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BlackRock employees volunteered virtually through our annual Global Mapathon project to help healthcare professionals deliver critical care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, BlackRock colleagues from around the globe joined together to volunteer virtually in this year’s Global Mapathon project in partnership with Missing Maps and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Together, they identified homes, villages and roads in the Central African Republic using satellite images which helps Doctors without Borders and other NGOs better prepare for and respond to natural disasters and pandemics in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world. Efforts from this year’s event will give humanitarian and healthcare workers on the ground a better chance to respond to affected individuals in the region of Mbomou where critical roads and infrastructure are not fully documented. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Mapathon took place virtually and participants were asked to dedicate at least 2 hours towards volunteering from home on this project. In total over 55,000 buildings and 320 miles of roads were identified as part of this year’s Mapathon effort. In addition, the event engaged 425 BlackRock employees across 30 offices around the world – including our colleagues from the BlackRock Belgrade office who participated for the first time and identified over 7,600 buildings, the single biggest office contribution! One of those volunteers was Alex Jahier, an Analyst on the Social Impact team in our New York City office who studied environmental science in college and is passionate about sustainability. This was his first time getting involved in the Mapathon project since he joined BlackRock in the fall of 2019. Alex’s personal mission is to leave the planet in a better place than when we found it so even though he spends his day job working on employee engagement and community giving programs, he’s always looking for ways to personally get involved in the work his team is leading at the firm. Alex believes giving back to our community is an important part of our culture at BlackRock, and said, “we’re always being encouraged to get outside of our comfort zones – and the ‘office’ (even now in this virtual setting) – to work together with other colleagues to make a difference.” In looking at the ‘before and after’ photos below, the need and impact of volunteer efforts like the Global Mapathon are apparently clear. “Right now, due to the pandemic, it isn’t safe for a lot of us to volunteer in person, but we can still make a significant impact from our homes,” said Alex. But Alex did more than volunteer, he was actually responsible for organizing this year’s Global Mapathon! As the project lead, he managed the relationships with our nonprofit partners, Doctors Without Borders and Missing Maps, recruited over 25 “Office Champions” to help drive participation in our offices around the globe, and partnered with teams across BlackRock like our Corporate Communications team, to spread the word leading up to the event through our internal communications channels. Anna Verhaegen was one of those Office Champions Alex recruited this year, and after volunteering for last year’s Mapathon, she jumped at the chance to help encourage colleagues in her office to join this time around. Anna is based out of our Princeton office and joined BlackRock in 2017 through the Analyst Program. Anna is currently an Investment Management Associate in US Wealth Advisory (USWA) where she’s responsible for driving sales and client service for BlackRock mutual funds, iShares ETFs and separately managed accounts for retail clients on the East Coast. Anna shared, “I’ve always enjoyed getting involved in philanthropic efforts and wanted to find more ways to give back, but I didn’t really know how to get started until I began working at BlackRock. Here it’s not only apparent how integral volunteering is to our company culture but it’s amazing how everyone is encouraged to take time away from their desk or normal duties to volunteer towards causes they care about. I’m proud that at BlackRock we are a group of people who want to do good for our communities and for the world. Volunteer events like this, give employees a chance to take on local leadership roles and give back all while showing them just how easy and fun volunteering can be!” Participants were encouraged to take selfies of their Mapathon efforts, below are some of our amazing employee volunteers from around the globe.
Photo credit: Alex Jaheir (Analyst, Social Impact, New York City)
Source: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, 2020.
Photo credit: Anna Verhaegen (Associate, US Wealth Advisory, Princeton)
Photo credit: Michael Karcz (Director, Aladdin Product Group, New York City)
Photo credit: Monica Bueno (Vice President, Latin America ETF Sales, Mexico City)
Photo credit: Deia Housen (Analyst, Strategic Partner Program, London)
The timing of these efforts could not have been more critical. The Central African Republic’s health system is not fully equipped to handle the sizeable outbreak of COVID-19 that has appeared and the country is lacking testing kits, ventilators and treatment centers while still fighting existing diseases like TB and malaria. 70% of the country depends on humanitarian support from organizations like MSF for health services and lacks access to running water which is necessary for proper sanitary practices.
This impact of this project will hopefully go beyond COVID-19 relief as well. The buildings and roads identified by BlackRock employees as part of this year’s project will provide crucial data for humanitarian workers as they continue to respond to health emergencies in the country.
Thank you to all our employees around the globe who participated in this timely volunteer effort. Since everyone joined from home this year, some employees were even able to involve their families in the project but hopefully next year, we’ll be able to safely map together in person again.
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Feeling rudderless these days? You’re not alone. As we adjust to this prolonged period of uncertainty, many of us are feeling stuck – but want to get to a place where we feel like we’re thriving, not simply surviving. Here are some steps you can take today to build resilience while working from home.
I’m not normally one to take life advice that sounds like it should be crocheted on a pillow. But these are far from normal times. And, perhaps for that reason, when this quote popped up in my LinkedIn feed, it gave me pause:
“There are three things you cannot recover in life: the moment after it’s missed, the word after it’s said and the time after it’s wasted.”
Even under the best of circumstances – even if we are privileged enough to remain physically healthy, financially solvent and unencumbered by the daily trauma of systemic racism – when it comes to our careers, we still worry that we’re not “doing it right” or “doing enough.” That we’re not adequately “carpe-ing the diem.”
This gnawing anxiety has prompted lots of talk about resilience in the workplace – how to build it, how to sustain it and how to support others as we all grow and advance in our careers.
Ironically, many of these conversations gloss over the part about what resilience actually means. Just as we might incorrectly associate courage with the absence of fear, it’s tempting to equate resilience with the absence of vulnerability. But resilience is not an exercise in rigidity or perfection; it’s the art of flexibility and forgiveness. It is a measure of our capacity to recover quickly, to learn from missteps or moments of crisis.
Luckily, resilience is not an exclusively innate quality. It’s a skill that can be developed over time. So, in the spirit of resume-boosting self-improvement, here are some actions you can take to build greater resilience today that will pay dividends in the future.
So, if your quarantine routine too closely resembles Groundhog Day, your surest way out may be to look inward. Journaling, meditation and yoga are a few other ways you might start to build a habitual practice for introspection.
Resilience may be a buzzword of the moment, but it will always be part of the human experience. The question is not if we will encounter adversity, but rather how we will respond. In short, can we derive meaning from hardship?
I’m reminded of Viktor Frankl’s invocation of Nietzsche: “He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.” If our aim is not only to survive but, rather, to thrive, then perhaps the best thing we can do is to focus our energy on the aspects of work and life that we find meaningful – practicing self-compassion and empathy for others along the way.
Learn about this entrepreneur's BlackRock career journey from Program Analyst to Associate.
Spoiler alert! It was a great success.
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Learn how Nenad, a software engineer based in BlackRock's Belgrade office, champions financial education in his community.
Learn about this entrepreneur's BlackRock career journey from Program Analyst to Associate.
Spoiler alert! It was a great success.
Learn how Simone White, a BlackRock Administrative Professional, is working to evolve the preconception of APs at the firm and everywhere.
Learn how Nenad, a software engineer based in BlackRock's Belgrade office, champions financial education in his community.
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