This story was submitted by Hotovo

At Hotovo, we believe in more than just coding and software development; we also believe in taking care of our planet. Recently, we had the incredible opportunity to team up with Trash Heroes, a civic association from Košice, and make a meaningful impact on our local community.

A Day of Action
With sleeves rolled up and a shared commitment to making a difference, we set out to clean up neglected corners of our city. But it wasn’t just us adults – we were joined by enthusiastic kids from local schools who also lent their helping hands. Their enthusiasm was nothing short of inspiring!

The Trash Heroes Origin Story
It all started with a young man from Košice who, out of nothing more than instinct, began picking up litter during his wanderings. His friend, out for a walk with his dog, couldn’t bear to watch him do it alone, so he joined in. Then, like the domino effect, another friend joined in too.

Realizing the big impact this “small” effort of theirs could make and driven by a shared commitment to safeguarding our planet, they decided to establish Trash Heroes – which has since gone from strength to strength and is making a noticeable impact in our city. And not only our city, as Jaroslav Stančák, the young man who started it all, now lives in London and is doing the exact same thing there!

It’s a great reminder that everyone can contribute in their own way.

Hotovo’s Core Values
Hotovo has always held the protection of Mother Earth as one of our core values, so joining the Trash Heroes was a no-brainer for us! But we didn’t – and won’t – stop at just one day of action. We’ve also directed our company’s business focus toward addressing global challenges, particularly in the realm of technology and software development. We actively seek projects that bring benefits to our world, and especially those that help confront the pressing issue of climate change.

Passing It On
There was another inspiring moment from our day with the Trash Heroes, too.

We brought some small branded gifts to share with the kids that joined us this day, as a way of thanking them for giving their time to something so important. And their reaction was incredible…

Rather than keep these gifts, they decided to donate them to other kids who were more in need. They did this in the spirit of the motto: “Pass it On”.

It was yet another beautiful moment from the day, and proof that together, we really can make such a difference.

A Big Thank You
A heartfelt thank you goes out to our colleagues, family members and the kids who dedicated their time and effort to supporting this great initiative. It was a brilliant day of hard work, great camaraderie, and a shared commitment to the greater good.

Join Us Next Time
But here’s the best part: we’re not stopping here. Our eyes are already set on the next opportunity to make an impact, and we’re inviting YOU to join us. Together, we can magnify our efforts, extending our reach from our community to the wider world.

Stay tuned for more updates on our upcoming initiatives. Let’s keep the spirit of Trash Heroes alive and make this world a cleaner, greener, and happier place, one step at a time.

With trash-grabbing high-fives,

The Hotovo Crew

This story was submitted by PagerDuty

Building a more equitable world by transforming critical work has always been at the heart of PagerDuty’s company vision. Five years into formalizing our social impact work through PagerDuty.org, we continue to operationalize our social impact in alignment with our strategic business goals and innovating in new ways.

Our commitment to both social impact work and our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes is shared by both the company’s leadership and employees. As we have advanced our ESG programs and investments, laying the groundwork for new commitments and continued progress in the year ahead, this work gives PagerDuty a new avenue to create value for our customers and other stakeholders in pursuit of our shared societal and environmental goals.

In 2017, we committed to Pledge 1%, a corporate philanthropy movement dedicated to making the larger community a key stakeholder in every business. For us, that meant donating 1% of equity, 1% of product, and 1% of employee time to give back.

Our commitment drove the launch of PagerDuty.org five years ago, the company’s social impact arm, which works to empower mission-driven teams to build a more equitable world and sustainable future. PagerDuty.org applies an integrated approach that mobilizes our technology platform, philanthropic investments, people, and voice to amplify the work of social impact organizations. Our early intention was to “empower those working to make a difference in the world and to use our technology to solve intractable challenges,” and through experimentation, iteration, and scaling of our programs, we’ve realized this vision.

We recognize that our company’s commitment to building a more equitable world and sustainable future is a continuous journey. Given the function’s fifth anniversary, we are pausing to reflect on the journey and celebrate some of our key accomplishments over the last five years.

