Moody’s CEO and Chairman Raymond McDaniel, Moody’s Investors Service President and COO Michael Madelain, and other Moody’s leadership discuss the Moody's Foundation- a charitable foundation established by Moody's Corporation. Moody's is committed to supporting education, in particular the study of mathematics, finance and economics. The Moody's Foundation also funds specific initiatives in the areas of economic development, civic, health and human services and arts and cultural programs.
Transcript: Michael Madelain, President and COO, Moody’s Investors Service: I think the program is changed the company in a very deep way. Ten years ago, corporate social responsibility was not a theme that was central to Moody’s. It is today. Every employee knows about it, knows about the program, and the level of engagement is extremely high. And everyone recognizes the value of this program to Moody’s and the good we are doing.
Ray McDaniel, Moody’s Corporation Chairman and CEO: Corporations are really nothing more than the collection of individuals that work in that corporation. We do have responsibilities as individuals, as companies, to identify the means by which social responsibility can be implemented. And we have committed to using some of the financial resources of our company to bring together the aspirations of our employees as well as our local community giving. It is ultimately a benefit to our company because it is a benefit to the environment in which we operate.
Linda Huber, Moody’s Corporation Executive Vice President and CFO: The Moody’s Foundation is integral to the efforts of Moody’s Corporation. We are blessed by having a company that is a key participant in the financial markets and is able to provide good profitability, so it’s incumbent upon us to give back to the community. Some of our groundbreaking work has been done in such areas like the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, the National Academy Foundation, various charter schools, and other educational opportunities.
Fran Laserson, President of the Moody’s Foundation: The Foundation has a very specific strategy. We focus on education, and math, economics, and finance. So we look for opportunities that encourage boys and girls to excel in math and understand how math can be applied to anything.
Ray McDaniel, Moody’s Corporation Chairman and CEO: Moody’s Mega Math Challenge is our signature program. It has been for a number of years and it has grown very substantially and been a phenomenally successful program. It’s an online program in applied math models. So they are attempting to use math skills and modeling skills to solve a real world problem and take what they are learning academically and see what kind of solutions can come from the knowledge that they are gaining through an applied math program like the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge.
