2019 Mars Ambassador Program Yearbook

2019 Mars Ambassador Program Yearbook 1

Table of Contents 3

Letter from the Editor

4

Our Impact Around the World

5

2019 MAP Partners

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Group Assignments

34

Individual Assignments

38

Incorporating Learnings into Your Role at Mars

Letter from the Editor Dear 2019 Ambassadors, On behalf of everyone at Mars, Incorporated. I would like to thank you for participating in the Mars Ambassador Program (MAP).

In 2019, you were one of 82 Mars Associates from 28 countries selected to share your skills with our partner organizations through one of our 19 different global assignments. From living on a boat and picking up pieces of trash from remote shorelines in the Gulf of Maine to working with scientists in Brazil on cocoa plant breeding, to optimizing the processing of cocoa and shea butter for women in Cote d’Ivoire working to adopt new production techniques, your efforts truly helped to make a lasting impact on our partner organizations and the people and pets whom they serve.

Over the past decade nearly 800 Mars Associates have participated in the program, advancing causes that they are passionate about and helping more than 160 non-profit organizations further their missions. Through MAP, Associates have the opportunity to live the Mars Purpose by making a true, sustainable difference in the communities that serve our business. Even though MAP has grown and evolved, the mission of the program remains the same as it was when I participated in my first assignment twelve years ago: to give back to others while providing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for Associates to develop professionally, make lasting friendships and discover new passions.

I hope that your experience with MAP was as life changing as mine was. Knowing that WHAT we do is only as good as HOW we do it, I encourage you to build on everything that you have done this year and continue to make a positive impact at your home site and in your own communities. I also ask that you continue sharing your MAP story with your families, friends, colleagues, and social networks and talk to them about the mission of the organization, where you volunteered and about Mars, Incorporated’s commitments to people, pets and the planet.

As always, I welcome your feedback about your experience with MAP and your suggestions for how we can provide even better experiences for future Ambassadors. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have anything that you would like to share.

Thank you for making 2019 another momentous year for MAP! Annette Jennings Sr. Manager, Global Community Engagement & Corporate Giving

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Our Impact Around the World South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Vieques, Puerto Rico

Uttar Pradesh, India

New Delhi, India

Ahmedabad, India

Reading, United Kingdom

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Montana, United States

Lucknow, India

Copenhagen, Denmark

Maine, United States

Bangkok, Chainat, Thailand

Barro Preto, Bahia, Brazil

Illinois, United States

Goa, India

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Maharashtra, India

Gontrode, Belgium

Our Partners

What Our Partners Are Saying The Ambassadors were amongst the best volunteers we have ever worked with on a project. Hugely empowering for all of us to work with such an amazingly motivated and altruistic group of individuals.

Luke Gamble, Founder & CEO, Mission Rabies

The 2019 MAP team helped to celebrate the completion of the Antelope Creek Campground at Mars Vista. Their efforts to set up and attend the event with local community members was an overwhelming success. They are all true Ambassadors for all things they do and engaged and energized all guests at the event. Additionally, they worked all week tirelessly to ensure wildlife on American Prairie Reserve thrive. They dusted prairie dog towns for fleas and expanded habitat by removing fences.

Their work is much appreciated.

Siri Eliasen, Visitation Specialist, American Prairie Reserve

As an organization committed to protecting and cleaning our oceans in the fight against marine debris, to have an opportunity to partner with MAP has given us insight into the power of corporations to be a catalyst for change. We all have the power to create positive impacts within ourselves, our families and our communities. The Ambassadors are doing just that!

Ashley Sullivan, Executive Director, Rozalia Project

MAP assignment at MCCS has always been successful because the participants come here with the desire to do their best and this year they made a great contribution by painting the school building, which would have cost about 3,000 USD. Besides, we understand that having Ambassadors from different countries in our site to understand about the science we do here and spread to the world how we add value to Mars and how we a striving to positively impact the cocoa supply chain is the most important contribution they can give to us.

Bruno Santos, P&O Business Partner, Mars Incorporated

The Ambassadors have been wonderful to work with they provided our organization’s staff with good insights into the work of Mars, as well as constructive input on the processes related to their assignment. They are true experts in their respective fields, which provided our organization with specialist knowledge on the task at hand. We are extremely happy with the outputs and would like to thank the Ambassadors for the hard work and a great deal of support.

Nicole Andreou, International Eco-Schools Coordinator, Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)

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Group Assignments Group Assignments

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American Prairie Reserve Montana, United States

The American Prairie Reserve (APR) is an organization on a mission to restore America’s Great Plains, which once spanned much of the United States in an endless sea of grass abounding with diverse wildlife. In 2019, a group of Ambassadors worked on a prairie dog project focusing on dusting prairie dog holes with flea controlling powder. This is important work as fleas carry the danger of plague. Removing this danger allows prairie dog towns to grow which will help to prepare for the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret into the Prairie. Ambassadors assisted in removing old, obsolete fences from wildlife habitat. Elk, deer, antelope, and other roaming and migrating animals benefit from no longer having gnarly, barbed fence wires to navigate, get tangled up in, or severely cut from. Additionally, Ambassadors helped support and participate in the Mars Vista Campground opening. This multicultural event celebrates the opening of American Prairie Reserve’s second public campground.

Chad Naig What is your favorite memory from your trip?

