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ROSWELL, Ga., March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As the world faces ongoing pandemic-related uncertainty, Kimberly-Clark Professional continues to empower essential heroes working behind the scenes in the cleaning industry to help keep people and businesses as safe as possible.

Last year, in collaboration with ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, Kimberly-Clark Professional donated $500,000 to fund specialized scholarships for the GBAC Fundamentals Online Course: Cleaning & Disinfection Principles to provide critical training to small and women-owned businesses around the world. This expansive effort has now touched six continents and hundreds of cities, from New York to New Delhi.

To date, the initiative has provided 6,131 scholarships in 84 countries, and helped 3,900 organizations prepare their workers with GBAC-led training that helps them provide their employees and customers with a welcoming and hygienic workplace. In addition, the program set a goal to award 50% of scholarships to women, a target that the program is close to achieving.

"A lot of our clients closed down and we were not sure how to move forward," said Brandi Harper, CEO, Haylo Window Cleaning. "The Kimberly-Clark Professional GBAC Scholarship Program provided us an opportunity that we would not have had and allowed us to train our staff, send our technicians in the field and help our clients." The scholarship has allowed Harper's family-owned cleaning company to pivot their focus to supporting new customers, including Furlow Charter School in Americus, GA.

The GBAC Fundamentals Online Course is focused on prevention, response and control measures for biohazards in the workplace—with a special emphasis on infection and contamination control measures for infectious disease outbreak situations such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.

The Kimberly-Clark Professional GBAC Scholarship program assists cleaning professionals, often the unsung heroes of the pandemic, for their critical work maintaining facilities like hospitals and senior care homes, as well as community recovery efforts. This program provides access to advanced education to those who may not have otherwise been able to fund this training for their employees. Since launch, it has funded 2,694 small businesses and supported their efforts to operate confidently during the pandemic.

"In our industry, we know better than most the hard work and dedication it takes to be a cleaning professional, especially during this crisis," said Susan Gambardella, President, Kimberly-Clark Professional North America. "We wanted to empower our heroes working tirelessly behind the scenes as they help critical businesses run safely."

Kimberly-Clark Professional's ongoing scholarship program will continue to provide GBAC certification to small organizations that meet program criteria. Scholarships are still available for cleaning professionals. To apply for a scholarship or to get more information, visit: https://go.issa.com/kimberly-clark-professional-gbac-scholarship-program/

"We are proud to partner with the team at Kimberly-Clark Professional," said John Barrett, Executive Director, ISSA. "Early on in the pandemic, they realized the importance of such a program to empower cleaning professionals across the globe with fundamental knowledge of cleaning, disinfection and infection prevention. While their work might be done behind the scenes, these workers' commitment and focus have made a tremendous impact by providing healthy and safe work environments for all workers."

About Kimberly-Clark Professional
Kimberly-Clark Professional partners with businesses to create Exceptional Workplaces – healthier, safer and more productive. We are committed to making a positive impact on people and how their work gets done through our world-class portfolio of trusted, recognized brands such as Kleenex^®, Scott^®, WypAll^®, Kimtech™ and KleenGuard™, industry-leading expertise, breakthrough innovation and being responsible partners in sustainability. To see how we enable businesses and people around the world to move forward and thrive, please visit KCProfessional.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About ISSA 
With more than 9,300 members—including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners and associated service members—ISSA is the world's leading trade association for the cleaning industry. The association is committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Mainz, Germany; Whitby, Canada; Parramatta, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800.

About GBAC, a Division of ISSA 
Composed of international leaders in the field of microbial-pathogenic threat analysis, mitigation, response and recovery, the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, provides training, guidance, accreditation, certification, crisis management assistance and leadership to government, commercial and private entities looking to mitigate, quickly address and/or recover from biological threats and real-time crises. The organization's services include biorisk management program assessment and training, Forensic Restoration® response and remediation, the GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation program, training and certification of individuals and consulting for building owners and facility managers. For more information, visit www.gbac.org.

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SOURCE Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Kimberly-Clark Professional