Company: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Entry Submitted By: Jacobson Strategic Communications
Company Description: PwC US helps organizations and individuals create the value they're looking for. We're a member of the PwC network of firms in 158 countries with more than 180,000 people. We're committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Visit us at www.pwc.com/US .
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Business Services –More Than 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Shannon Schuyler, Principal, US Corporate Responsibility (CR) Leader

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

Shannon Schuyler is Principal and Corporate Responsibility (CR) leader at PwC US.

In this role, Shannon inspires and oversees a talented team that implements programs around social and environmental responsibility to increase employee engagement, differentiate PwC’s brand, drive operational efficiencies and impact the marketplace.

Her contributions are enhancing the business in ways CR hasn’t in the past. Her innovation is delivering tangible quantitative and qualitative ROI to PwC, its people and the broader community, and her vision of merging employee engagement, client connections, collaborations and communities has translated into key initiatives that are directly tied to PwC’s strategic priorities.

One such program is PwC’s Earn Your Future, a $160 million investment to address youth education with a focus on financial literacy. This effort encompasses skills-based volunteerism, strategic collaborations with nonprofit and community-based organizations, continuing learning and development for teachers, and PwC branded financial literacy curricula. By leveraging the firm’s 38,000+ people and their skills and knowledge within professional services, PwC aims to impact more than 2.5 million students and educators over five years. The goal: increasing the financial responsibility of youth, sharing important job skills, and contributing to the health of our economy.

In the program’s first year, PwC reached an estimated 500,000 students and 18,000 educators and contributed more than $16 million. Additionally, PwC’s people contributed more than 6,000 pro bono hours to youth-focused nonprofits and almost 150,000 volunteer hours. A key component of Shannon’s vision has been to leverage the firm’s knowledge to create free, accessible, multi-lingual financial literacy curricula that brings scale to the firm’s efforts and allows others to make an impact. Since launch, the firm developed 16 new financial literacy and sustainability curricula modules—for a total of 34—tailored to grades 3-12. Her team is also collaborating with like-minded organizations and changing the way collaborations are viewed while creating new, mutually beneficial solutions that help answer existing societal problems.

Under Shannon’s leadership, PwC’s Earn Your Future has become a defining initiative that has the potential to survive as the firm’s CR legacy. But Earn Your Future is only one component—so whether it’s meeting PwC’s carbon reduction goals, her work with the PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc. or guidance on pro-bono efforts, CR at PwC has become as important in creating value for the firm’s clients as any other investment. It’s this value that is the lifeblood of the firm, and the reason why leadership takes such an active role in supporting the firm’s CR initiatives.

Shannon speaks frequently on social innovation, youth education and environmental sustainability. Notably, Shannon was the emcee for the prestigious Social Innovation Summit and was a panelist for The Economist’s virtual discussion on corporate responsibility.

Shannon’s CR team is motivated by the strength of her leadership and commitment to creating a collaborative work environment. Shannon’s “it takes a village” philosophy deepens her staff’s commitment to their work; and they benefit from being part of a team whose leader has earned the highest level of support from the firm’s most senior leaders. In recognition of her contributions to the firm and its brand and legacy, Shannon was appointed Partner at PwC In July 2013.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 125 words):

Shannon Schuyler has been with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 16 years and is Principal, Corporate Responsibility (CR) Leader and an Officer of the Board for the PwC Charitable Foundation. She oversees programs and initiatives for the firm's global internal strategy around PwC's four CR pillars: Marketplace, Community, People, and Environment. In this role, she identifies and implements employee engagement strategies aligned to CR efforts, interacts with suppliers and vendors to understand and assess their sustainability impact, oversees national and global non-profit partners, and has ownership for the firm's environmental impact. Shannon is a sought after expert on CR, social innovation, and youth education.