Humana Foundations Learnings: Boston College Corporate Citizenship Conference

Humana Foundation Chief Impact Officer Danielle Neveles-McGrath recently attended the Boston College Corporate Citizenship Conference (BCCCC) in Washington, DC from April 6-8. Danielle served as a key speaker on the panel, “Join Forces: ‘Can YOUR Corporate Citizenship Better Support Military Families?” to discuss prevailing mental health challenges facing the veteran and military community, and attended various sessions to connect with expert Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) colleagues, learn practical strategies to enhance CSR initiatives, and be inspired to set and achieve ambitious goals in community involvement and environmental sustainability.

The BCCC conference provided a platform for networking and learning. With a focus on actionable strategy and cross-sector impact, this year’s conference emphasized the power of collaboration and purpose-driven leadership in shaping the future of corporate citizenship.

In the pursuit of continuous learning, Danielle shared several important learnings and takeaways from the 2025 Corporate Citizenship Conference:

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Cross-Sector Collaboration is Crucial for Tackling Systemic Issues

As the convening sponsor, USAA worked with BCCCC to designate this year’s theme: Join Forces — to emphasize the collective power of coming together to solve pressing challenges, particularly for our veteran and military-connected communities who have sacrificed so much for America.

I had the privilege of speaking on the “Join Forces: ‘Can YOUR Corporate Citizenship Better Support Military Families?” panel with Steve Schwab, CEO, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation; Sonya Medina Williams, CEO and President, Reach Resilience; CAPT Dan Goldenberg, US Navy (Ret.), President, Call of Duty Endowment, Board Member, USAA Foundation, Inc. and USAA Educational Foundation; And moderator, Justin Schmitt, President, The USAA Foundation and AVP, USAA Corporate Responsibility, about the prevailing mental health challenges facing the veteran and military community as recently reported in the Blue Star Families 2024 comprehensive report on the Military Family Lifestyle Survey. A few highlights included:

•  Military spouse unemployment remains stagnant at 23%, nearly five times higher than the national average.
• Housing affordability is a major challenge. Just 37% of families find housing within their Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
• 7% of active-duty service members reported experiencing suicidal thoughts in the past year.
• Access to mental health care has become a top concern, doubling since 2020. Nearly 40% of active-duty families experience wait-lists for mental health services and 90% of those seeking care for children wait longer than three months.
• We also know that the intersection of demographic factors influences suicide risk among veterans. For example, LGBT veterans have higher rates of suicidal ideation than heterosexual veterans. Black Veterans experience higher rates of PTSD and more severe illness than their white counterparts. Hispanic Veterans have the highest rates of lifetime PTSD and are more likely than white Veterans to have major depressive disorder.

These are some of the reasons that the Humana Foundation joined the USAA Foundation= and Reach Resilience as  founding members of Face the Fight.  Along with a growing coalition of committed organizations, we believe access to mental health services is vital to improving the health and well-being of underserved and diverse populations who have higher rates of poor mental health and suicide. As the daughter of an Army Veteran, this work is particularly meaningful to me.

We encouraged other companies to join Face the Fight, a coalition of corporations, foundations, nonprofits, and veteran-focused organizations joined together to raise awareness and support for veteran suicide prevention. The coalition seeks donors and volunteers to join forces with us to Face the Fight by donating at WeFacetheFight.org and sharing our resources and materials throughout their networks to help break the stigma surrounding suicide and increase awareness about ways to prevent veteran suicide. More than $85 million has been pledged through 2027 from the founding partners and many other private organizations and donors. To date, the coalition has awarded $25 million to support initiatives preventing veteran suicide and breaking the stigma. Through these efforts, nearly 15,000 veterans have been screened for suicide risk, and more than 5,000 veterans have received suicide-specific interventions. When companies Join Forces on a mission, our impact on communities and the business can be even greater.

Other Conference Takeaways

In pursuit of learning, I attended several sessions to  explore how other corporate citizenship professionals are collaborating with partners, measuring impact, and mobilizing employees. Several key themes emerged:

• Purposeful Stakeholder Engagement Is a Strategic Imperative: In a workshop hosted by General Motors, attendees explored “Purposeful Stakeholder Engagement: Prioritizing Relationships for Maximum Impact.” The session equipped CSR leaders with practical tools to identify and prioritize stakeholders based on influence, urgency, and legitimacy. What stood out was the emphasis on building systems to track and evolve stakeholder relationships. When engagement is intentional and data-informed, it not only advances social impact goals, but also drives meaningful business value.
• Sustainability Reporting and Employee Engagement Are on the Rise: Ernst & Young shared insights into the evolving landscape of sustainability reporting—and the growing role of CFOs in shaping Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy. While external pressures from investors and regulators continue to mount, employees are emerging as a critical stakeholder group influencing corporate sustainability efforts. Key drivers of this shift include cost reduction, risk mitigation, and employee expectations. The session underscored how integrating sustainability into core business operations—and engaging employees in the process—is now a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

The conference reaffirmed a powerful truth: the most effective social impact strategies are those built on collaboration, transparency, and accountability. Whether you’re deepening stakeholder engagement, refining ESG disclosures, or building long-term partnerships, such approaches must be rooted in purpose and designed to scale.

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On behalf of the Humana Foundation, thank you, Danielle, for sharing these learnings from the Boston College Corporate Citizenship Conference.

This article and accompanying insights are part of the Humana Foundation’s continual growth journey where we share learnings to expand our knowledge in philanthropy to better serve our communities.