Our last goodbye together. Everyone’s passion!!!! You couldn’t have chosen a better group of seven people that meshed so immediately.

Dana Esposito What was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

We dusted over 400 acres of prairie dog towns, which roughly includes about 12,000 burrows. We removed a mile of fencing to create free-roam land. We brought the community together with a memorable celebration of a campground opening to honor the beauty of the land.

Jennifer Gutt What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

To know that the simple act of applying flea powder to prairie dogs’ holes could save 1000’s of prairie dog lives hit home to me; even the simplest actions can have incredible impacts.

Galina Yakimova What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

I cannot point out a single event or activity - absolutely everything we did contributed to me growing both as a person and professionally. From Ambassadors waiting for each other at the airport and chatting over dinner with National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institute to dusting prairie dog holes as a highly collaborative team and getting so close to these adorable creatures that needed our help to survive and thrive in the Reserve.

Gordana Cimic What is your favorite memory from your trip?

It is hard to pick just one. Seeing the bison in their natural habitat from very close (and also prairie dogs and coyote). To hear the sounds of the prairie (chirping of the prairie dogs) and to smell it (totally sage). To hang out around and have dinner in the evening with other Ambassadors, the staff, the Smithsonian researchers, the NGO filming crew. To be a witness to a Native American prayer at the Mars Vista Camping site opening. To have a muddy ride back home sliding away on the road… and so many more.

Gerhard Watkins What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

Diversity and inclusion. We all are nothing if not accepted by others. Do not force yourself upon others and demand acceptance.

Live it for others, and it will happen for you. That is the basis of motivating teams, I believe. Having the same goals agreed upon and bought into, allows for progress. To really succeed, check in on others regularly with real empathy and the goals will be achieved quicker and with more completeness. These are the main learnings I had. Talking and suggesting, while allowing others to contribute, will make my life more inclusive and enriched. I already started to focus more on doing these daily and within projects I lead.

Mandy Emery What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

Attending the Antelope Creek campground opening we knew that APR staff, those who donated and the locals from the native reserve would be in attendance. What I didn’t anticipate or understand was the importance of having the native community support the campground and APR efforts. Hearing them give blessing to the new campground and welcome them home was touching.

Group Assignments

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Mission Rabies Education Goa, India

Originally founded in 2013 as a charity project under Worldwide Veterinary Services (WVS), Mission Rabies is now its own charity with one aim: eliminate rabies transmitted through dog bites through a research driven approach. Unfortunately, nearly 99% of human rabies cases are caused by an infected dog bite; once symptoms of the disease develop, it is almost always fatal. To combat this issue, Mission Rabies runs mass canine vaccination campaigns by vaccinating 70% of dogs in a prescribed area to create herd immunity and educating local communities. For one week, a group of Ambassadors helped to bridge the vaccination and education aspects of the Mission Rabies work in India. Ambassadors vaccinated dogs, used an epidemiological app to collect and track data, marked vaccinated dogs and educated the public through a training program that teaches local community members how to protect against this deadly, preventable disease by providing vaccination cards and bite prevention materials.

Kelly Cooper What is your favorite memory from your trip?

Being out on a beach on the Arabian Sea in the pounding rain vaccinating a stray dog for rabies that had been netted by a local, while a herd of cows looked on. That dog will never die from rabies nor cause another to die from rabies thanks to the work we did.

Emi Saito What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

As an Associate in a veterinary practice in which the business model is preventive care, this assignment really made me appreciate the challenges to what we consider basic care in the U.S. The multipronged approach to eliminating rabies in Goa and its effectiveness planted seeds in my head of things to consider for future work.

Slavena Buyukieva What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

I didn’t expect to see such a great collaboration with the WVS training center. I was amazed by the Mission Rabies and WVS truck, which is used for castration campaigns around the state of Goa. This is incredible for educational purposes but also for getting as many pets castrated as possible!

Patricia Burbano

Armina Hamilton What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The vaccination drive days were certainly the most challenging and helped me grow personally and professionally. Being able to interact with the locals living both in rural and urban areas was extremely rewarding, and eye opening - it was an excellent exercise in putting things into perspective and practicing resilience. Visiting people in their homes and communities was challenging at times as it was obvious there were many ways we may be helpful to a community, however the assignment required us to remain focused on our purpose for being there (i.e. vaccinating dogs) and really demonstrated the importance in doing so.

Carol Webb What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

During my trip I learned that almost 60,000 people die every year from rabies. That seems unfathomable when you are on a continent where the disease has been eradicated. However, once setting foot in India, I saw for myself the sheer number of dogs running around and realized how eradication of this disease was such a concern for the people that live there.

Bethany Wolf What is your favorite memory from your trip?

I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I think about the litter of precious puppies that we found and vaccinated. After I marked their heads to signify that the vaccination had taken place, I had the opportunity to hold one. Being this close to an animal in need was my favorite memory.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

We sat on a stage in front of a couple of hundred school children and watched as they participated in a 25-minute presentation on rabies and dog bite prevention. This was an incredibly emotional experience. The children, and the teachers, were happy to learn and participate and I truly think this education made an impact on their communities.

