Social | Community
Accessible and inclusive education

In Japan, the Bridgestone Corporation offers the "Eco Learning Program" since 2004. It was renewed as "Environment Hands-On Learning Program" in 2011 and continues to provide opportunities for students to learn the difficulties and importance of balancing business and the environment through environmental initiatives in production. Since 2020 it also runs the "Global Communication Skill Program" which tells the importance and challenges of communicating effectively with people from different backgrounds, cultures and customs.

In 2021, the "Environment Hands-On Learning Program” was conducted 12 times and the “Global Communication Skill Program” was held nine times. A total of 1,809 students from elementary and junior high schools all over the nation participated in these events.

In 1981, Bridgestone was one of the first companies in Indonesia to respond to the government’s request to address the shortage of skilled manpower in the country by creating and operating the Loka Latihan Keterampilan (LLK) vocational training program at our Bekasi manufacturing facility. Now in its 41st year, Bridgestone Indonesia accepts 48 students every two years into the residential program focusing on mechanical and electrical skills.　To date, more than 50 percent of the program’s 754 graduates have chosen to build their careers at the Bridgestone Group.

Working with community partners and educational leaders, BSAM supports Maplewood High School Automotive Training Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Academy of Applied Engineering & Technology at East Community Learning Center in Akron, Ohio. Both schools offer a four-year curriculum that includes hands-on learning in facilities that are modeled after Firestone stores and instruction by Group technicians to help students build careers in the auto maintenance industry. In 2021, more than 185 students across BSAM participated in the program. At Maplewood High School, more than 45 graduates have been employed in the automotive industry, and at East Community Learning Center, more than 50% of program participants earn Automotive Service Excellence certifications before graduation.

Bridgestone’s Driving Great Futures partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) aims to help families overcome the challenge of getting to and from Clubs by providing reliable transportation. Since 2015, Bridgestone has raised $20 million for BGCA, which depends largely on customer donations across the Bridgestone nationwide network of 2,200+ tire and automotive service centers.

At the core of the program are transportation grants, which are used to purchase BGCA passenger vans equipped with Bridgestone fuel-efficient tires, or for maintenance and repairs of existing Club vehicles. Bridgestone retail stores also donate company time to service existing BGCA vehicles and volunteer at Clubs in the local community.

In 2021, Bridgestone raised $4.1 million to help Club kids and teens across the U.S. gain access to high-impact, out-of-school support, including bridging technology and transportation gaps. The Driving Great Futures program also provides opportunities for underrepresented youth to learn about career paths in the tire & automotive repair industry.

Established in 2003, Bridgestone Corporate University (BCU) provides education and training opportunities to employees, suppliers, local citizens and other stakeholders. The Center was opened in 2015 to foster specific training and education aligned with the Argentinian curriculum. Since opening, the Center has spent a total of 2,200,000 hours on training, more than 540 people have graduated from BCU and over 17,500 stakeholders have received training.

In Turkey, Brisa Bridgestone Sabancı Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (Brisa), Bridgestone's affiliated company, is helping disadvantaged and underprivileged people secure employment as tire service technicians. Since, 2010 Brisa has offered training opportunities in the fields of professional and personal development about 7,250 students. Most recently, two innovative new programs trained 26 women technicians, the first women in the tire sector to work in local dealers, and at least 50 people currently in prison are receiving technician training to help them reintegrate into society. Additionally, more than 6,000 students have taken free courses offered in vocational high schools; 85 of these students had the opportunity to work with Brisa dealers.

BSEMIA is helping people incarcerated at the Featherstone prison in Staffordshire, U.K. prepare for a successful career as tire technicians when they are released. About 30 inmates are training to receive Institute of the Motor Industry accreditation credentials, leveraging Bridgestone’s well-regarded REACT Roadside Tyre Technician Training.

Traineeships for high-school science students were held at our Bridgestone EMIA Technology Center in Rome offering an inside look at careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and confirming our commitment to expand education and training opportunities in order to develop job and life skills. The initiative is part of path for soft skills and orientation program by Italian ministry of education. In 2021-2022 due to pandemic restriction the activity was held in remote with the involvement of 45 teammates. Since 2018, around 250 students participated in this program.

Bridgestone EMIA Technology Center employees contributes to inclusive society and accessible education with mentoring session to refugees, person in needs and young in probation. During the professional courses organized by local NFP organization (ELIS and ONCR) the employees offer simulation of job interview and one to one mentoring session to increase soft skill. In 2021 despite pandemic restriction64 young was supported by 16 employees in 10 remote sessions.

Bridgestone South Africa has partnered with Food & Tree’s for Africa with the goal of planting several community gardens aimed at addressing skill shortages and sustainable food production. In November 2021, volunteers from Bridgestone spent the day at Neo Mathabe Special School assisting the intellectually impaired learners with planting vegetables. The garden was started with the aim of exposing the learners to aspects of agricultural that would empower them with necessary knowledge and skills to make it a viable alternative livelihood after leaving the school. In addition, this garden supports a feeding schemes addressing zero hunger. Through these activities, Bridgestone contributes to inclusive education and healthier communities.

To empower and increase financial independence for women in Pune, Maharashtra, India, Bridgestone India has partnered with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ladies Organization since 2018 to provide training for women to start their own businesses, become nurses, delivery personnel, trained cab drivers or motor-bike garage managers.

Bridgestone India partnered with expert organization to establish “Mini Science Centre” in the nearby government schools. This program is facilitating use of scientific models by bridging the gap between theory and practical. While it is helping the students to understand Science much better, it is also helping them to ignite scientific interest in rural areas. This project also aims to enhance capacity & skills of the teachers by providing training programs at various stages to make teachers’ learning process more interesting, easy and effective.

BSCN collaborated with Zhonggu Gongyi, a local charity organisation, donating 42 laptops for a “Green IT Classroom programme. 20 employee volunteers assisted staff from the Zhonggu Gongyi in refurbishing these donated “waste” laptops. These refurbished laptops were then donated to a school in rural area of Yunnan province, which were used to set up their school computer lab, to help equip the less well-off students with digital literacy skills. The activity saw a 100% regeneration ratio, extended the lifespan of these donated laptops by 3 years, benefited 531 students and 21 teachers, and also saw a 18.9 ton CO₂ reduction.