Our Community

Pioneer’s Social Investment: Charitable Giving and Community Engagement

Pioneer and our employees have a long history of social investment — we are proactive in seeking organizations and initiatives that work to improve the quality of life in our communities. Our corporate charitable giving and community engagement mission is to build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, creating shared value through an environment of transparency, mutual RESPECT, trust and goodwill.

• Transparency – We continue our commitment to open and honest communication through employee meetings and report our social investments in our annual sustainability publication. Additionally, Pioneer recently published updated Charitable Giving Guidelines.
• Mutual RESPECT – The relationships we cultivate with our internal and external stakeholders are an important part of our business. We value strong, ethical partnerships; respect and communication are essential to our corporate guiding principles.
• Trust and Goodwill – By taking an active and innovative approach to philanthropic work and sustained community engagement, Pioneerdemonstrates our commitment to sustainable social investment, which extends beyond monetary commitments to include in-kind contributions, employee volunteerism and open communication with our stakeholders.

Pioneer is proud of our employee’s volunteerism and willingness to give back. Our RESPECT values are focused on people, including employees, contractors and community members. Through the lens of these values, we invest in our communities, seeking to have the greatest impact where community needs and our business goals align.

Our corporate charitable giving and engagement strategy is about more than simply being a good neighbor — it’s about good business. We manage potential social risks and impacts to our partners, stakeholders and business while supporting mutually beneficial relationships and creating long-term value for our communities and the company.

Our stakeholders include current and future employees and their families; shareholders and bondholders; land and royalty interest owners, policy makers and regulators; suppliers and vendors; industry coalitions; chambers of commerce and other economic development groups; and philanthropic foundations and organizations. Our business goals are driven by our operational performance, safety commitments, environmental stewardship, and DEI focus areas.

Aligning with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals:

The United Nations has established 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are part of a globally agreed-upon action plan for equitable, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic development. Pioneer develops domestic energy resources vital to a flourishing modern society. Our core business of providing affordable, reliable, low-emission oil and natural gas to the world, while prioritizing safety, operational and environmental excellence, directly aligns with:

Goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy

Additionally, Pioneer’s charitable giving and community engagement focus remains rooted in our most valuable asset – our people – by prioritizing education, engagement, enrichment and environmental sustainability. To that end, many of our 2022 social investments supported several Sustainable Development Goals:

Goal 3 – Good Health and Well-being

Goal 4 – Quality Education

Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities

Goal 13 – Climate Action

Goal 15 – Life on Land

Guiding Principles of Charitable Giving

Through the lens of our RESPECT values, Pioneer’s charitable giving strategy builds on tenants from our Stewardship365 environmental program and our DEI program. We engage locally to improve the overall quality of life in the communities where we live and operate, and our involvement builds trust and goodwill among stakeholders and makes us a stronger company. We uphold these principles in our giving investments:

• Community-focused – We positively impact the localities where we live and work, investing in a meaningful and measurable way to help build flourishing communities for our stakeholders
• Sustainable – We invest in programs that address current needs in innovative ways while creating value through capacity building for future needs
• Inclusive and equitable development –We support organizations that create opportunities or address needs for underserved or underrepresented groups within our communities, creating value for current and future employees and our community stakeholders

Focus Areas of Charitable Giving

Pioneer ensures our charitable investments have the greatest, most inclusive and sustainable impacts where our internal business goals and community needs align. By strategically focusing our giving, we help build stronger, safer, more resilient communities and an educated, trained workforce. We support programs, initiatives and organizations focused on the following areas:

• Education – We support institutions and programs that emphasize student academic achievement, focusing on academic enrichment and advancement in early childhood education, K-12, post-secondary, technical and vocational schools. Specifically, we support initiatives that emphasize development of skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and inspire students to pursue STEM-based careers.
• Environment – We seek initiatives and partnerships that align with our Stewardship365 environmental values and promote sustainable business practices. We support programs that encourage sustainability through stewardship of community ecosystems, reduced water usage and air emissions, natural resource conservation, environmental beautification and wildlife preservation.
• Engagement & Enrichment – We fund organizations that support the development of our communities’ social and economic health. We partner with organizations and agencies that provide community safety and protection, support for low-income/at-risk individuals or families, improve capacity building, spur economic development, expand cultural experiences and provide job training opportunities for the communities’ workforce.