Group Assignments

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Mars Centre for Cocoa Science Barro Preto, Brazil

The Mars Center for Cocoa Science (MCCS) near Itabuna, Brazil is a global leader in various fields of cocoa research and sustainability. During this year’s assignment Ambassadors spent a week contributing to the agroforestry system by participating in plant breeding and by planting cocoa trees and banana palms in the garden at the Virginia Mars School. The group of participants also had the opportunity to learn more about the areas related to cocoa research including: breeding to control pests, diseases and to improve flavor, fat and flavanol content, cocoa propagation through grafting and in-vitro culture, improvement of post-harvest practices (fermentation) and agribusiness and agroforestry experiences throughout the neighboring farms.

Loretta Tagliaferri What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

Mars is such an ethical company. The Five Principles are a reality, and this experience helped me to better understand the company commitment for an ethical and sustainable cocoa for future generations. This is really a great place to work, grow and stay for a long time.

Tumi Masekesla What was your first impression upon arriving at your assignment?

Great country, great people, food and weather. MCCS is the most beautiful site, everyone here smiles and is friendly.

Micah Doreman What is your favorite memory from your trip?

The work ethic of my fellow Ambassadors who were so committed to making a difference while we were there.

Simarjit Kaur What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

Team work and driving for results. Never give up and always find a solution for the problem in every situation. I also learned the value for money and appreciated the efforts done by all my team members and those at the MCCS site.

Xiao Qin What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

Thinking sustainably is really important. Before I joined MAP, it felt unreasonable to me to spend so much money on cocoa sustainability. But now I understand the long-term benefits of this efforts and how this could be applied to daily work that focuses on long term solutions for these types of issues.

Fabio Albanese What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

The amazing taste of fresh cocoa fruit and juice!

Ahmad Lasheen What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Learning about cocoa agronomy. While on assignment, I had the chance to germinate cocoa seeds and I grafted my own cocoa plant!

Syawaluddin What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

During this assignment I learned about discipline in work across every activity both in the field and in the room. We must be on time, efficient and regimented. This will be very influential with the results we want to achieve in our workplaces. I have applied this in every meeting.

Group Assignments

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Single-Use Plastics Campaign Ahmedabad, India

The Centre of Excellence in Environmental Education (CEE) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is charged with the objective to improve public awareness and understanding of the environment by promoting the conservation and sustainable use of nature and its natural resources. Ambassadors on this assignment spent a week in India developing and executing a single-use plastics campaign that focused on young leaders in schools and universities. As part of this task Ambassadors compiled stories of single-use plastics online and created a resource bank, developed a social media outreach campaign using lesson plans for youth in universities and conducted one session in a local college in Ahmedabad.

Vanja Vagic What was your first impression upon arriving at your assignment?

Mostly I’m impressed with interaction we had with kids in schools and on educational workshops at CEE. For example, we visited the Gandhi Ashram trust funded school where kids from all across the country live and go to school. For weeks I was impressed by how important education is to them. They see their parents only during holidays, they live very, very modest and still they are so well behaved, motivated and smart. For me, India itself was huge step out from my comfort zone but it was worth it. I learned a lot about their culture but also about myself.

Bianca Werkmeister What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

Learning about the initiatives and campaigns both CEE, Mars and the local government of India have implemented has made me more passionate about understanding what a first world country like Australia should be doing more of.

Alexandra West Denise Mariel Mazza What is your favorite memory from your trip?

My favorite memory is the happy face of the kids that we’ve met on the school we visit and on Gandhi ashram... I will never forget how amazed they looked at us and the interest they had on learning what we had to share.

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Working with the host organization, CEE, has really helped me grow.

It has broadened my perspective on the challenges facing different cultures on common issues like waste and the environment and has given me new ideas as to how we as a business need to face this issue and play our part.

Reda Valauskite What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The whole assignment was about single-use plastic, waste management and the importance to be a part of the effort to stop climate change. After this assignment I already added my value by initiating single-use plastic reduction across different departments as well as personal life. Also, professionally I camwe back with an energy to implement one of the biggest sustainability projects aluminum-free packaging!

Group Assignments

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Pratham Education Foundation New Delhi, India

Pratham was founded over twenty years ago in Mumbai, India with the original aim of providing pre-school education to children in urban slums. Since then, the organization has grown in scope and size to bring a learning outcomes-based approach to over 23 Indian states and union territories. Two Ambassadors spent one week building upon previous MAP work by ideating, designing and mapping out how to execute an online crowdfunding campaign to drive awareness about Pratham’s work and raise funds from individual donors ahead of India’s annual Giving Week.

Gicela Carvantes What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The activity that helped me grow personally and professionally was visiting the school programs where I could see the passionate kids motivated to learn, passionate teachers willing to teach and a great people willing to do good.

Jamie Rubinstein What is your favorite memory from your trip?

As we were leaving the school visit, the students all ran after us to the gates. They kept asking their teachers if we could come back tomorrow. It was great to be able to see such a positive environment that Pratham has created.

Group Assignments

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Tanager – Shubh Mint Project Lucknow, India

Tanager is a non-profit organization that has partnered with Mars Wrigley since 2014 to support Indian farmers to increase their agricultural productivity, reduce the cost of production, save water, promote good soil health and increase their overall income. The Shubh Mint project, a regional Tanager project, is committed to helping mint farmers double their income from mint oil and increase crop yields in order to increase profitability of the crop and ensure the sustainability of the natural mint oil industry in the region. On this assignment, four Ambassadors supported the Tanager Shubh Mint project team by training them to effectively communicate and share project data and helping create narratives and project success stories that can be disseminated to external stakeholders who might be interested in joining the project.

