DaVita Way of Giving: Local Clinics Give $1,000,000 to Charities

DaVita Inc. announced today that "DaVita Way of Giving," an unusual locally-focused charitable giving initiative, will result in over $1,000,000 in donations to non-profit organizations across the country.

While many companies make charitable contributions to national non-profit organizations, the DaVita Way of Giving is unusual in that company leaders empowered clinics across DaVita's® 43-state footprint to select the locally-focused charity of their choice for a company contribution.

Nearly 600 clinics participated in the DaVita Way of Giving, and more than 600 charities throughout the U.S. will receive contributions. In some cases teammates in an individual clinic selected the local charity that would receive a $1,000 contribution. In others, numerous clinics in a particular community joined together to select a beneficiary that would receive a larger contribution.

"DaVita is a community first and a company second. That's why we call it the DaVita Village," saidKent Thiry, DaVita CEO and chairman. "We wanted to empower everyone in the Village - especially our caregivers in the clinics - to make a difference through DaVita giving."

Toyota and National Center for Family Literacy Celebrate 20-Year Partnership

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) - the organization that pioneered the concept of raising the literacy level of parents and children simultaneously - celebrated 20 years of partnership with Toyota today that has impacted 1 million families across the country. NCFL's partnership with Toyota began in 1991 with an approach that focused on improving the education of preschool children. It continued to evolve and identify emerging needs in populations such as Hispanic and immigrant families.

As NCFL celebrates 20 years of partnership with Toyota, more than 50 cities have benefited from its $36 million investment. "It is rare for a corporate partner to have such a long-term vision and unwavering commitment," said Sharon Darling, president and founder of NCFL. "Toyota's leadership - not only financial but also in terms of organizational and technical assistance - has helped family literacy programming continue to innovate." As part of the celebration, Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda, honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, toured a local family literacy site and participated in NCFL's annual conference. "The National Center for Family Literacy exemplifies the American spirit of lending a helping hand to people in need," Dr. Toyoda said. "We look forward to working hand in hand with everyone at the NCFL to improve the program further."

Comcast Names Maria G. Arias As Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion

Comcast Corporation has named Maria G. Arias as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion. In this newly created role, Ms. Arias will direct, manage, and organize Comcast's diversity program strategy with a focus on recruitment and career development, suppliers, programming, and community investment.  Additionally, she will work closely with the Comcast Internal Diversity Council and the newly created Comcast/NBCUniversal Joint External Diversity Advisory Council to coordinate the execution of diversity and inclusion initiatives across the entire company. 

Ms. Arias previously served as Vice President of Operations for Comcast Cable's Southern Colorado systems where she led technical operations and alternative sales channels.  Prior to that, she was the Interim Vice President of Technical Operations for Comcast Cable's West Division. She also served as the Interim General Manager for Comcast's Colorado Mountain Area and the Tucson cable systems.  

Before joining Comcast in 2007, Ms. Arias spent time with both Adelphia Communications and AT&T Broadband in various government affairs roles.  She also worked at AT&T Corporation where she held the position of Chief Regulatory Counsel for AT&T's Western Region and Senior Counsel for AT&T's Central Region, as well as a government affairs role.  Prior to joining AT&T Corporation, she was an income partner with the national law firm McDermott, Will & Emery, in Chicago, IL, specializing in commercial litigation.

Ms. Arias currently serves on the Board of Directors for Solera National Bank and the Junior Achievement Board of Southern Colorado.  She is also a member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Women in Cable & Telecommunications (WICT), and has served on various non-profit boards in Denver, including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Multicultural Ethnicities in Communications (NAMIC), and the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation.   

Ms. Arias was named as one of the "100 Most Influential Minorities in Cable" in 2010 by CableFAX magazine.  She was selected as a fellow for WICT's Betsy Magness Executive Leadership Institute Class XI and is the recipient of the 2005 Rocky Mountain WICT Chapter "Woman to Watch" award.