As part of the 2021 Leaders in Corporate Citizenship Awards, Inspire Chief Communications Officer Chris Fuller has been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as an Executive Champion in the large company category.

“At Inspire we believe in doing the right thing first and foremost, because actions speak louder than words,” Fuller told the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “We have a strong cultural foundation with core behaviors, one of which is around being good citizens. We take this to heart and it guides our actions and decision-making when it comes to being good corporate citizens.”

Fuller is the executive sponsor for Inspire’s social purpose efforts, overseeing philanthropy for Inspire and its brands. Over the last year, Fuller has been instrumental in leading initiatives like Hometown Heroes, Good Citizens Month, Operation Appreciation, Young Achievers Academy and COVID relief efforts at Inspire.

Since mid-March, Inspire’s restaurants provided more than $600,000 in in-kind food donations to support those on the frontlines battling COVID-19 through the Hometown Heroes program. All donations went to the Inspire Brands Foundation and directly enabled Inspire’s family of brands to provide much-needed meals for healthcare workers in select markets around the country.

Collectively across Inspire, team members, along with families and friends, volunteered more than 6,000 hours as part of Good Citizens Month in October. From supporting disabled veterans and animal shelters to providing donations of supplies to those in need in addition to mentoring students through tutoring and virtual learning, Inspire team members came together to give back. Team members at Inspire’s support centers also coordinated sending more than 2,200 hand-written notes of gratitude to restaurant team members through a project titled Operation Appreciation.

Inspire also launched Young Achievers Academy, providing free, socially-distanced remote learning and school enrichment for Atlanta Support Center team member children.

In addition to these community efforts, Fuller helped stand up a COVID Preparedness Task Force focused on boosting team member morale and keeping franchisees informed of changing local and state operating guidelines. The Inspire Brands Foundation, the charitable arm of Inspire Brands, through the support of the Arby’s Foundation, launched a $1 million COVID-relief fund dedicated to supporting childhood hunger and restaurant industry relief efforts.

“Within the past year, I’m most proud of this team’s ability to consistently do three things: pivot, adapt and progress. Despite the impact from COVID, we continued to charge ahead with our efforts to be good citizens and in fact doubled down with programs that benefitted franchise and company restaurant team members,” Fuller told the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “When I look back on 2020, I’m incredibly proud of everything the team did to pivot in the midst of an ever-changing landscape, adapt to guest needs and expectations and their ability to continue to make progress against our strategic priorities.”

Click here to read more of Fuller’s Q&A with the Atlanta Business Chronicle.