Visa commits to community development in San Francisco in conjunction with new presence; holds inaugural Visa SF Community Day

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), the global leader in payments, today announced the company’s commitment to a “Healthy & Vibrant” San Francisco, including collaboration with five strategic community partner organizations. Beginning with $500,000 in philanthropic support for specific programs as well as ongoing employee volunteerism, the company will work with these key non-profit organizations in their efforts to create economic opportunity, serve youth, provide food security, support green neighborhoods and respond in times of emergency in San Francisco.

Under Visa’s “Healthy & Vibrant” local community theme, Visa has provided financial support to and will engage employees in the following organizations and specific programs:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco: Youth Workforce Development Program to achieve workforce readiness by age 18
• JVS: Job Search Support and Training Program, an intensive, group-based program for the long-term unemployed to reenter the workforce
• SF-Marin Food Bank: Pantry Network to help with food distribution to low-income families using a farmer’s market-style approach
• Friends of the Urban Forest: Community tree and sidewalk garden plantings and the Green Teens program to support the city’s urban tree canopy
• American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter: Emergency preparedness, response and recovery

Today’s announcement coincides with Visa’s inaugural “San Francisco Community Day.” Beginning at Visa’s recently-opened One Market innovation center and office space in downtown San Francisco, the day starts with an event to bring together leaders from the five nonprofit organizations as well as local public officials, followed by Visa employees fanning out across San Francisco for service projects with the five groups.

“San Francisco today is thriving with a strong economy and a world-class, diverse workforce,” said Mayor Ed Lee. “San Francisco is an ideal hub of innovation for Visa and their many clients, and I applaud them for their commitment to our communities and for their strong partnership to continue to keep San Francisco healthy and vibrant.”

“Visa is proud to support the San Francisco community through these tremendous organizations and our inaugural San Francisco Community Day,” said Antonio Lucio, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer, and Chair, Visa Charitable Contributions Committee. “With more than 3,000 employees in the Bay Area and our new One Market center in San Francisco, we are dedicated to continuing to support healthy and vibrant communities, from San Francisco to Miami, from Dubai to Singapore.”

“Partnerships between companies like Visa and non-profits like the Food Bank are integral to the success of a thriving city,” said Paul Ash, executive director of the SF-Marin Food Bank. “Visa’s commitment to San Francisco and its non-profit partners will ensure that the city remains healthy and vibrant for many years to come.”

In addition to the San Francisco Community Day event, November marks the company’s third annual “Global Volunteer Month.” During November, thousands of Visa employees in more than 25 countries will be volunteering to help their local communities.

For more information about Visa’s commitment to Corporate Responsibility, visit www.visa.com/responsibility.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.

Source: Visa Inc.