Community Engagement

PPG and the PPG Foundation aim to bring color and brightness to communities around the world. We supported hundreds of organizations across more than 40 countries in 2023. By investing in educational opportunities and transforming community assets, we help grow today's skilled workforce and develop tomorrow's innovators.

Sumaré, Brazil: PPG employee volunteers in Sumaré, Brazil, partnered with participants in the "Attitude for the Planet" program, a collaboration with Junior Achievement Brazil that addresses the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability.

Nickerie, Suriname: Colorful Communities project volunteers helped to revitalize the OS Skroetjie primary school.

Jingmen, China: Combining PPG's Colorful Communities program with the Chevrolet Red Chalk teacher support program for schools in rural regions, New Paint for a New Start completed a colorful makeover at Caochang Primary School. Caochang, a rural school that serves seven villages with a total population of over 13,000, is currently home to more than 470 students and educators.

Dahej, India: Volunteers from PPG and Asian Paints helped revitalize the Dahej Kanyashala primary school for girls.

Valladolid and Camarma de Esteruelas, Spain: PPG supported girls' interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields at our Valladolid and Camarma de Esteruelas automotive sites through our longstanding national partnership with STEM Talent Girl.

Vantaa, Finland: PPG provided a grant to the Finnish Science Centre, Heureka to support STEM education and workshops for young students.

Pretoria, South Africa: PPG volunteers participated in a New Paint for a New Start project to refurbish more than 10 school buildings, including 33 classrooms, at the Mamelodi Secondary School.

Denver, Colorado: PPG employees participated in a New Paint for A New Start project at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College. The project brought a fresh coat of paint to classrooms, hallways and offices, and was complemented by a STEM grant to support programs like state competitions and certification classes.

PPG and the PPG Foundation are focused on inspiring and supporting young people with an interest in STEM. In 2023, PPG partnered with VědaFest, or ScienceFest, the largest open-air science event in Czechia.

During the event, PPG sought to inspire young minds through interactive experiments, handson activities and demonstrations. Visitors had the opportunity to participate in experiments to explore water repellency, create color-changing fabrics, develop "blue" photos using a cyanotype process, test out glowing solutions and more.

Czech artist Klaudie Svrckova captured these experiences on canvas using PRIMALEX^™ paints by PPG, which were then donated to the House of Children and Youth of the Capital Prague.

With PPG's support, the festival delivered educational inspiration to hundreds of student participants. By supporting educational events like ScienceFest, PPG is helping to develop the next generation of STEM innovators.

In the fall of 2023, PPG and the PPG Foundation teamed up with National Energy Education Development (NEED) to host a series of Energy Education Workshops. NEED's mission is to promote an energy conscious and educated society by creating effective networks of students, educators, business, government and community leaders.

The goal of the Energy Education Workshops was to create starting points and classroom inspirations for STEM careers that can help to address climate change and protect our environment. PPG employees and leadership volunteered their time to participate, providing an overview of sustainability and renewable energy practices at PPG. The workshops equipped approximately 60 teachers with hands on training, activities, and tools to take back to their classrooms in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

This partnership between NEED and the PPG Foundation aligns with PPG's commitment to invest $5 million by 2030 in educational programming related to environmental sustainability. Learn more about the educational programs we support on our Communities website.

Particularly in under-resourced communities, many young people face systemic barriers that limit their exposure to professional mentorship and career opportunities. PPG is committed to supporting education and career development in our communities around the world.

In 2023, PPG continued our longstanding partnership with S.T.R.E.A.M.^™ Global Innovations (STREAM), a global non-profit focused on connecting the dots between education and career access in under-resourced communities. PPG and STREAM co-hosted events at local schools, where PPG volunteers interacted directly with students – bringing professional experience and innovation into the classroom. Beyond these events, members of PPG’s Black Employee Network and Latino Employee Network connected directly with student groups.

Over the course of the year, we reached more than 2,700 students and almost 100 teachers and school staff through this partnership. We're continuing to develop our partnership, with events already planned around the country for 2024.

In October 2023, we celebrated the completion of our 500th Colorful Communities project – a colorful and transformational makeover at Carnegie Science Center in PPG's hometown of Pittsburgh. More than 80 volunteers marked the milestone by creating science-themed murals and applying fresh paint and color in learning spaces around the center.

Over the course of the 500 projects completed since 2015, PPG employee volunteers have reached diverse communities and important spaces in need of bright and colorful transformations, positively impacting more than 9.2 million people in 50 countries. Since its inception, the program has:

• Used nearly 52,500 gallons of paint to create spaces where students are encouraged to learn and thrive, patients and their families feel hope and support, and communities are inspired
• Completed projects at more than 40 community centers and nearly 30 hospitals or healthcare facilities
• Reached students in more than 140 educational spaces to provide environments where young learners feel engaged and supported
• Used PPG expertise to elevate the positive impact that color can have on a space
• Empowered nearly 25,000 volunteers to spend over 160,000 hours revitalizing important spaces