Diederik Frank What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The interaction with the farmers, understanding the impact the program has on their families, the long-term effect the program has and the sustainability aspects.

Roksana Ososinska What is your favorite memory from your trip?

A conversation I had with a female farmer that joined Farmer Producer Company who shared something that made her so proud: “I’m now managing this big company, and people recognize my name on the streets.” Before that she was always referred to as “wife of X,” but now she is addressed by her name.

Felipe Faria What is your favorite memory from your trip?

The great smiles from the farmers that have had their lives changed by the program.

Cynthia Stevens

Group Assignments

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Rozalia Project Maine, United States

The Rozalia Project was founded in 2010 with a mission to clean and protect the ocean and conserve a healthy, thriving marine ecosystem. Since launching, the Project has focused on addressing the problem of marine debris through action-based restoration (clean-ups), prevention education, embracing technology for data collection and conducting solution-based research. On this assignment, two groups of Ambassadors became crew members and boarded the American Promise, a recordbreaking circumnavigator, as part of a large-scale marine debris recovery effort in hard to reach islands along the rugged Gulf of Maine coast. Ambassadors picked up 5,000+ pieces of trash from remote shorelines and worked with the Rozalia Project team to collect data of recovered items, add to existing data sets, and analyze the data to help inform the organization’s STEM education program.

Helen Joubert What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Collecting over 4000 pieces of trash from a remote beach on Frenchboro Island. This is a relatively uninhabited island and yet the beach is terribly polluted. Collecting and sorting the trash on this beach had a huge impact on me personally as it relates to being more mindful with the products I use that have an impact on the environment. Also, it’s just as important that we at Mars consider what we should be doing to reduce our impact in line with our SIG goals.

Serenity Madrone What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your day-to-day role at Mars?

My assignment reaffirmed the impact that we can have as individuals, and as a business when we focus on the issues that matter most to the communities where we live and work. I hope that talking about my MAP experience with my colleagues and the new hires that I train can help inspire them to dig deeper, to find ways to engage that they may not have considered before.

Katherine Hogan What was your first impression upon arriving at your assignment?

Besides having nervous excitement to get going, my first impression was about the great group of people I was with. I knew from the get-go that we’d have a lot of fun along the way.

Joel Cockroft What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

Seeing a local islander burning a huge pile of rubbish, which then washed out to sea as the tide came in, all of which was right next to where we were carrying out our beach cleanup. It was a stark reminder that cultural and behavioral shifts are critical to driving change.

Lane Murphy What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

Persevering through one particularly emotionally and physically draining day. We did a 4-hour long beach clean-up on Long Island, Maine. The amount of trash and debris covering the beach was overwhelming, and even after so much time spent cleaning, it was demoralizing to see how much trash remained. Although emotionally defeated, hungry, and tired, sitting down and giving up was not an option. I think we all felt similarly. I had to find strength to remain positive for myself and see that even our efforts did add up to a positive change. I found strength to be supportive, social, professional and positive with my peers, even though I really felt like taking a nap by myself. At work or at home, when things are very tough, I know I have inner strength to lean on to get me through it and help get others through it too.

Imogen Kerr Laurie Horsfall What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

Pulling up to a beach on a dinghy and seeing so much trash made me feel every emotion imaginable; from sadness to anger, joy to pride. I didn’t realize how bad the issues of ocean plastics were, and I was shocked.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

The beach clean-up on Matinicus Island will stay with me for a very long time. About an hour into our clean-up – the tide washed up freshly burnt rubbish from a resident’s house. To see the part of the beach we had just cleaned be instantly polluted with rubbish again almost made our efforts feel worthless. We all took 5 minutes to commiserate our bad luck and question why we bothered cleaning up in the first place. However, after, the assignment crew had an incredibly meaningful discussion on the boat about how beach clean ups are not to pick up every piece of rubbish created. Instead it is to gather meaningful data and to have purposeful conversations – this is really the most impactful thought I have taken from the experience.

Cynthia Ast What is your favorite memory from your trip?

My favorite memory was sitting on the back of the boat at night with new friends, in the calm Maine waters, after a day of hard work cleaning up a beach and sorting data. It was such satisfying and rewarding work. The feeling that I have made an impact in the world is something that I will continue to chase for my whole life.

Yang Gao What is your favorite memory from your trip?

Sailing through storms and seeing various wildlife (sun fish, sharks, whales, etc.) roaming freely and undisturbed in their natural habitat.

Jose Antonio What is your favorite memory from your trip?

I have so many that it´s difficult for me to choose only one. But I remember fondly when it was Joel’s turn to prepare the dinner (Mexican tacos) and I decided to help him. Everyone assumed that being Argentinian was the closest to being Mexican, culinary speaking, so I had the knowledge to prepare the tacos. But in reality, I had no clue! But I was ready to jump in and help. The funny part was that, despite Joel and I were in charge of dinner preparation, the rest of the crew came inside of the gallery (kitchen) to help and we all end up singing and dancing to ‘Despacito’ from my Spotify list.