Here are five key things we’ve learned during our first five years:

1) Institutionalize your vision (and impact): Building an equitable world is part of our corporate vision and has been integral to our company’s ethos. That’s why it made sense to make the Pledge 1% commitment early in our journey toward becoming a public company.

2) Invest beyond the money: From the start, we dedicated the internal resourcing and expertise required to make this work successful, such as bringing on a senior-level leader from the beginning, establishing the PagerDuty.org Advisory Board to provide leadership and oversight to support our strategic vision, and establishing our CFO as the executive sponsor for our ESG work.

3) Drive momentum through accountability and transparency: PagerDuty is in the business of operationalizing trust. You see that reflected in our reporting on our social impact outcomes less than two years into the program’s tenure, with the publication of our first ESG disclosures less than three years into the program.

This year, as part of our accountability to our internal and external stakeholders for responsible business practices, we are also refreshing our materiality assessment, defining science-based targets, and laying out a climate action plan.

4) Align the entire business: Leveraging our greatest assets—our people, product, and business practices—is critical to maximizing impact. It’s this holistic framework that enables us to realize our company vision and provide holistic support to community partners and Impact Customers by solving complex social and environmental challenges. By aligning the entire business, we’re positioned to meet the evolving needs of all our stakeholders: our employees, customers, communities, investors, and the planet.

One example of our work to embed social impact across the entire employee lifecycle is our recent analysis with our People team which shows an empirical positive correlation between volunteerism and employee retention and engagement.

5) Invest in social impact work and realize the far-reaching benefits: We spent the first five years building the foundation, experimenting and iterating, staying curious, and gathering relevant data to inform our future investments. We’re building deeper partnerships with our social impact customers and diversifying our philanthropic investments through creative capital mechanisms like mission-related and impact investments. Additionally, we support PagerDuty’s employee acquisition and retention strategy with integrated programs that drive an impact mindset and inspire employees to take action.

Our customers and communities are central to everything we do at PagerDuty. PagerDuty.org’s partnership model mobilizes our product, people, funding, and voice to help nonprofits and mission-driven organizations accelerate their vital work. A few highlights from our partners include:

• We support The Trevor Project in keeping their suicide hotline running 24/7, ensuring fewer interruptions to their suicide-prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.


• We partnered with SIRUM to prioritize critical work, connecting people with surplus life-saving medications by helping organizations like nursing homes, pharmacies, and manufacturers donate their unused medicine and get it to where it’s needed most.


• PagerDuty’s technology, unrestricted grant funding, and pro bono technical expertise help ensure that Trek Medics International deploys emergency responders in underserved communities around the world.

“As a nonprofit organization, we’re counting our pennies every day and we are dependent on the generosity of others,” said Jason Friesen, Founder and Executive Director at Trek Medics International. “We have to watch our budget very closely. PagerDuty’s holistic support makes it totally possible for us to work at full capacity without having to make any trade-offs or compromise any of our services.”

At PagerDuty, we view addressing our environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) risks and opportunities as fundamental to practicing business responsibly and creating value for all stakeholders, and we continue to set meaningful and measurable goals and to integrate ESG activities into our business strategy. We’ve made strong progress in the past five years, and we will continue to hold ourselves accountable to deliver value across our stakeholders as we forge ahead in this next half of our first decade.

This story was submitted by Aerogen

2023 is a special year for the Aerogen history books. We mark 25 years of the company’s existence.

From a small room above a butchers shop in the west of Ireland to the world leader in acute care aerosol drug delivery – we’ve come a long way. Over 20 million people in 75 countries around the world have benefitted from our products. This is a truly remarkable success story and one which we were keen to celebrate.

In Aerogen we “don’t do ordinary” and this was very much the case for us when we were deciding on how to mark our anniversary. We decided that we would do this through a series of events, both big and small, locally, nationally and internationally over the course of the year. Each of these events correspond to a number from 1-25, are announced in no particular order and all of them tie in with our Pledge 1% commitment.

Some of the events that have taken place or will take place shortly include;

• Movember. ONE is representative of the alarming stat that across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day. In Aerogen over the month of November we will be raising awareness and funds for mens health.


