Community Investment

 Alcoa Foundation’s community investment strategy was devised in close consultation with the Community Advisory Group established by Alcoa Fjardaal to ensure it aligned with local community needs.



In recent times, the volatile global economic environment and domestic financial crisis have deeply and rapidly impacted the Icelandic community, through financial uncertainty, job losses and social fragmentation.

In these tough times, Alcoa Foundation has adjusted its own strategy and investments in Iceland - and around the world - to help meet immediate basic needs as well as assist communities come out of the crisis with greater resilience, workplace flexibility and community capacity for the longer term, In this context, the following partnerships were formed in 2008.

  • To assist the unemployed re-skill and adjust to the changing economy and marketplace, Alcoa Foundation provided a US$70,000 grant over two years to the East Iceland Rehabilitation Center.
  • To support those hardest hit by the economic crisis, Alcoa Foundation provided the Icelandic Church Aid with a US$50,000 grant for household necessities to local families in dire need.
  • To assist immigrants and their families integrate into the community and workplace, by providing training in language skills and workplace skills and knowledge of available government and social resources as well as information about their legal rights. Alcoa Foundation provided Framsyn, the Labour Union in North Iceland with US$30,000 two year grant.
  • To strengthen communities and bolster the skills and spirits of school children and families through art and theatre. Alcoa Foundation granted US$21,300 to the Young Peoples Art Festival to work with all schools in East Iceland to engage children and their families engage in creative and community building activities during stressful times.

Since 2004, Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation have contributed more than US$1.5M to projects that will improve the quality of life in community neighborhoods in East and North Iceland. Key highlights of these projects and their impacts below:

Revitalizing Communities:
  • A package of grants is improving the quality of life and drawing new residents and visitors to East and Northeast Iceland. One of the largest grants renovated an outdoor skiing area and information center in Stafdalur, in the vicinity of Alcoa’s Fjardaál smelter, while funds also established an international cinema and video festival, cultural center, and a sports fund. Additionally, support increased human services by developing a home for the disabled and a transportation service for children in rural areas.
  • A grant to renovate the Sómastadir House, an important asset for Iceland’s National Museum, is helping the country preserve and promote its cultural heritage. The house, one of the few remaining stonebrick buildings in Iceland, is an important source of information about how people in past centuries lived, worked and designed their communities to best cope with the stark environment.
  • In 2008, the American-Scandinavian Foundation developed an exhibition and educational materials highlighting contemporary art in Iceland to promote public understanding Iceland’s culture. Over 20,000 people are estimated to have viewed the exhibition. Workshops held during the showing introduced children to Iceland’s unique geography and folklore.
  • Finding solutions to environmental challenges: Contributions have been made to increase services in the new Vatnajökull National Park. Park planners in Iceland are benefitting from the advice and examples of Alcoa Foundation partners’ Friends of Great Smokey National Park and Greening Australia. Grants have bee used for example to help create an educational exibition in a visitor center at the Park. These efforts are designed to increase the number of visitors and enhance their experience at the parks.
  • Alcoa Foundation’s partner the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) is creating unique solutions designed to halt the loss of the wild salmon stock by curtailing netting by purchasing netting licenses directly from fishermen and promoting public education and outreach. It is estimated that more than five million salmon have been saved through NASF’s efforts.


Strengthening education and driving skills development:
  • A three-year US$175,000 grant supports a unique pilot program at Nesskoli Neskaupstad Primary School in east Iceland designed for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other problems. The program ensures that these students have the opportunity to learn life skills. The school plans to ultimately become a center for ADHD students across the region.
  • A $300,000 partnership with the Leifur Eiriksson Foundation funds student exchanges between Iceland and the United States by providing financial assistance to students for graduate study and research. The program promotes cross-cultural awareness and gives students the opportunity to experience the unique academic environment each country offers.
 		Total Combined Community Contributions:


  • $1.5MM contributed since 2003
  • $0.40MM in 2008