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Tata Trusts – GoMo Launch

Uttar Pradesh & Masharashtra, India Since its inception over 100 years ago, the Tata Trusts have become one of India’s oldest, non-sectarian, philanthropic organizations. Through grant-making, direct implementation and co-partnership strategies, the Trusts support and drive innovation across sectors and key issue areas in order to make a difference in communities. Ambassadors on this assignment continued the work of Mars Edge Associates, who in 2018 helped launch an evidence-based, accessible nutrition product for school-aged children under the brand GoMo Dal Crunchies. For one week, Ambassadors supported the GoMo team in launching the GoMo product in India through unconventional distribution channels: women’s self-help groups, women entrepreneurs and other last-mile distributors who are delivering the product in their villages and conducting nutrition education events.

Rajeswari Boddu What was your first impression upon arriving at your assignment?

It was exciting to see the team members and see that all of us had such enthusiasm to explore and learn during the MAP assignment.

Simone Roeder What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

It was really the field visits where we were visiting the homes of potential distributors and buyers of the GoMo Dal Crunchie product.

I experienced a lot of things I already knew - the importance of education, the empowerment of women, and the value of hygiene for a healthy life - but seeing this firsthand instead of just reading about it made all the difference.

Aoife O’Hanlon What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Meeting with the woman who are leading the Self-Employed Women’s Associate (SEWA) was so inspiring, both professionally and personally. Hearing about how they are making small, yet impactful changes in their communities was so inspiring. The way they are making lives better for fellow women, encouraging them to get better education, access to financial support and teaching them about the importance of nutrition for their families. These women are breaking tradition and cultural norms, which will have an impact for generations to come. This has shown me that no matter what obstacles stand in your way, strength in numbers and determination can overcome so much.

Neil Fitzpatrick What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

My biggest learnings were around culture and sustainability. The Indian culture is truly unique, and many of the problems they face today such as malnutrition, poverty and economic inequality are unfortunately closely linked to aspects of their culture. Solving these will require a monumental shift in culture, which may take time. From a sustainability standpoint, it was educational to gain an understanding of the Mars Edge and GoMo business in depth.

Applying the “Economics of Mutuality” principles to the GoMo business model is a very interesting and innovative approach, and I was impressed with the sustainability impact this approach can have.

Moira Fitzgerald What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Going into the field to meet with the women and children who we are working with to make a difference. Seeing how they live and yet are full of joy and hope. Impressed by the amazing women working to make a better life for their children.

Melissa Lanoux

Brianna Jones What is your favorite memory from your trip?

I loved hearing the stories from the SEWA women. They are great story tellers and their stories are all really impressive. Every women we talked to reminded me that everyone is human, and everyone is more alike than different. We are all striving to be better and to provide more for our children. Also, there were countless funny stories from the group - from trying to figure out how the toilet works, to running out of the room because we found a mouse! We were so out of our element at times, but it was good to laugh about.

What is your favorite memory from your trip?

My favorite memory of the trip was visiting the homes of the women. We were able to see how they live, talk to them, and become part of the festivals that were going on at the time. We visited local childcare centers to talk with the women that were selling the product and at the same time there were people dancing in the street. It was the festival of Ganesh (elephant god) while we were there, and it was fun to experience everyone celebrating and having fun!

Group Assignments

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Thai Rice Farmer Training Bangkok & Roi Et, Thailand

In 2017, Mars Food announced that by 2020, all of its rice would will be sourced from farmers who are working towards the Sustainable Rice Platform’s (SRP) standard. This goal will be achieved by investing in programs to address water stewardship, human rights, income, and women’s empowerment in the rice supply chain. To ensure that all of Mars’ rice farmers in Asia are on the path to sustainable incomes, the company has partnered with GIZ, a German development agency, and the Thai Rice Department to increase rice farmers’ income by improving farm business tactics and overall management skills. Ambassadors on this assignment spent one week learning from a local farming community about the barriers within the Thai rice supply chain and the daily challenges farmers face. From their learnings, Ambassadors helped to develop a five-year business strategy plan for farmers to grow their business, keep better records and generate more income. Additionally, Ambassadors gave recommendations for how the farming community can shift from being solely rice growers to instead being seed growers in a way that is beneficial for all stakeholders involved.

Nalinee Robinson What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

The assignment inspired me to be part of something bigger than myself, so that’s something that I can apply in both my personal and professional life.

Caitlin Bardsley What is your favorite memory from your trip?

Being able to form working relationships with other Associates from around the world was a huge highlight for me. I was lucky enough to spend a week with seven other fabulous Mars Associates who each brought a unique perspective to our assignment. I will cherish the constant laughs, smiles and memories I made with this team - from our dinners where we weren’t quite sure what we were eating, to the karaoke and dance lessons during a river cruise, to getting stuck in the mud when visiting rice paddies and also getting ‘sprinkled’ with a little bit too much holy water by a Thai Monk during a visit to a temple.

Alison Jones What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Hanging out with the CRC farmers and hearing their stories. It makes me want to go back and really help put sustainable business practices in place on a longer (6-week) assignment.

Luke Hollis What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

I have a much better understanding of Mars’ sustainability ambitions. Working in supply chain and seeing the ultimate beginning of our products helped me to visualize and understand the reality of what it takes to get rice from a field to our consumers.

Salima Lalani What was your first impression upon arriving at your assignment?

It was my first introduction to Asia – the culture, the people and the food were unlike anything I had experienced before! Once I connected with my MAP cohort, I was extremely excited to learn more about their experiences at Mars and what motivated them to apply to our specific MAP assignment. Each individual was unique and brought a different skillset to the assignment, which was a strong asset as we looked to improve the livelihood of rice farmers in the Mars Food supply chain network. Within the first few days of our assignment, I was hopeful that we’d be able to lend our individual expertise to solving the problem at hand.

