Chairman’s Message

“Our people believe passionately that what we do makes a difference for customers and our society as a whole.”

Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg accepted the NEA Foundation’s Inaugural Award for Philanthropy in Public Education.

Welcome to Verizon’s Corporate Responsibility Report for 2008–2009.

Over the past year, we have expanded the reach and impact of our signature programs and deepened our partnerships with stakeholders. Also, in response to feedback from the corporate responsibility community, we conducted our first-ever stakeholder engagement survey, which will help us focus future efforts on those issues that matter most to our constituents.

What we hope you will take away from this report is that—in a year in which the ground has shifted dramatically under the feet of corporations and stakeholders alike—Verizon’s commitment to corporate responsibility is as rock-solid as ever.

Few companies touch as many lives, or reach as many communities, as Verizon. We complement this breadth of reach with a corporate responsibility approach that focuses on strategic priorities that we believe will have the biggest impact on society. This disciplined and consistent approach to corporate responsibility allows us to focus our resources, form long-lasting partnerships and build a knowledge base about how to really make a difference in our communities over the long haul.

To ensure that our efforts are producing results, we have established clear lines of accountability. Verizon’s Corporate Responsibility Council, composed of senior executives and chaired by Tom Tauke, executive vice president of Public Affairs, Policy and Communications, and Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Services Operations, identifies issues, establishes priorities, tracks results and integrates corporate responsibility into our business operations.

Through our Strategic Alliances group and Consumer Advisory Board, we engage in a constant dialogue with stakeholders, which gives us an “outside-in” view of our practices and alerts us to emerging issues. The intelligence we gain from these initiatives makes us a smarter business and assures that we remain focused on the issues that are most relevant to our constituents.

A Sustainable Model

Our investment in infrastructure continues despite the recession, as does our investment in educating and training our increasingly diverse workforce for the jobs of the future. Verizon’s business model is built to last, under any economic conditions. The same is true of our commitment to corporate responsibility.

Our products and services are indispensable in the lives of millions of customers. By enabling businesses to work smarter and faster, we will be one of the companies that will help put our economy back on the path to prosperity and growth. And by putting our empowering technologies in people’s hands to transform health care, educate our young people for the 21st century and conserve energy, Verizon will play a huge and constructive role in creating a more sustainable, dynamic and equitable society.

Ivan Seidenberg
Chairman & CEO