Environmentally: Beehives fit for a queen coming to Charlotte

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Mar 29, 2023, 10:00 ET

Grant will connect community and nature through educational events and experiences

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) today announced a grant to support a collaboration with Envision Charlotte and Bee Downtown for a community apiary, comprised of three beehives, to share lessons from nature through educational events and experiences while supporting the local honey bee population.

Ally employees participate in Bee Downtown’s HiveMind™ team experience in 2022. Source: Ally

"We are proud to work with Envision Charlotte and Bee Downtown to support biodiversity through this beehive project. We believe strongly in the importance of environmental education and the honey bee is one of nature's best examples for how to live sustainably and produce zero waste," said Kathleen Price, sustainability risk executive at Ally. "Our commitment to Do It Right extends to people and planet, and this project underscores how critical biodiversity conservation is to preserve a sustainable future for all."

This community apiary will be located at Envision Charlotte's Innovation Barn, the first innovation center in the U.S. focused on the circular economy, as an extension to the hands-on learning and unique programming offered to improve sustainability, resilience, economic competitiveness and quality of life. Bee Downtown, which installs and maintains beehives on corporate campuses and provides year-round programming to many of America's leading corporations, will expand its impact in Charlotte with this latest apiary.

"Envision Charlotte is always expanding the programming at the Innovation Barn, and we are excited to welcome our newest friends – BEES!" said Amy Aussieker, executive director of Envision Charlotte. "Bees are such a vital part of our ecosystem and being able to educate on their benefits is very exciting – thanks to our other friends at Ally! What a perfect way to celebrate our week-long event – 'Clean the Queen' with the unveiling of another Queen!"

The Ally-branded beehives will be unveiled at Envision Charlotte's Innovation Barn during a grand opening event to commemorate Earth Day at the conclusion of Envision Charlotte's Clean the Queen event. Clean the Queen takes place from April 17 – April 21 in an effort to reduce litter on city streets, roadways and neighborhoods.

The grand opening event will feature local honey tastings and offer the community an opportunity to vote on names for the queen bee of each hive, based on submissions from Ally employees. The queen bee names will be unveiled at the end of the event. Additionally, local honey from Bee Downtown hives will be featured in custom drinks at Envision Charlotte's new coffee shop leading up to the event.

"We are so excited to continue our Bee Downtown expansion into North Carolina's Queen City. By partnering with Ally and the Innovation Barn we're able to cultivate community driven experiences focused on environmental stewardship while strengthening the biodiversity of our local ecosystem," said Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, founder and CEO of Bee Downtown. "It's an honor to work with two organizations who share in our in commitment to sustainable environmental practices."

The collaboration builds on Ally's existing volunteer activities with Envision Charlotte through Green Teams, a network of Ally volunteers dedicated to environmental service, which started in 2021 as an opportunity to build community and business education to drive sustainability awareness among Ally employees. In 2022, Ally's Green Teams volunteered almost 400 hours with Envision Charlotte.

To create a welcoming home for the bees, the apiary will feature a mural by The Charlotte Street Art Collaborative, led by Elle Studio Arts, that pays homage to honey bees and their critical role as pollinators. The Charlotte Street Art Collaborative is a women-led non-profit organization with a mission to encourage and assist current and next generation artists toward making a sustainable living in the arts. This project helps support four Charlotte Street Art Collaborative artists as well as offers volunteer opportunities to emerging artist members and Ally's Green Teams.

About Ally Financial
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a financial services company with the nation's largest all-digital bank and an industry-leading auto financing business, driven by a mission to "Do It Right" and be a relentless ally for customers and communities. The company serves more than 11 million customers through a full range of online banking services (including deposits, mortgage, point-of-sale personal lending, and credit card products) and securities brokerage and investment advisory services. The company also includes a robust corporate finance business that offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies, as well as auto financing and insurance offerings through more than 23,000 dealers nationwide. For more information, please visit www.ally.com and follow @allyfinancial.

For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures.

For further images and news on Ally, please visit http://media.ally.com.

About Envision Charlotte
Envision Charlotte is a nonprofit that focuses on public-private-plus collaboration to lead Charlotte's progress as a more sustainable city. Through innovations that strengthen economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship, and positive community impacts, Envision Charlotte is championing the Circular Charlotte initiative to transition Charlotte to a circular economy.

About Bee Downtown
Bee Downtown installs and maintains beehives on corporate campuses across the southeast while simultaneously providing year-round employee engagement and leadership development programming to many of America's leading corporations.

Contacts:

Alex Moore
Ally Communications (Media)
704-222-4337
[email protected]

Audrey White
Bee Downtown
[email protected]

SOURCE Ally Financial