Carolyn Thomas Giulia Menghi What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

What helped me grow was working with people from different backgrounds and different countries. I realized that putting together our strengths would enable us to go further. For example, my contribution was focused on user centricity and the people side of the problem. It was then useful to have very analytical people in the group that were able to approach the problem from a cash-flow/economical perspective. These two different mindsets helped us to have a more comprehensive understanding and list of recommendations.

Group Assignments

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Pet Friendly – Hurricane Relief San Juan & Vieques, Puerto Rico

Pet Friendly Puerto Rico is a local non-profit on a mission to make Puerto Rico a safe place for pets through programs that focus on education, building pet friendly infrastructure, fighting abandonment and abuse and most importantly helping the existing shelters on the island recover from 2017’s Hurricane Maria – the most intense cyclone to hit the island in more than a century. Mars, which has had operations in Puerto Rico for over 50 years worked in collaboration with Pet Friendly to guide a group of Ambassadors around the island for one week as they collaborated directly with the re-building efforts and shelter personnel to establish a routine of veterinary care, propose effective funding and volunteer recruitment methods and work directly with pets. Ambassadors that participated in this assignment were able to directly impact local animals’ lives by developing a volunteer agenda for the shelter, working directly with pets, suggesting a sustainable method for shelter funding, helping to maximize donations, developing a social media strategy for the organization’s platforms and providing creative recommendations to ensure continuous cash flow to support operations supporting Puerto Rico’s animals.

Alex Lloyd What is your favorite memory from your trip?

Getting a puppy out of a urine soaked, cockroach infested cage and hugging it. For those few moments it was a normal pet. I desperately hope that it found a home.

Teodor Zorovski What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Connecting with the local community in Vieques – seeing and feeling their authentic gratitude for helping them and their pets.

Dean Richardson What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

The Save a Sato animal shelter was really unexpected for me. I thought the conditions would have been a little better, however seeing the shelter how it is really makes me want to drive change and to be able to continue to help them post my MAP experience.

Erin Ferris What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

I think the experience at Save a Sato really helped me grow personally and professionally. Seeing the facility through the owner’s eyes and recognizing the heart and passion that she had put into trying to make a difference for the animals that she rescued. She was doing the best she could with the knowledge and resources that she had. The appearance of the facility would have been off-putting if I had gone in unprepared, and I think being able to go in with an open mind and with the perspective of recognizing the good and coming up with ideas to make things better allowed me to have a meaningful experience.

Alexandra Boboc-Stoica What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

I felt incredibly honored to have been part of this program and I’m more committed than ever to our Mars Purpose, and our goal to end pet homelessness.

Jenna Mikkola What is your favorite memory from your trip?

The Bioluminescence Bay visit with the whole MAP group in Vieques.

It’s one of the few places in the world to see this and we did it together. It made me appreciate nature even more than before.

Sonja Hartomo What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

I did not realize that iguanas can run so fast, I got chased by one for a bit when trying to take a photo. I also learned afterwards that they can be a bit dangerous too. Lesson learned: social media posts are not worth the risk of trying to photograph everything that moves!

Fionn Collins What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

The importance of understanding the context of situations and while not all of these are ideal, there is always something that can be done to improve it as we saw with the shelter in San Juan.

Group Assignments

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MCRC – Demonstration Plot South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Mars Cocoa Research Centre (MCRC) was established in 2017 in a rural community and is the second MCRC research facility in South Sulawesi Indonesia. At this facility Mars hopes to further develop superior cacao genetics and pest resistance. In an effort to support the needs of the local community and share the research center’s agriculture knowledge, a group of Ambassadors spent a week executing agricultural best practices by turning an empty plot of land into a demonstration plot for cocoa, pomelo, cashew and other plants, a nursery house and a composting area.

Felipe Bermudez What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

I was expecting a lot of learning from our friends in Indonesia. But I was not expecting to learn so much (tons) from the others MAP members. I had the chance to talk to each one of them and learn about their jobs, the importance of each one and the challenges they face. It gave me a better overview of the cocoa and chocolate business and why it is important for our company.

Ana Aguado What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

I didn’t expect to meet such amazing Associates that would turn out to be really great friends. I know that Martians are a special group of people, but I was unprepared for how easily and how quickly we would go from strangers to friends. These connections will have a lasting impact on my time here at Mars not just professionally by increasing my network of Associates, but personally as well. Other Martians from all over the world that I can reach out to for anything from a special project to a recommendation on where to go for dinner.

Justyna Zielska What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

I now have this huge amount of knowledge about cocoa – starting from the very beginning, namely farming cocoa – planting, grafting, pruning, pollinating through processing and supplying it. I’ve learned a lot about the complex challenges farmers, traders and suppliers face day after day to ensure that we will not lack cocoa globally. Last but not least, during the assignment I understood how unique Mars is with our Principles and the way they lead us, everywhere in the world.

Danielle Dossantos What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited NASA for the first time.

During his tour of the facility, he met a janitor who was carrying a broom down the hallway. The President casually asked the janitor what he did for NASA, and the janitor replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.” I feel the same way when I think about my role at Mars. By working here, I find my purpose in something bigger than just myself. I am one of many Associates that are helping Mars help improve communities around the world and make a difference.

