Advantage Solutions on Monday announced significant investments in two nonprofits — the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and Feeding America — totaling $750,000.
The two partnerships reflect Advantage’s unwavering commitment to community engagement, which is centered on food security, economic mobility and well-being.
“Our partnerships with Feeding America and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis mark a transformative step in our mission to drive meaningful change within the communities we serve,” said Advantage Solutions CEO Dave Peacock, a longtime St. Louis area resident and philanthropist.
By partnering with Feeding America and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Advantage is embracing its purpose of connecting people with the products and experiences that enrich their lives. The investments will support initiatives in the St. Louis area where Advantage is headquartered and span across the country.
In St. Louis, Advantage is committing $500,000 to support the Urban League’s Save Our Sisters program, which offers a range of programs designed to help women overcome obstacles, including initiatives focused on mind and body wellness, healthy relationships, life skills, career development, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and mentorship.
“With this generous donation from Advantage Solutions, we will be able to interrupt some patterns and some connections and some circumstances that are leading far too many women in the opposite direction of their true potential, and their true worth and value,” said Carol Daniel, a prominent St. Louis journalist who now serves as director for Save Our Sisters. “We’re going to be able to save lives.”
At its core, Advantage Solutions’ Belonging & Impact plan is about enriching lives, said Rebecca Grey, vice president of belonging and impact for Advantage Solutions.
The company’s strategy includes three key commitments: community engagement; diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB); and environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Ultimately, these commitments are beneficial to the lives of people, the health of communities and the success of the business. In short, Grey said, purpose drives performance.
“It’s really exciting that we are able to truly invest in and operationalize having a meaningful and long-term impact in our communities,” Grey said.
Supporting the economic mobility of women in the St. Louis area is a natural fit for Advantage, which is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Grey said. Roughly 65% of Advantage’s 70,000-person workforce are women, she said.
Advantage is also donating $250,000 over two years — the equivalent to 2.5 million meals — to Feeding America’s Food Security Equity Impact Fund, an expansion of the company’s longtime partnership with the nationwide network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs.
With more than 47 million Americans facing hunger, including one in five children, the fund aims to address disparities in food access and enhance food security nationwide. The increased investment builds on a longstanding relationship between Advantage and Feeding America. Since 2012, the company and its employees have contributed more than 4.1 million meals for families facing hunger.
“With food insecurity on the rise, it’s never been more important to have dedicated partners in the movement to end hunger. Together with Advantage Solutions, our partnership helps more people access the food and resources they say they need to thrive,” said Lauren Biedron, Feeding America’s senior vice president of corporate partnerships, in a statement.
Beyond the investments in the two organizations, Advantage Solutions employees are further scaling and enhancing the company’s impact through volunteering. These team efforts will be expanded into a holistic, enterprise program for 2025, which includes the launch of regional employee engagement committees to lead volunteer efforts in communities across the U.S.
“These collaborations underscore our dedication to creating a lasting impact that resonates far beyond our business operations,” Peacock said.
