009, about 450 women from southern China’s Guizhou province learned elementary characters for everyday use, basic mathematics skills, and farming skills to help support their families.

According to the World Bank, 100 million Arab youths will enter the job market over the next 15 years. ExxonMobil supports INJAZ al-Arab, a collaborative effort between corporate volunteers and ministries of education to provide experiential education and training to Arab youth. Since 2004, ExxonMobil employees have volunteered in Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to help teach subjects such as economics, entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal life planning. In Egypt alone, INJAZ has reached over 25,000 students over the last four years and ExxonMobil volunteers have delivered courses to 2300 of them. In addition, ExxonMobil developed the Middle East and North Africa Scholars Program in 2008 to provide qualified applicants from 14 countries across the region with full graduate tuition for a master’s degree in geoscience, engineering, or business at a U.S. university. Eleven students are currently participating in this program.