Citi Volunteer Spotlights Around the World
This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Global Community Day (GCD), Citi’s annual tradition of coming together as a worldwide team to volunteer in our communities. This milestone offers a moment to reflect on how Citi volunteers have been serving their communities over the years and what GCD means to us.
Since 2006, there have been over 1.2 million GCD volunteer engagements from colleagues, friends, family and alumni across more than 80 countries and territories. Giving back to the communities where we live and work is a fundamental part of Citi’s culture and key to our mission of supporting economic growth and progress. We have planted trees, painted schools, packed and served meals, spent time with the elderly, leveraged professional skills to mentor youth, cleaned beaches and more. Importantly, we did it all in collaboration with nonprofit organizations that understand the needs of the local communities.
GCD is also about building connections, with each other and with our local communities.
Approaching the 20th annual campaign – which officially kicks off in June – we spoke to colleagues around the world to hear about their GCD experiences and recognize the lasting impact they have made on their colleagues and communities. We invite you to read their stories below and learn more about just some of the ways that Citi colleagues give back.
In the Philippines…Supporting Disaster Relief
Jon has participated in GCD since 2014, refurbishing classrooms, cleaning up beaches and even travelling to different parts of the Philippines to join volunteer events. In 2024, Jon organized all of his team’s GCD events, coordinating 10 sessions across five weekends to pack disaster relief goods. Jon volunteered at all 10 sessions, which drew participation from more than 300 colleagues.
In Hungary…Finding Ways to Volunteer
Laszlo first participated in GCD in 2017, volunteering for charity runs, bake-offs and more. Since then, he has pioneered successful volunteer events in Hungary and globally. In 2021, he became co-chair of the Citi Disability and Neurodiversity Network in Hungary and in 2023, launched a GCD event with a local organization that trains horses to support people with disabilities. Citi volunteers helped maintain the center’s property and colleagues enjoyed spending time outside and with animals. The event was so successful that it became a flagship GCD event for the Hungary office in 2024.
In Tanzania…Supporting Hospitals and Patients
In 2018, Benedicta joined her first GCD event – a beach clean-up outside of the Citi Tanzania office. She has been an active Citi volunteer ever since. Benedicta enjoys that these events are opportunities to give back to Citi’s local neighbors and to get to know colleagues outside of the office.
Her most memorable GCD was in 2022, when she joined colleagues in delivering hospital equipment and personal hygiene goods to the women’s ward of a cancer center. Benedicta was inspired by the strength and hope in these women’s stories, many of whom had been in treatment for a long time or were facing terminal diagnoses. Spending time with them reminded her to look at life with more positivity and gratitude.
In Brazil…Helping Students
In 2023, Cintia joined a GCD event refurbishing a school in São Paulo. Afterwards, she continued working with the school as a volunteer teacher, supporting young students who were behind in their Portuguese. She found that many of them faced hardships at home – some had absent parents, others were living in orphanages and more. Cintia began to show up for these students as more than just a language teacher, providing them with emotional support and encouragement. Cintia recalls a conversation she had with one of her students who told her that he didn’t believe he could have ambitions and aspirations due to his background.
For Cintia, this drove home the importance of working with youth to change that narrative.
A cherished part of GCD is having Citi alumni join us for volunteer events! Hear from Witek Zielinksi in Poland and Selina Wang in China as they talk about coming back for GCD as alum:
“I participated in Citi Handlowy’s first GCD, and it was amazing to see over 1,000 colleagues sign up to volunteer that first year. When I reflect on GCD, one of my favorite memories is watching this campaign get bigger and bigger, and more impactful, over the years. I saw growing teams of volunteers where Citi colleagues across levels, from junior staff to board members, all worked together to give back. Now, as a Citi alumnus, I always look forward to joining GCD events because it’s an opportunity to gather with old colleagues, friends and the Citi community. Citi is a place where I spent many hours and moments and it’s meaningful for me to stay connected through GCD.”
“Volunteering at Citi Global Community Day events as an Alumni Network member is a chance to reconnect with former colleagues and collaborate to make a positive impact. One memory that stands out for me was in 2023 when I joined an event collecting vegetables at a farm. I was reminded to appreciate the hard work that goes into growing our food and I was proud of how much fresh produce we’d been able to collect for those in need. While it was a physically demanding day, there was a great sense of camaraderie and a sense that we were making a difference. Being part of Citi’s global volunteerism makes me feel connected to something much larger and this sense of shared purpose is truly special.”
To learn more about the 20th anniversary of GCD and Citi volunteers, follow along on Citi’s social channels at #CitiVolunteers.