Success Story: A Gold Medal Win for This Transformational, Immersive CSR

The Event:  

Every year, MTA hosts a Global Workshop for its internal team, a multi-day event dedicated to in-person training, recognition, and team building for our 76 employees. One of the key team-building components at this Workshop is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Challenge:  

To support the Workshop’s 2023 theme of “Partnership,” MTA’s goal was to elevate its CSR both globally and locally. Inspired by our U.S. based customer’s initiatives, MTA wanted to collaborate and focus on disability awareness as part of our CSR. To amplify its impact, MTA’s goals were to educate and inspire our team as well as have a related hands-on CSR team-building activity that embraced our core values.  As a secondary CSR project, inspired by our European-based customer, MTA wanted to support the work of the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, a charity based in Ireland.  

The Highlights:  

• As part of our commitment to partnership, we extended an invitation to our customer of 23 years – the inspiration behind our CSR’s focus on disability awareness. These customer representatives were invited to share their company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals  and to participate with us in a shared CSR experience. One guest later shared his thoughtful impressions with his colleagues and with us: “I’ll be forever grateful to MTA for organizing this impactful workshop; let’s carry its spirit forward as we shape the future of events, united in progress and celebration of diversity.” 

• To kick off the CSR event, MTA was honored to welcome motivational keynote speaker Tatyana McFadden, Paralympic gold medalist and fastest woman in the world, to share her inspiring story with our team. Tatyana shared her experience as a Paralympic athlete and her insights related to challenges faced by people with disabilities. The attendees gained a better understanding of the importance of accessibility and inclusion and the positive impact it has in the lives of people with disabilities. Following Tatyana’s presentation and a Q & A session, she received a standing ovation for her moving story of challenge and triumph.  

Wheelchair building, Tatyana’s story and her presence made an unbelievable impact on me. Her story and her energy made our CSR even more powerful and cohesive. 

MTA Workshop Attendee

• Motivated by Tatyana’s words, the MTA team next put inspiration into action.  Our team, along with Tatyana and our customer, collaborated to build 14 wheelchairs in 2 hours for local veterans, decorating each wheelchair with a heartfelt message of appreciation for their service. This CSR was fueled by engaging friendly competition, gamification, icebreakers, humor, and more!  The energy in the room was palpable! This project was a huge success thanks to our fantastic DMC partnership. 

• The CSR wrapped up with a presentation from a representative of the local Disabled American Veterans Georgia Chapter, as he shared about the impact that these donated wheelchairs will make in the lives of local veterans.

• In addition to the wheelchair build, attendees also participated in the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation’s Lego drive, recycling Lego bricks into “gifts of care.” Our team was given the option to bring gently used or new Lego bricks to the Workshop. MTA team members donated 96 pounds of Lego bricks which in turn will provide home nursing care to children across Ireland, making a difference in the lives of families and children with disabilities and medical needs. 

• The post-event attendee surveys revealed overwhelming support of these CSR initiatives, proving the significant impact and ROI that this event had for our team members.  We could not be more pleased with the results of this transformational CSR experience.  

Results:  

Overall, MTA’s CSR initiatives not only helped raise awareness for disability inclusion but also contributed to charitable causes both locally and globally. Through partnerships with customers, community organizations, and within our team, MTA was able to make a positive impact and strengthen its commitment to corporate social responsibility and DEI. 

In April 2024, MTA received a Bronze Stevie® Award for this event. To read more, visit here.

Feedback (from our team via surveys):  

I loved seeing us support organizations that our customer partners support! It was a great example of us living not only our values at MTA, but also our theme of partnership. I really appreciated having both a passive and active CSR. It was terrific that the wheelchair building was facilitated in such a fun way – I think it really gave us the opportunity to team build in a way that was meaningful. I love how the wheelchair building was connected to our partners’ charity by having a guest speaker. Finally, as someone with military family members, it meant a lot to know the wheelchairs we built went to veterans. 

I learned so much about people living with disabilities and veterans!! It was valuable to hear Tatyana’s story and learn to build a wheelchair together as a team, with limited instructions 🙂 So rewarding!! 

Wheelchair building, Tatyana’s story and her presence made an unbelievable impact on me. Her story and her energy made our CSR even more powerful and cohesive. 

Coming together to build wheelchairs was such a special experience! Knowing that these wheelchairs would be used by veterans in need made it even more meaningful. We all got to connect with each other while giving back, and that felt really amazing! 

I found the wheelchair-building activity to be very impactful. It will literally change for the better 14 lives; it made me happy to be part of that. It was also a great team-building exercise. 

Wheelchair building was fun and informative — great way to build awareness. Also appreciated the simple way of being a part of our client’s initiative by way of bringing Lego donations. 

I did appreciate the flow of the CSR, listening to our clients’ intention and purpose, followed by the inspiring story of Tatyana, and then also being able to DO. Building those wheelchairs in a fun and collaborative environment was a great way to end the session with our own mission and purpose. 

I loved how different both CSRs were. It felt good to provide the Legos at the Workshop but was also a wonderful time getting to team build the wheelchairs. 

I loved the team-building aspect of the wheelchair building and how it tied in with our keynote speaker.  

I love when the CSRs combine with team building!  The wheelchair building checked this box for me.   

Specifically, with the wheelchair building initiative it was a great way to build the team. As a newer employee, I was not sure how I was going to bond with my new coworkers in only a few days but performing an activity like that as race and for a great cause helped make quick friends and contribute to a shared sense of accomplishment. 

I appreciated being able to participate in different ways – the Lego being more passive and the wheelchair being interactive. The wheelchair CSR was by far one of my favorite and impactful moments during the workshop. 

I love the social impact these make on a personal and company level. It shows MTA’s commitment of time and resources beyond the financial bottom line. 

I really valued the intentionality of partnership in supporting our customer through our Jack & Jill Lego donation.  

The Wheelchair building was definitely my favorite! It felt very engaging and provided ample opportunity to leverage various strengths within my team and learn more about my colleagues. I also really appreciated that Tatyana stayed for this portion and offered her insights on what attending events is like for those using a wheelchair – that was extremely valuable to me in my role as a planner. 

I appreciated the connection with CSR activities our customers are participating in. It was an excellent tie-in to the Year of Partnership. I thought the wheelchair building exercise was a great mixture of CSR and team building. I was able to better understand team members I do not normally work with by watching their approach to the challenge. 

 A CSR that ties with a keynote or overall theme is KEY!  Nailed it! 

Building the wheelchairs was a rewarding activity in and of itself. But having Tatyana, and the veteran speaker really made a major impact. It helped us look at this from a real and raw perspective that not only appreciated, but needed.