The $1 million grant will help ensure equitable access to the vaccine
NEW YORK, N.Y., March 11, 2021 – Today, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian Life) announced a health equity initiative to mobilize distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with veteran-led disaster response organization, Team Rubicon.
Through both grant funding and a volunteer activation of its dental provider network, financial representatives, and employees, Guardian Life’s partnership will advance Team Rubicon’s ability to provide vaccination access to under-resourced communities nationwide. The cornerstone investment to Team Rubicon’s vaccination support efforts will help enable the organization’s goal to ramp-up to 500 vaccination sites across the U.S.
“Guardian is helping to accelerate the nation’s largest vaccine distribution campaign, and there is no question it will require a greater commitment from corporate America to ensure equitable access,” said Andrew McMahon, CEO and President, Guardian Life. “Team Rubicon is a proven leader in humanitarian crisis relief efforts, and we are honored to offer our employees, veterans and health network expertise to help Team Rubicon’s vaccine distribution operations.”
The donation comes at a critical time for the U.S., as vaccine distribution is essential for the nation’s recovery. This is especially true for small businesses, communities of color, and working women. Guardian’s financial contribution will help Team Rubicon expand vaccination sites to under-served communities.
Over the past decade, Team Rubicon has created a network of 140,000 Greyshirt volunteers and deployed over 800 operations to help those in need following disasters and humanitarian crises. Now, Team Rubicon is leading the Veterans Coalition for Vaccination (VCV), a network of veterans organizations aiding local and state officials on the ground to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to receive a vaccination quickly, effectively, and equitably.
“We’ve been able to rethink how we approach our operations over the past year, from supporting food banks to setting up and assisting at COVID-19 testing and medical sites,” said Jake Wood, CEO and Co-founder, Team Rubicon. “With Guardian Life as an anchor partner, this next step will substantially expand our reach in vaccination distribution and play a critical role in our ability to help restore our country’s safety and health.”
For every one person administering the vaccine, 10 people are providing vaccine site support. Through Guardian’s network, this long-term partnership will create an impact across the coming year – helping to connect volunteers with onsite needs to support administrative work, paperwork, traffic logistics, patient aftercare, and more.
About Guardian
Every day, Guardian provides Americans the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future or taking care of employees. Today, we’re a Fortune 250 mutual company and a leading provider of life, disability, dental, and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. The Guardian community of over 9,000 employees and our network of over 2,500 financial representatives is committed to serving with expertise when, where and how our clients need us. Our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2019 included $9.3 billion in capital and $1.7 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.