SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Company is set to kick off Pride 2013 with participation planned in more than 50 Pride events across the country. In some cities, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., Wells Fargo team members will march alongside several organizations focused on raising awareness for anti-bullying efforts to support LGBT and non-LGBT youth who face harassment.
To bolster Pride 2013 efforts, Wells Fargo convened leaders from a number of prominent organizations, including, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network), It Gets Better Project™, Point Foundation, The Trevor Project and Teach For America, to join with Wells Fargo to magnify the anti-bullying message. Maximizing existing relationships with each organization, Wells Fargo championed the collaborative support around the It Gets Better ™ platform with an emphasis on hope versus despair. Through co-branded It Gets Better ™ themed advertisements, posters, t-shirts and banners, the collective team aims to reach broader audiences while influencing action.
“It’s important for a company as visible as Wells Fargo to help shed light on the progress of the LGBT community. Our goal this year is to empower and uplift by celebrating the fact that it does get better,” said, Mark Ng, LGBT Segment Manager. “We are excited and honored to collaborate with the organizations we work with year-long to help make this progress possible.”
Wells Fargo’s engagement with groups speaking out against harassment dates back to 1994 with The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth. In 2010, Wells Fargo partnered with GLSEN to launch the Safe Space Campaign dedicated to providing educational/instructional “kits” designed to help schools create safe and positive learning environments for students.
“Wells Fargo’s support of anti-bullying efforts is consistent with the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said Pat Callahan, Wells Fargo’s chief administrative officer. “When children learn the value of inclusiveness at school, they carry it with them throughout life. Investing in students today is a down-payment to ensure an inclusive workforce and society tomorrow.”
Most recently, Wells Fargo became a founding corporate sponsor of the It Gets Better Project™, joining in the social movement to end harassment against LGBT youth. In support of this effort, the company created its own It Gets Better ™ video and booklet where senior leaders and team members from across the company share personal stories of overcoming adversity. The company also launched an interactive website (wellsfargo.com/itgetsbetter) where visitors can watch the video and learn more about participating organizations as well as ways to get involved in helping to create a better future for youth everywhere.
"The It Gets Better Project is grateful to Wells Fargo for the support it has given the LGBT community year after year. Its actions will have a direct impact on the lives of young people, especially in those communities where LGBT youth are most at risk," says co-founder Dan Savage.
Individuals interested in marching with Wells Fargo, It Gets Better™ and other partnering organizations can sign up at: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/page/s/march-with-us-this-pride-season.
Commitment to the LGBT Community
For more than 25 years, Wells Fargo has actively supported programs and nonprofit organizations serving the LGBT community through grants, sponsorships and volunteer activities. Wells Fargo’s support for the (LGBT) community is part of the company’s commitment to serve diverse customers; to hire, develop, engage and retain team members who reflect the community; and to encourage team members to value and respect each other for who they are and for the skills and experiences they bring to the company.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.
About It Gets Better ™
The mission of the It Gets Better Project® is to communicate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth around the world that it gets better, and to create and inspire the changes needed to make it better for them. The Project was founded in September, 2010, when the original it gets better® video was created and posted to YouTube, igniting a worldwide phenomenon. That first video offered a needed message of hope to LGBT youth. It urged young people to stay true to themselves even through the bullying and other challenges that confronted them in their adolescent years. It described the positive future they could experience as adults. The message was simple: that no matter how difficult things may be, it gets better. Today, the It Gets Better Project has a library of over 50,000 videos and focuses its efforts in three major program areas: media, community engagement and international.