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MetLife and Global Citizen Announce Major Partnership to Drive Economic Change and Foster Resilient Communities

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MetLife and Global Citizen Announce Major Partnership to Drive Economic Change and Foster Resilient Communities
News

News

MetLife and Global Citizen Announce Major Partnership to Drive Economic Change and Foster Resilient Communities

2025-09-28 09:14 Last Updated At:09:21

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 27, 2025--

Today at the 2025 Global Citizen Festival, MetLife, a leading financial services company providing insurance and employee benefits, proudly announced becoming a major partner with Global Citizen, the world’s largest movement to end extreme poverty, with a new three-year partnership.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250926660696/en/

This new partnership leverages MetLife’s strengths and long history of enabling economic security, access to resources and resilience to thrive to further Global Citizen’s mission and address urgent challenges facing communities around the world. As a major partner of Global Citizen, MetLife will provide financial support, employee volunteerism and global reach to drive transformative initiatives in education and economic empowerment.

Additionally, MetLife Foundation is committing $9 million as a founding donor of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. The Fund aims to raise $100 million to provide access to quality education and sport for children around the world. Since its founding nearly 50 years ago, educational support has been one of MetLife Foundation’s cornerstones. Today, financial education, STEM learning, mentoring and skills training are part of the Foundation’s giving to prepare students worldwide for brighter futures.

“At MetLife, we believe in being there for people and communities in the moments that matter, guided by our clear purpose of building more confident futures for all,” said Michel Khalaf, president and CEO of MetLife. “Our partnership with Global Citizen will drive positive change by promoting financial health, advancing educational opportunities and fostering strong and confident communities. Together with MetLife Foundation, we’re excited to partner with Global Citizen, and this partnership builds on MetLife Foundation’s legacy of more than $1 billion in giving since 1976.”

MetLife will also play a key role in supporting Global Citizen campaigns around the world, including the landmark Global Citizen Festival, which took place in New York’s Central Park today, bringing together artists, advocates and world leaders to drive action on the world’s most urgent challenges, as well as the Global Citizen NOW action summits.

“We believe wholeheartedly in the power of partnership to tackle the most complex issues our world is facing,” said Hugh Evans, Co-Founder and CEO of Global Citizen. “This new partnership between MetLife, MetLife Foundation and Global Citizen will be instrumental in growing our impact and serve as a critical catalyst in our shared vision to accelerate progress toward a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”

Partners, leaders and global citizens everywhere are invited to join the movement here and take action.

About Global Citizen

Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement to end extreme poverty. Powered by a worldwide community of everyday advocates raising their voices and taking action, the movement is amplified by campaigns and events that convene leaders in music, entertainment, public policy, media, philanthropy and the corporate sector. Since the movement began, $49 billion in commitments announced on Global Citizen platforms has been deployed, impacting 1.3 billion lives. Established in Australia in 2008, Global Citizen’s team operates from New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Melbourne, Toronto, Johannesburg, Lagos and beyond. Join the movement at globalcitizen.org, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

About MetLife Foundation

At MetLife Foundation, we are committed to driving inclusive economic mobility. We collaborate with nonprofit organizations and provide grants aligned to three strategic focus areas – economic inclusion, financial health and resilient communities – while engaging MetLife employee volunteers to help drive impact. MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife’s long tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. Since its inception, MetLife Foundation has contributed over $1 billion to strengthen communities where MetLife has a presence. To learn more about MetLife Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Michael Roberts and Nuria Garcia speak onstage during the 2025 Global Citizen Festival at Central Park on September 27, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Michael Roberts and Nuria Garcia speak onstage during the 2025 Global Citizen Festival at Central Park on September 27, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 24-year-old man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an elderly Thai man whose 2021 killing in San Francisco helped spark a national movement against anti-Asian American violence.

A jury did not find Antoine Watson guilty of murder when it returned a verdict Thursday for the January 2021 attack on 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee. Jurors found Watson guilty on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault.

The office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins declined to comment, saying that the jury was still empaneled. Jurors will return Jan. 26 to hear arguments on aggravating factors and sentencing will be scheduled once that is completed, the office said in an email.

Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for his usual morning walk in the quiet neighborhood he lived in with his wife, daughter and her family when Watson charged at him and knocked him to the ground. The encounter was captured on a neighbor's security camera. Ratanapakdee died two days later, never regaining consciousness.

His family says he was attacked because of his race, but hate crime charges were not filed and the argument was not raised in trial. Prosecutors have said hate crimes are difficult to prove absent statements by the suspect.

Watson testified on the stand that he was in a haze of confusion and anger at the time of the unprovoked attack, according to KRON-TV. He said he lashed out and didn't know that Ratanapakdee was Asian or elderly.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office defended Watson, extended his sympathies to the victim's family and said the defendant is “fully remorseful for his mistake.”

“While this death was a terrible tragedy and has garnered a lot of press attention, the importance of our legal system is that it gives us a chance to look at the facts in a balanced way,” he said in a statement.

Hundreds of people in five other U.S. cities joined in commemorating the anniversary of Ratanapakdee's death in 2022, all of them seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted, and even killed in alarming numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021.

The incidents involved shunning, racist taunting and physical assaults.

FILE - Flowers are left with pictures of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee during a rally attended by hundreds of people on Jan. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

FILE - Flowers are left with pictures of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee during a rally attended by hundreds of people on Jan. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

FILE - Monthanus Ratanapakdee holds a photo of her father, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, and stands in front of the San Francisco apartment building where he was attacked last year and later died of his injuries, on Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)

FILE - Monthanus Ratanapakdee holds a photo of her father, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, and stands in front of the San Francisco apartment building where he was attacked last year and later died of his injuries, on Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)

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