Klaudia Krysiak What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

All the activities while on assignment brought something into my life and somehow changed me in terms of the way I perceive my work today and the connections I build.

Renato Almici What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

To have a very good quality of chocolate and make cocoa farming sustainable requires doing a lot of research and for farmers to adopt specific techniques while ensuring their wellbeing at the same time. The same could be done at a smaller scale: to have a well engaged team and build strong relationships with customers/ suppliers you have to patiently work every day, following our five principles by doing simple but meaningful tasks for a long-lasting result and with respect for each other’s needs.

Karen Lee What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The grafting activity on the first day has helped me grow the most - it was the activity I found the hardest. In my regular job, I spend most of my days collaborating in meetings or making and sharing decks on performance/marketing activations. Grafting was using my hands to make something. The patience and precision it took to do this gave me such respect for what needs to be done along the entire cocoa value chain to produce even 1 M&M. Personally, it helped me practice patience and perseverance. Professionally, it gave me a deep respect of all that Mars does to future-proof and drive the cocoa community towards sustainability and progress.

Alberto Murillo Mejias What is your favorite memory from your trip?

The smiles of the Indonesian people.

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CARE Female Income Development Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

CARE International is a global NGO created 73 years ago with a presence in over 90 countries that is dedicated to ending poverty by creating targeted programs and delivering life-saving aid. In Cote d’Ivoire, CARE has a long history of working in the cocoa economy helping farmers adopt environmentally-friendly agricultural practices and technologies to sustainably increase the productivity and profitability of cocoa farms. On this assignment, two Ambassadors supported CARE by strengthening the processing capacity of women who produce shea and cocoa butters through workflow observation, technique training and by developing a how-to guide for applying the new production techniques.

Alice Bullock What have you learned from your assignment and how will you incorporate your learnings from your assignment into your dayto-day role at Mars?

I think gratitude is always a very important feeling to have rekindled every once in a while and the privilege of participating in the MAP program along with the perspective of how fortunate I am as an educated, full-time, employed Australian has certainly helped me feel more gratitude in my life. A surprise learning for me was a much greater appreciation for how important marketing is to a successful business. Yes, it sounds obvious, but I saw a compelling example in the women who produce shea butter that even despite improved process techniques, they had limited opportunity to improve their overall profit through selling shea butter without finding more customers through improved marketing tactics and understanding market conditions. In turn, I think this has given me an improved perspective on how interesting and important the communication and collaboration between marketing and factory technical teams is.

Anne Puzak What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

How the little suggestions I had for efficiency improvements affected the women. They were so grateful for confirmation that their process was correct and for them to even better understand why they are doing things a certain way.

Group Assignments

31

Plastic & Pollution Education Materials Copenhagen, Denmark

The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is a global civil society network and a world leader in environmental education for sustainable development.

FEE’s programs represent the absolute cutting edge in education for sustainable development and environmental education. To further FEE’s vision of empowering people everywhere to live sustainably and in an environmentally conscious way, two Ambassadors were selected to spend a week developing materials on plastic materials, pollution of the ocean, microplastic, etc., that would equip teachers with the tools needed to teach the topics in schools. Ambassadors supported in developing and reformatting the materials to suit various platforms – online, print, etc. – and be incorporated into other existing programs.

Ranjeet Kaur What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

The influence of the people working in FEE along with awareness of UN sustainable objectives really helped me grow. The information shared and prepared by FEE during the assignment as well as gaining awareness of their programs and the long-term impact on society had a great influence on me.

Grace Heidelberger What was the most unexpected, yet impactful, experience of your trip?

The most unexpected and impactful experience of my trip was how much our partner organization practiced their purpose. All of the members truly believed in and implemented environmentally friendly practices in their lives.

Group Assignments

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Individual Assignments Individual Assignments

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Leah Tranovich

Process Development Engineer, Mars Wrigley, United States

BOS+ Sustainability Evaluation In your own words, what was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

My assignment gave the organization a recommendation and an in-depth (12 page) report on plastics, biodegradability, and tree guards that are currently on the market to help them eliminate their plastic waste when they plant new trees.

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Living and working in a foreign country where English is not the native language helped me work on speaking up when I need help and navigating new places.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful experience of your trip?

The most unexpected yet impactful experience was attending an event in Brussels where indigenous leaders from Brazil spoke about the importance of stopping deforestation and protecting the Earth’s resources.

Nadezhda Kaazik

Systems and Processes S&F Project Lead, Mars Wrigley, Kazakhstan

Friends of the Chicago River, Efficiency & Measurement Evaluation In your own words, what was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

I interviewed staff at the Friends of the Chicago River organization in order to make recommendations on how KPIs and measurements could evolve and what tools might be applied to improve efficiency and communications. I brought large business perspective and ways of working to the business. I also helped with highlighting the importance of a proper HR policy.

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Our Principles matter and we need to be proud of what we are achieving.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful experience of your trip?

The Halloween party at Mars Wrigley. I was invited to visit, and it was great!

Sabrina Fancy

Senior Account Manager, Ecommerce, Mars Corporate, United Kingdom

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Marketing Materials In your own words, what was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

I was able to add value through helping the organization with efficiencies of working. Mars has some fantastic templates that I passed over to them that will hopefully be used in the future. I also was able to use my digital knowledge and connections to get Guide Dogs set up on Amazon Alexa, as well as connecting them with Amazon to build a future relationship. Most of the contacts I made were grateful to receive my email and have said they would like to keep in contact for future questions so hopefully my expertise will live on!