• Three represents the 3,407 ft that makes up Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland. We climbed it in aid of Clare Crusaders – raising €2,500. Aerogen matched it to bring it to €5,000.


• FOUR represents the 4 hospitals that make up Children’s Health Ireland – Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly. Held an internal Halloween fundraiser raising over €3,000. Aerogen will increase to a donation of €25,000 to the Giggle Fund.


• Aerogen sponsored SEVEN athletes to participate in the Special Olympics Berlin.


• Team Chicago climbed TWELVE thousand plus steps in the Fight for Air fundraiser raising $3,455 which Aerogen matched

We are looking forward to continuing our celebrations over the coming months, with a finale event in March ’24, marking the end of one year of charity and community events – supporting both financially, with product and staff time, through our Pledge 1% commitment.

This story was submitted by Twistellar ApS

At Twistellar, we take our partnership status with Salesforce implementation seriously and vigorously commit to the Pledge 1% initiative, dedicating over 2000+ hours of pro-bono work throughout the year.

As part of this initiative, Twistellar has invested 400+ hours in end-to-end implementation of Salesforce Sales Cloud for a non-profit organization through the Salesforce “Power of us” program. This program aims to provide discounted Salesforce technology to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, enabling them to leverage the world’s leading CRM platform to fulfill their missions. The NPO we assisted is called Human Practice Foundation, and it focuses on creating schools, providing quality education, and supporting entrepreneurial projects to empower children and their communities to create a better future.

Our efforts extend far beyond the boardroom. In addition to pro-bono work, Twistellar participated in the “Steps to the Stars” event organized by The Gavin Glynn Foundation. This charity event raises funds to support families with children battling cancer, enabling them to access life-saving treatments abroad that are not available in Ireland. Twistellar’s CEO, Thomas Hobel, was among the participants, highlighting the company’s commitment to giving back to the community and supporting families in challenging situations.

“We’re proud to stand alongside organizations like Salesforce and fellow Pledge 1% participants since this initiative aligns perfectly with our core values of community, compassion, and solidarity.

By lending our Salesforce expertise to organizations on the frontlines of improving our world, Twinstellar ensures that these organizations can focus on their mission and have a greater impact. The feedback from organizations we partnered with has been nothing but positive, proving that streamlined operations and automated workflows matter in achieving not only business but universal goals.”

Thomas Hobel
CEO at Twistellar Europe

In the years to come, we expect to broaden our Pledge 1% portfolio with many more projects with an emphasis on charity, sustainable development, waste management, and non-profit causes.

Twistellar is a #1 Salesforce Consulting Partner from Denmark, working with customers in Europe, USA, Asia, and Australia. The company provides top-quality Salesforce solutions development services to solve complex business issues and boost sales.

Deep technical expertise and business experience allow Twistellar to bring forward creative and tailored solutions of architectural and budget optimization, ensuring effortless maintenance and scaling opportunities.

More info: twistellar.com

This story was submitted by Ran EOOD represented by ZAUtre

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”.
– Neale Donald Walsch

And speaking about comfort at ZaUtre.com, we have decided to put it away and experience life in its full color and rustiness by involving our team in a bit different and challenging team building activity. This is how the idea for a non mainstream team – building for volunteering occurred and we have managed to put it into action.

Gabrovo, Sunday – mid August – we started exploring the concept for collaboration with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center (CJC) and its director. Over a coffee by the Yantra river a friendly conversation took place and we agreed that the volunteering activity could be done on the day of the Opening or “Unwrapping” (in the context of Christo and Jeanne Claude work) of the newly established CJC center. A chance for each of us to contribute with a piece of our own energy for something new that promises a future not only for the local cultural community, but also for the society in general and beyond.

Nestled within the walls of a 1960s building, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center (CJC)  in Gabrovo breathes new life into a former textile high-school that ceased operating in 2010. Being a ‘dream come true’ for a group of enthusiasts, the CJC Center has a 12 000-square-meter space and could be considered a ‘New into Old’ – Cultural Experiment, in which ZaUtre’s team also took place . Our bonding experience was fueled by our collective decision to invest our time and volunteer efforts in reawakening this signature ’60s building facility, fostering and nurturing both local and visiting artists and the very essence of art itself.

