Michelle Donati-Grayson on AAA Northern California, Nevada, & Utah
Our Speaker for Thursday, May 6, 2021, was Michelle Donati-Grayson from AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah (“AAA NCNU”). Michelle spoke about AAA’s mission; helping others. With the onset of the pandemic, AAA ‘leaned into’ its mission of helping others. It reassigned 1,000 employees to make goodwill visits to members. The goal was to provide a sympathetic ear and find out if members (like Leroy Carlenzoli, for example) needed help. Some employees were able to provide specific help, such as when AAA employee Bryan Cherry found a member who had just given her children the last of their food supply. Bryan went to a local foodbank and returned to the member with the food and some toys for the kids! AAA has also provided free roadside assistance to first responders and health care workers during the pandemic. Rumor has it that Leroy asked for a fishing pole!
AAA has long advocated for child passenger safety through car seat inspections and car seat donations, educating more than 450,00 families every year. It also shifted resources online to continue to deliver on its commitment. AAA launched a Gig car share program called “Gig4Good.” This program provided car share credits to help important services, such as food banks like the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. Gig4Good enabled program staff and volunteers to get to their many food distribution sites. AAA has now introduced a program to reimburse new and existing members for up to one hour for gig trips to go to vaccine appointments. AAA is also donating trips for these vaccine appointments to qualified organizations.
AAA stayed the course during the pandemic. Its members say they have greater peace of mind knowing that AAA is behind them. AAA has been rewarded by the highest membership retention in the company’s history. Valued employees came together to show how adversity breeds innovation and can bring out the best in humanity: Kindness, empathy, and resilience. AAA is a great place to work and also makes AAA the membership organization that its members keep for life.
Aside from its legendary roadside assistance program, AAA offers a full range of insurance services, travel help, DMV alternatives, identity protection, a smart home security service, and free car seat inspections. Its website contains a complete listing of all of its programs and services, many of which we probably do not know about. AAA has also put most of its maps online and its TripTik gives you travel directions and lets you know about Covid restrictions at the destination and enroute. Using your AAA mobile app allows AAA to pinpoint your location with the GPS on your phone. The App revolutionizes how AAA helps people with roadside assistance. AAA also allows members to identify charging stations along the route to allow electric car users to figure out how charge their cars along the route.
Thank you, Michelle, for the great job and valuable information. Well done!
