We believe that making positive contributions to our communities offers long-lasting benefits to society, our employees, and our company. That’s why, through the ACE Foundations and through regional initiatives, we make philanthropic contributions in support of programs aimed at making our world a cleaner and healthier place for people around the world and for future generations.

For example, the ACE Charitable Foundation has made a total of US $550,000 in commitments through the ACE U.S. Land Legacy Fund since the fund's inception in 2005.  The funds have been used to protect more than 275,000 acres of land across America.  And since April 2008, ACE Environmental Risk – the environmental liability division of ACE USA – has made an annual donation to American Forests as part of its Global ReLeaf campaign.  This year the funds will be used to plant 5,700 trees in six locations across the United States.

Another area of focus for ACE’s philanthropy is fostering sustainability and resource management. In 2009, the ACE Charitable Foundation provided a number of grants to sustainable agriculture and microfinance programs. For example, a three-year, $600,000 grant to CARE, one of the world’s largest humanitarian aid agencies, focuses on the Sustainable Andean Agriculture program in Peru. This program, which reaches 4,000 people in Peru’s Ayacucho region, offers an innovative response to the global food crisis by training and organizing local farmers to increase the production and quality of native foods.  Results are sustainable, improved crop production and reduced environmental degradation, which drive improved nutrition and higher incomes that will enable farmers to better provide for their families’ basic needs.

A $230,000 grant to the World Food Program supported a 2009-2010 Food for Work initiative in Indonesia’s Central Lombok District, aiming to conserve and restore the local community’s natural resources, as well as reduce the impact of climate change on local farms.  More than 2,200 families benefited from immediate and long-term investments, such as cashew planting, agroforestry and nutrition training, and local water conservation and irrigation projects.