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 CENTURYLINK’S PACIFIC ASIAN AMERICAN NETWORK PROMOTES COMMUNITY OUTREACH

 
CenturyLink’s Pacific Asian American Network (PAAN) group in Seattle, which has been in existence for 35 years, is heavily involved in the local Asian community. Each month members volunteer their time at a variety of Asian Pacific non-profit organizations in the local area to assist families in need.
 
In total, there are over 200 employees that participate in CenturyLink’s PAAN, with Seattle having the largest number, at 70, followed by Colorado and Louisiana
 
Like more typical Employee Resource Groups, PAAN schedules monthly meetings, sometimes inviting guest speakers to help members expand their knowledge base. PAAN also gives CenturyLink employees the opportunity to practice leadership skills that are not typically used in their regular job functions. “It’s an interesting way to grow yourself in a safe place,” notes Margie Martin, CenturyLink wholesale manager and PAAN Washington president.
 
But what PAAN members are most proud of are their community outreach efforts.
 
The outreach might involve volunteering at an event, or to offer some sort of sponsorship. “There are a lot of communities that come to us for help,” notes long-time Seattle PAAN member Jane Nishita, market development manager, CenturyLink.
 
One of its most successful programs involves teaching computer skills to the Seattle Asian community. Since 2011, PAAN has been offering computer workshops, providing Internet basic workshop training to Asian community members in need. The training is held in five different Asian languages— Vietnamese, Korean, Cantonese, Tagalog, and Mandarin.
 
PAAN members also worked with senior citizens who were signing up for healthcare through the Affordable Care Act, which requires online setup. Members also worked with families where English is a second language, teaching the importance of a computer for their child’s school studies and homework. They teamed up with nonprofit organization InterConnection.org, which provided refurbished laptops fully loaded with Windows software for $99 (the software alone cost $99); CenturyLink offered a discounted Internet connection for $9.95 per month.
 
PAAN is not the only CenturyLink ERG involved in this outreach. “Our other ERGs are also providing computer classes—in Somali, Russian, Spanish, and American Sign Language,” says Martin.
 
Martin also works with the University of Washington to provide scholarships for Asian students, and leads PAAN in numerous community walks, including the Lunar New Year Walk in February and the Walk for Rice in June.
 
Asian Counseling and Referral Service’s (ACRS) Walk for Rice is folded into CenturyLink’s food bank drive, an annual companywide initiative. CenturyLink’s food bank drive is held in the first two weeks of June, because as schools close for the summer, students who receive free and reduced price lunch at school no longer get fed. During those summer months, many food banks aren’t as well stocked as they need to be.
 
CenturyLink steps in with a challenge – for every pound of food donated during those two weeks, $1 is donated, and for every $1 that is donated, CenturyLink matches that by $6 –up to $1 million. The Seattle PAAN has adopted the ACRS Food Bank – where the food donated are items like rice and tofu, egg noodles and bok choy, and soy sauce. In 2014, CenturyLink’s corporate match check to ACRS totaled $79,240.45.
 
“It’s important that our communities and the public in general see how involved we are,” says Martin. “We are a diverse company, we believe in diversity, and that’s why we are out there to help.”
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