Charitable Giving Governance

Our Executive Committee oversees our charitable giving and social investments, while Pioneer’s Government & Public Affairs team is responsible for strategy and execution. Additionally, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee receives an annual update on our social investments.

To increase transparency and continue to build trust with our stakeholders, Pioneer recently published Charitable Giving Guidelines. The guidelines explain our giving philosophy, focus areas and alignment with company values while outlining nonprofit organization eligibility, application process and evaluation criteria. We are committed to building strong relationships with our community and nonprofit stakeholders, creating shared value through an environment of transparency, mutual RESPECT, and trust and goodwill.

Our Charitable Contributions

As Pioneer celebrated our 25th anniversary in 2022, we looked to expand upon our quarter-century-long dedication to community philanthropy and volunteerism. Collectively, as a company and an employee base, Pioneer gave more than $28 million including $20.3 million in Ukraine humanitarian aid, in charitable contributions to more than 500 nonprofit organizations in 2022.

Supporting Demining through The HALO Trust

An estimated 6 million people have been internally displaced in Ukraine, and Ukrainians continue to evacuate from areas as fighting intensifies. While Ukrainians are keen to return to their homes in areas that have been retaken by Ukrainian forces, they may face a new kind of safety risk — Ukraine is now one of the most mined countries in the world, and experts estimate it will take over 100 years to successfully clear the country of these planted explosives. That is where The HALO Trust steps in. The organization permanently removes explosive ordnance, marks hazardous areas and enhances awareness about the dangers of mines, allowing the activities of daily life to resume. Pioneer is proud to assist with this mission, as our investment with The HALO Trust helps to hire, equip, train and deploy local teams to survey, clear and provide explosive ordnance risk education for one year.

As of December 2022, HALO Ukraine had employed 631 Ukrainian staff members, 20% of whom are women and at least 36% of whom are internally displaced people. Pioneer’s support is specifically contributing to The HALO Trust’s ability to increase operational capacity and deploy an additional two explosive ordnance risk education teams reaching more than 3,000 adults and children with lifesaving education; one non-technical survey team identifying areas contaminated with different types of explosive ordnance; and three clearance teams releasing more than 30,000 square miles of land cleared from explosive threats – equal to 30 football fields.

The support from Pioneer allowed The HALO Trust to increase its overall capacity by 35% in 2022. Pioneer-funded teams will continue well into 2023 to respond by marking hazardous areas for safe passage, providing lifesaving explosive ordnance risk education, and clearing and destroying landmines and explosives so Ukrainians can begin to reclaim their lives.

Social Investment

Pioneer has always believed in the importance of giving back to the local communities where our employees live and work. In 2022, we extended our giving far past our traditional Texas home, giving $20 million to humanitarian aid effort in Ukraine after our industry was shaken by Russia’s unprovoked attack of the country. In addition to our international support of Ukraine, our social investments (sponsorships, grants and in-kind donations), coupled with our employee-led giving, resulted in nearly $8 million of combined giving.

We are a Dallas-headquartered, Permian Basin-focused, Texas-proud company – and our social investments reflect that, with 96% of our funding directed to Texas-based organizations and initiatives. As most of our employees reside in Permian Basin communities, along with the entirety of our energy assets, it is not surprising that Pioneer earmarked the majority – 62% – of our social investments specifically for Permian Basin communities.

Grants and Sponsorships

Focused on our Education, Environment and Engagement & Enrichment priorities, we invested $6.5 million in programs and organizations through direct sponsorships and grants. Among the many positive impacts to our communities, these investments:

• Contributed to college scholarships for local Permian Basin students
• Supported youth environmental stewardship education programs
• Funded programs supporting LGBTQ+ community advocacy and education
• Supplied opportunities for programmatic mentorship and development for at-risk youth in Dallas and Midland communities
• Bolstered local Permian Basin law enforcement agencies’ budgets for protective equipment and technology