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

Walking blindfolded down the street led by an in-training guide dog.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful experience of your trip?

The nature of the experience meant I had to use my initiative, relationship building skills and confidence to connect with different teams and different projects. This enabled me to get the most out of the MAP assignment, and I felt very proud that I had managed to achieve so much for Guide Dogs UK.

Brenna Mcelhinny Specialist, Hospital Marketing, Banfield, United States

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Rebranding Strategy In your own words, what was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

The goal of my assignment was to provide insight into what other non-profit organizations are doing in the sector and glean some best practices for Guide Dogs as they start their upcoming rebrand.

I think the impact of my assignment will help Guide Dogs frame their new branding work in a way that engages with general public and service users. I hope they take the best practice examples to create robust branding guidelines that will help communicate reasoning for a rebrand and to bring the public along on the journey. As the organization looks to grow and highlight other service offerings; it will be vital to evolve the brand beyond “dogs” and show both the public and their existing service users the high value that Guide Dogs provides to community. My assignment laid the groundwork for them to enter into the current charity sector with a strong, impactful brand presence to launch this growth.”

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

By far the most impactful part of my assignment was the people I met. I did not expect to make so many friends and feel like such a part of the team; it was hard to leave.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful experience of your trip?

I learned a lot during my assignment, about myself, the visually impaired community, as well as some best business practices. One way I hope to incorporate my learning is to help promote and raise awareness for accessibility. Whether through how we design materials to ensure page readers can navigate easier to the client experience for the visually impaired in our hospitals; ensuring that accessibility stays top of mind for the business as we continue to grow.

Barbara Cooper Marketing Director, Mars Wrigley, Canada

CARE, Communications Strategy In your own words, what was the impact of your assignment to the organization, its stakeholders and the surrounding community?

I partnered with CARE Cote d’Ivoire to sharpen their marketing communications strategies and tools, and to enable them to share the stories and the impact of their work in the communities they support.

What event/activity from your MAP experience has helped you grow both personally and professionally?

My favorite memory was speaking with the people who have been impacted by Mars and CARE’s support. I met a woman in the village of Gueyo who is a member of a Mars-sponsored Village Savings & Loan Association (VSLA). Through CARE, she has received entrepreneurial training, and coupled with a small loan from her VSLA, she started a business making and selling juices.

She has branded her juices “Chaud Chaud” (French for “hot hot”), because that’s how she feels about her business and her future.

She was just one of the many incredible people who shared their story with me.

What was the most unexpected, yet impactful experience of your trip?

I learned that the biggest change starts with small action. The simple act of saving a small amount each week can compound and become the foundation for big change for an empowered group.

Now that I’m back, I remind myself that big initiatives can start with a small step.

Individual Assignments

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Incorporating Learnings into Your Role at Mars Brianna Jones Tata Trusts

It was quite the humbling experience, and I’ve learned that I take a lot for granted. In my day-to-day role, I plan on raising my vibration up – not only for myself, but for the benefit of my team and to quit complaining about the small stuff, and instead push to innovate daily – innovate within and beyond my current role. There’s so much we could be doing even in our backyard community. It’s easy to get complacent, so my goal this year is to strive to the next level.

Dean Richardson Pet Friendly Puerto Rico

Thinking under extreme pressure and how to problem solve when circumstances can become difficult.

Mandy Emery American Prairie Reserve

Micah Dorfman MCCS Brazil

Sustainability in a larger scale. These learnings will be engrained in my work for years to come at Mars. I will continue to teach Associates what I learned in Brazil.

Understanding and remembering that every story has two sides and unless you ask questions and seek to understand you will not learn the other person’s perspective and concerns. I managed to work in a situation of ambiguity where trusting others and using patience got me home safe and sound. Continuing to do this will allow for less stress and allow for the ability to delegate responsibilities.

Listening skills and really taking the time to hear what others have to share brings benefit and learning to the situation.

Ana Aguado

MCRC Demonstration Plot This assignment taught me a lot about cocoa, but even more so about myself. I am more open to trying new things, having new experiences, taking chances, and learning to go with the flow. As I navigate the day to day at Mars, these qualities of taking calculated risks and having more courage and faith in myself are going to help me be a more successful Associate.

Lane Murphy

Neil Fitzpatrick Tata Trusts

My biggest learnings were around culture and sustainability.

The Indian culture is truly unique, and many of the problems they face today such as malnutrition, poverty and economic inequality are unfortunately closely linked to aspects of their culture. Solving these will require a monumental shift in culture, which may take time. From a sustainability standpoint, it was educational to gain an understanding of the Mars Edge and GoMo business in depth. Applying the “Economics of Mutuality� principles to the GoMo business model is a very interesting and innovative approach, and I was impressed with the impact on sustainability this approach can have.

The Rosaliza Project

While I already knew how serious and significant of a problem marine pollution is, I learned more about the depth and extent of this problem through my time with The Rozalia Project. While I live as minimally as possible, I see friends and coworkers being wasteful. I learned that to incite change, others do not respond well to shame or pushy tactics. I have decided that I will model the change I’d like us all to make, speak authentically and passionately, and hope that my choices inspire others.

Incorporating Learnings

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