Sempra Infrastructure is committed to making a meaningful impact by addressing local needs, strengthening community connections and promoting long-term solutions that enhance economic prosperity, build opportunity and improve the environment. Upholding our company’s values to do the right thing, champion people and shape the future has always been at the heart of what we do.
This is why Sempra Infrastructure’s External Affairs team has taken the opportunity to create an even greater impact – one that is sustainable, purpose-driven and responsive to the needs of the communities where we operate, laying the foundation for our company’s new social investment strategy.
Championing Communities
When the External Affairs team came together to brainstorm on how to make a greater and more intentional impact, it centered around one question: How can we collaborate with organizations to address root-cause issues to help make a more meaningful and lasting impact in our communities?
To find the answers, the team turned to the community and utilized an appreciative inquiry approach to gathering data, conducting social baseline and community perception studies in both Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas to better understand and identify areas to strengthen community engagement.
The results revealed the community’s desire for more robust resources to address economic development, environmental safety, health and access to resources and infrastructure.
Guided by our commitment to collaborate with the community, and based on the gathered data, three key focus areas for social investment were established:
• Economic Prosperity – Supports initiatives that foster business growth, job creation and sustainable economic opportunities. Funding prioritizes programs that strengthen local economies, promote entrepreneurship and enhance workforce readiness to drive long-term prosperity.
• Increasing Opportunity – Supports initiatives that expand access to education, workforce development and economic mobility. Funding will prioritize programs that remove barriers, create pathways to success and empower individuals and/or the community to achieve long-term stability and growth.
• Climate Action – Supports initiatives that preserve natural ecosystems, increase biodiversity, restore habitats and promote environmental responsibility. Funding will prioritize programs that protect wildlife, conserve wetlands and sustain healthy ecosystems.
“Each community that we operate in is unique – it has its own culture, its own history and its own set of challenges. By taking a data-driven approach to social investment, we are able to better evaluate how to deliver targeted and meaningful support that addresses the real needs of the communities we operate in.”
– Selby Bush Lilley, Regional Vice President of External Affairs and Communications
Expanding Funding Opportunities
A key difference in how the new social investment strategy is structured is the introduction of three distinct funding opportunities, each with its own purpose and funding priorities:
• Community Grants – One-time annual funding opportunities that provide targeted financial support for small-scale, high-impact projects that address immediate local needs and foster community well-being.
• Partnerships – These will fund large-scale, long-term initiatives that are aligned with our key focus areas: Economic Prosperity, Increasing Opportunity and Climate Action.
• Sponsorships – Funding for events led by nonprofit organizations and community groups that contribute to a stronger, more sustainable community.
This structure allows Sempra Infrastructure to be more intentional and strategic in how we collaborate with community organizations, while also enabling those organizations – and most importantly, people who live in the communities where we operate – to experience greater impact.
Measuring Impact
We are committed to ensuring that every investment, every dollar and every effort contributes meaningfully to addressing root cause issues and improving the quality of life for people who live where we operate. A crucial part of this is how we evaluate the impact of our investments. Our partner organizations are now required to provide comprehensive preliminary and post-program data, which allows us to more accurately measure outcomes, assess impact and continuously improve our investment in communities.
In addition, we have committed to conducting our social baseline and community perception studies every three years, which allows us to improve how our efforts help address root cause issues, ensure our investments are aligned with the need of the community and are intentional with how and where we invest our dollars.
Empowering Communities for Today and Tomorrow
Sempra Infrastructure’s new social investment program will not only address unique needs and priorities that have been identified by the communities, but it will also create both immediate and long-term benefits that are meaningful and sustainable. Whether organizations are focused on local initiatives or pursuing larger, multi-year partnerships that drive regional impact, we are committed to ensuring that support reaches a broad range of community needs.
By collecting and analyzing data tied to each initiative, we are also ensuring that our investments remain targeted, impactful and responsive to the evolving needs of the communities we serve.
“In creating this new approach to social investment, the External Affairs team has done an excellent job of deciding what kind of company we want to be to the communities where we operate,” said Selby Bush Lilley, Regional Vice-President of External Affairs and Communications. “Sempra Infrastructure is committed to ensuring a community is a better place because we are there. We are long-term partners in the communities where we operate and with that comes the responsibility to make long-term investments in the wellbeing of that community. Our new approach to social investment will help us do just that.”
Learn more about our community giving program and how to apply here.