We find ourselves in unprecedented times as we face the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the health and economic security of people around the world. Many are facing challenges and disruptions,including small businesses and educational systems. In response to the pandemic, Moody’s is providing charitable donations and other urgent support to address the needs of affected communities where we operate. These efforts build on the actions we took in 2019 to grow our partnerships and global programs, and ultimately support the needs of small business owners and students.

These commitments also reflect our purpose to bring clarity, knowledge and fairness to an interconnected world. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is in many ways at the heart of our endeavors to enhance connection and collaboration between people, which supports addressing society’s most pressing issues.

In 2019, we saw tangible results from the first full year of our signature financial inclusion initiative, Reshape Tomorrow™. With support from the Moody’s Foundation and employee volunteers, our partners are doing important work in communities across the world. Small businesses in the US learned how to manage cash flow more effectively for growth. Small shopkeepers in Kenya received business management and finance training. And economies in Latin America grew stronger as local entrepreneurs forged new connections. You will read more about these efforts and others in the pages that follow — with the common thread being knowledge helping to fuel inclusion and growth across a wide range of markets.

We are proud of the progress made on our journey to be leaders in CSR and of our business activities to help enterprises make better decisions that form pathways to creating a better tomorrow. With this in mind, we continued to grow our sustainable finance initiatives by making several strategic investments — including majority stakes in Four Twenty Seven, Inc. and Vigeo Eiris and a minority stake in SynTao Green Finance — that are enabling us to extend our data and analytics capabilities further in the environmental, social and governance space. We also became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, committed to the United Nations Business Ambition for 1.5°C and took steps to join the Business Roundtable and support its Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, among other activities.

As we reflect on these achievements, I want to acknowledge and thank our Moody’s employees, who are dedicated to volunteering and embedding CSR principles throughout our organization. Together, with their passion and the commitment of our partners, we will continue to build a brighter future in both good and challenging times.