We recently interviewed Kristin Cerny, ARC’s Vice President of Finance, who delved into the company’s community-centric ethos. She emphasized ARC’s commitment to nurturing the communities they operate in, aligning community upliftment with corporate values. Kristin detailed how ARC strikes a balance between corporate aims and community needs, citing collaborations with non-profits like Classroom Champions. These partnerships amplify ARC’s community objectives, bringing mutual benefits. She highlighted the profound impact of such alliances for both large corporations and smaller non-profits.
Kristin Cerny is ARC’s Vice President, Finance, and is responsible for treasury, corporate finance, insurance, risk management, and market fundamentals analysis. She has more than 20 years of finance experience in capital markets and the energy industry. Ms. Cerny has been with ARC since 2011 in roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Manager of Treasury and Risk Management. Prior to joining ARC Resources, she worked for two global investment banks in institutional equities in the US for eight years.
Currently, she serves as a director for Win Sport. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Science in Accounting from DePaul University, and is a CFA charter holder.
As a lifelong athlete, Kristin has learned firsthand the value of great mentors, coaches, and the dynamic applications of the lessons she learned through sports especially, building a growth mindset. She’s a passionate and integral part of the Classroom Champions sponsorship committee internally at ARC.
Can you speak to the importance your company places on supporting the communities where you operate? How do these efforts align with your corporate values and long-term vision?
At ARC, we’re focused on establishing long-term partnerships that create long-lasting community impacts. We support the communities where we live and work three-fold: our corporate giving program, matching employee donations, and encouraging employee volunteerism.
Our company’s purpose is: ‘Our energy creates a better world for everyone.’ This goes beyond delivering affordable, reliable, and clean energy for the world – it also encompasses who we are, how we operate, and the ways we get involved in our communities.
Nurturing a strong culture of caring is a key part of our business. It’s a privilege to work in the communities we do, and we work every day to not only make positive impacts through our business activities, but also to ensure that our employees are empowered to take initiative in the areas and causes that are most important to them.
In what tangible ways does your company work to ensure that the communities surrounding your operations thrive and prosper? Can you share a specific success story or initiative?
Our people are passionate about giving back. It’s integrated throughout our corporate culture. Our goal is to commit a minimum of $3 million annually to community development initiatives. This is achieved in a few different ways.
First, ARC has a comprehensive corporate giving program. We focus our giving efforts on organizations that contribute to active and vibrant communities; healthy, safe, and resilient people; and skilled and prepared future generations.
Second, we support our employees in making meaningful contributions to the community causes they care about most. Our Donation Matching Program offers ARC employees an opportunity to donate up to $500 each year and receive a company match to double their impact.
Third, we encourage our staff to give with their time by volunteering for causes and organizations that they are passionate about. We often schedule team-building events around volunteering efforts.
One great example of this work is our relationship with Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK). BB4CK has served Calgary children for over 30 years, providing lunches to kids who may otherwise go without food. The organization provides lunches for an average of 3,500 children a day across 224 Calgary schools. Since 2007, ARC volunteers have contributed over 4,000 hours to create over 200,000 nutritious lunches for Calgary children and youth. Earlier this year, ARC supported BB4CK by donating $50,000 to the cause on the organization’s annual Brown Bagging it Day. This is just one of the many organizations we are proud to support.
Another example is our support of seniors in northeast BC. Over the past 10 years, our Dawson Creek team has partnered with Better at Home to provide seniors with home support services such as snow removal, grocery shopping, housekeeping, and casual visits. In addition, every year, ARC staff hosts dozens of seniors for the Seniors’ Wagon Night, where our team serves dinner and provides transportation to the local chuckwagon races for a special evening out. This has been a wonderful initiative that our people have truly embraced and supported year-over-year.
With the extensive operations that energy companies oversee, how do you strike a balance between meeting your corporate objectives and addressing the needs of the communities you operate in?
Our strategy is to be a best-in-class responsible energy producer. We are committed to this in every aspect of our business. Meeting our corporate objectives while supporting the communities we operate in, is not mutually exclusive, rather it is inextricably connected. By running a strong and profitable business, we can give back to communities near our operating areas and support the causes that matter most to them and our employees who live there.
Community is one of our core values and this shapes how we work and deliver on our organizational purpose. We work hard as an organization to live our values every day and serve as a global leader in responsible energy development.
How has partnering with smaller non-profit organizations, like Classroom Champions, enhanced your company’s efforts to achieve community goals? What unique advantages do such collaborations offer?
ARC is incredibly proud of our long-term commitment to Classroom Champions. We’re pleased to play a role in bringing this award-winning educational program to more than 40 schools across Western Canada, several of which are in our operating areas. Supporting healthy, skilled, and future-prepared youth is a key focus area of our giving program, and Classroom Champions exemplifies this work. It’s a natural fit.
Classroom Champions has helped more than a million students since its inception through their unique approach to mentorship and skills-building. The program matches each school with Olympic, Paralympic, or professional athletes as a direct classroom mentor to work with students for the whole school year. Through positive interactions with their athlete mentors, these students learn important skills including goal-setting, perseverance, leadership, and teamwork.
Classroom Champions prioritizes partnerships with Indigenous athletes, communities, and Knowledge Keepers to support a customized Social Emotional Learning curriculum, which fits well into our community investment initiatives.
The most unique attribute of our work with this organization is the collaboration with over 20 other energy companies (through the ‘Energizing Communities Collective’) to bring this program to youth in communities where we operate. By working with other industry partners, we can ensure our dollars go into more classrooms and create deeper impacts for the children in our communities.
Classroom Champions and the Energizing Communities Collective are proud to bring this program to schools across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia – creating a broader reach, equitable access, and deeper opportunities for learning and impact.
When a large energy corporation like yours partners with a smaller non-profit organization, what do you think stands out as the most meaningful or impactful element of this collaboration for both sides?
Long-term partnerships with non-profit organizations like Classroom Champions create opportunities for real grassroots change. Every dollar donated to these organizations goes a long way to making deep and lasting impacts on the lives of youth throughout the communities where we live and work.
Some of the most meaningful impacts come from the relationship-building with organizations like Classroom Champions. Our team works closely with these organizations to gain a deeper understanding of their ethos, values, and goals and how we can best support them to maximize the impact. In return, partnering with these organizations provides our staff with opportunities to engage, learn, volunteer on the ground, and help make a difference – ultimately helping us to better deliver on our organizational purpose.
