Rameshwar Chemte, Ahmednegar, India – Vehicle Group, Industrial Sector

Rameshwar saves a month’s salary every year to buy trees and plant them in villages. He and his wife have planted more than 2,600 trees in four years. His dedication inspired his neighbors to get involved, and together, they organized a tree awareness drive. They visited 40 villages and spoke about the problems of deforestation and how to protect natural green spaces.

Rameshwar is also involved in encouraging sports and play programs after feeling as though he did not have similar opportunities as a child. He started a community organization and raised funds to build a playground. He is currently raising funds to get four volleyball courts built. Rameshwar also serves as a youth mentor. 

Vikas Choudhari, Pune, Maharashtra, India – Corporate

From volunteering at blood drives, donating trees, and collecting and distributing food, Vikas is incredibly involved in helping his community. He started the “Shashank Foundation for Social Enrichment” to help the underprivileged and support environmental causes. In the past five years, Vikas has helped to plant 500 trees in his village. Through the foundation, Vikas and others raise funds to provide food and water to animals.

Vikas helps others financially as well. He is paying for the education of ten underprivileged children and donates school supplies to various schools. Vikas volunteers his time helping the poor obtain grants and government funding for expensive medical treatments.

Becky Jacoby, Moon Township, Pennsylvania – Electrical Sector

Becky’s community involvement is focused on helping women and special needs children. She is a volunteer and mentor for Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She showcases STEM careers for girls in grades 3-5 and mentors college students pursuing technical degrees. After graduation, she continues mentoring and providing guidance as they enter the professional world. She has mentored five women in the past two years. She also helps SWSG Pittsburgh staff with project management and general management skills.

As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy, she provides mentoring and support for families with children with disabilities. She is a prior member of the family advisory council at The Children’s Institute. She has also organized fundraising events for the March of Dimes, March for Babies event. She volunteered alongside her son as he took a role of a junior board member of the Miracles in Moon, an adaptive field and playground.

Becky is also a committed volunteer at her local library, having previously served as a board member and currently as a library friend. She has hosted annual fundraising events, led summer reading kick-off activities, and organized book collections and sales. Her whole family is involved in library volunteer efforts.

Björn Jöst, Eberbach, Germany – B-Line, Oil and Gas, Electrical Sector

Björn has volunteered with the Kailbach Volunteer Fire Department since 1988. In a normal week, he volunteers 15-25 hours. Björn has held numerous leadership positions with the fire service as well as serving as equipment manager and planning fundraising events and activities. Under Björn's leadership, the fire department has received equipment and monetary donations. One of his proudest achievements was when his youth group competition team earned the highest award of the German youth fire brigade under his leadership.

Björn takes great interest in mentoring youth volunteers. The fire department is in a very rural area so connecting with and trusting the other volunteers is an essential piece in ensuring success in fires and rescue operations. Björn's volunteering has crossed over to his workplace as well: at the Eberbach plant, he is a fire safety officer, first responder, safety officer, and instructor of fire safety helpers.

Arunkumar K., Engineer, Pondicherry, India – Asia-Pacific Region, Electrical Sector

Arunkumar has a natural service mindset and has been a committed and passionate volunteer for many years. Annually, he coordinates a diaper collection for a community center. During the pandemic, Arunkumar regularly donated food to a group of 25 homeless people and provided lunch and dinner to three security guards who work on his residential campus. He also mentors students.

Arunkumar volunteers his time to maintain a local drinking water facility. He checks the system and ensures that maintenance is completed, and ensures a continuous water supply. He restored an unused water system that provides safe drinking water to over 350 students. He led an initiative called “LED Streetlight” which provided 100 sets of LED lights for the local community.

Joel Liu, Pleasanton, California – Americas, Electrical Sector

Dr. Joel Liu co-founded the Tri-Valley Asian Association to connect Asian-Americans with each other and encourage involvement in public affairs. He has volunteered for 17 years at the Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA, where helps to organize volunteers, conferences, and training sessions. In this role, Joel started the Distinguished Community Leadership and Services Award, which recognizes Asian-American engineers and scientists who are involved in community service and leadership.

Joel is also passionate about the environment and it shows through his volunteer work. He is currently the Chair of the Committee on Energy and the Environment in Pleasanton. This team advises where he advises the City of Pleasanton on energy and environmental issues and strategies reflecting community opportunities, needs and interests. He is also a member of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) of the East Bay Energy Commission (EBCE).

Matthew Simmons, Titchfield, U.K. – Aerospace Group, Industrial Sector

After serving in the Afghanistan war from 2002 to 2004, Matt felt a connection to refugee Afghan families who had arrived in the U.K. He started Ems4Afghans, and through social media, Matt raised awareness and funds to assist these families with their new lives. Besides providing essential care boxes of personal hygiene items and school supplies, the program provides reintegration support by showing families around the local area and connecting them with jobs. In just a few short months, Ems4Afghans helped 400 families. Matt realized the need to expand and started “Bridge to Unity,” a charity whose mission is to support those in need, whether refugees, those experiencing homelessness, or who are struggling otherwise.

Matt’s desire to help others is again in full force. Since the start of the Ukraine invasion by Russia, Matt has personally delivered thousands of pounds worth of medical supplies to an NGO on the Polish border. He is also working with teams transporting sick and injured people out of Ukraine. Of his work, Matt says “Part of the reason for delivering items myself was to see for my own eyes what was happening and how we could help.”

Marian Southern, Leicestershire, U.K. – Europe, Middle East and Africa Region, Electrical Sector

Marian helped adapt the way a community kitchen operates to deliver to those who are in need but cannot travel - ultimately helping to reduce poverty in the local area. Since 2019, Marian has been volunteering at a local shelter called Super Kitchen in Cotgrave, U.K. Prior to the pandemic, the team cooked 25-30 meals each Thursday. When it became impossible to provide in-person meals, they transitioned to food deliveries twice a week. On her own time, Marian collects food from various supermarkets three days a week. She then spends two days a week preparing and delivering meals to a community of about 100 people.

Marian’s commitment to feeding the community has increased as the needs have grown. In 2020, the team made over 4,500 meals and gave out 3,650 food bags. In 2021, they cooked and delivered 8,220 meals and 5,370 food bags.