Building More Caring & Connected Communities
We seek to foster social connections among people that lead to stronger, more resilient communities.
In many communities, Walmart is a gathering place where families and neighbors shop and spend time with one another. As an employer, we strive for Walmart and Sam’s Club associates to feel seen, supported and connected through a culture of belonging. We believe that people live better in communities where they feel they belong and can depend on each other.
Through philanthropy, Walmart.org complements and expands the community impact of Walmart’s retail presence by investing in initiatives that bring people together for meaningful encounters and equip them with the skills to build trust and empathy.
Our Focus Areas
Our philanthropy is focused on following areas:
Sharing Stories
We invest in organizations that raise awareness of initiatives and people who exemplify healthy and positive connections across lines of difference.
Grantee Spotlight
StoryCorps
The Walmart Foundation has funded StoryCorps, which facilitates conversations between people with different viewpoints through its One Small Step program. The results are encouraging – a recent poll revealed that after one-on-one conversations, program participants felt more empathy not only toward their conversation partner - but also generally toward others with different political views.
Building Skills that Create Connections
We invest in organizations teaching local leaders how they can effectively foster connections among people with different backgrounds.
Grantee Spotlight
Welcoming America
The Walmart Foundation has supported Welcoming America in teaching leaders in communities how to welcome newcomers, with the goal of deepening connections among neighbors.
Strengthening collective settings
We invest in organizations that are working to strengthen systems at scale that facilitate connections among people from different backgrounds in places where they already naturally come together, such as parks and recreation centers.
Grantee Spotlight
Trust for Public Land
The Walmart Foundation provided a grant to Trust for Public Land (TPL) with the goal of empowering local residents to bolster community bonds by revitalizing public parks in eight cities. Through TPL’s pilot program, we are learning more about how thriving parks can lay the foundation for more resilient communities.