Our memorable day began with the “Revive and Reorganize Challenge.” Divided into three teams, we embarked on a mission to organize and classify important items and replenish the former high-school Physics and Chemistry classrooms. This experience, much like a time machine, transported us back to our own school days. Some were skeptical at first, while for others, it was a thrilling adventure filled with excitement and lots of dust:). Furthermore, through a simple cleaning routine we put into practice a real time management exercise that involved and required collective mind for task’s mapping, distribution, prioritization, time-management etc.

Thanks to our innovative and out-of-the-box approach and the commitment of ZaUtre’s team, we successfully realized our unconventional idea. Our involvement can be seen as a performance in itself, mirroring the center’s journey towards a brighter future. While many might opt for standard approaches like company weekends with orchestrated game activities, we at ZaUtre chose to dedicate our time to volunteer work, helping pave the way for a promising tomorrow in the world of art and the Gabrovo community, all facilitated by the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Center (CJC).

The Satisfaction survey showing a high approval rate makes us optimistic that volunteering team building events could become part of our company culture. Approval rates are pushed up also by the night party at the CJC with a thrilling DJ set and unique industrial atmosphere.

This story was submitted by Warlows Legal

Warlows Legal proudly contributes $5,000 annually to Anika Legal, fortifying the organization’s mission to assist Victorian renters. This financial support directly enhances Anika Legal’s ability to provide free online legal services. The funds are instrumental in maintaining a dedicated paralegal for clients, ensuring prompt and specialized assistance. By bolstering Anika Legal’s resources, Warlows Legal actively furthers the organization’s impact, enabling it to offer tailored legal advice to individuals navigating their living situations. This collaborative partnership underscores our commitment to fostering legal empowerment and education within the community, as we work together to create a more accessible and informed legal landscape for all.

This story was submitted by Team Building with Purpose

In the last year, our events with corporate teams have logged 4,457 volunteer hours across the twelve charities we support, helping spread the word about what the charities do, come up with ideas to help them in the future and putting together food and toy hampers, kits and care packs which were given directly to the charities to distribute to the people they support.  But beyond the volunteer hours in the sessions, the sessions have served to educate and inspire them to walk in the world differently by helping others, providing further support to the charity and making a difference to colleagues, family, friends and strangers. Plus, 50% of the net profit from each session (which we guarantee is at least $500+GST for the smallest group) goes to the charity. This is what Team Building with Purpose is about.

This story was submitted by Envato

Envato is now completely carbon neutral! Here’s how we’ve committed to reducing our emissions, planting more trees and offsetting our carbon footprint.

Balancing purpose and profit has always been at the heart of the Envato business. In line with our mission, company values, and commitments as a certified B-Corp, Envato’s sustainability committee has been working on a comprehensive sustainability project designed to measure and offset our carbon footprint.

In partnership with Trace – a Sydney-based climate tech startup – we’re pleased to announce that Envato is now officially carbon neutral! Delivering on our sustainability promise as a B-Corp, as well as the open letter we co-signed to the Australian Government calling for climate change action, Envato has committed to offsetting more carbon emissions than we’re producing as an organization.

“When we signed on to the To Whom It May Concern campaign, we made a pledge to be 100% renewable by 2030 and carbon zero by 2040,” says Envato’s CEO, Hichame Assi. “It’s a commitment which reflects not just our values, but a broader sense of how businesses can contribute to fighting climate change.”

Since Envato set out to become carbon neutral in September 2021, the company has offset over 2,700 tonnes of CO2 (enough emissions to fill 46,000 shipping containers), planted 23,000 trees, and gone completely carbon neutral.

This significant sustainability project is led by our Greener Good Sustainability Committee, which was formed with the purpose of reducing emissions produced by the company’s 100% remote workforce during Covid-19 lockdowns. It began as a way to take small but positive steps towards offsetting the impact of the business, with an end goal of eliminating Envato’s carbon footprint altogether.

“There was a bunch of work that went into gathering the data and input that allowed us to calculate our emissions, and then the team at Trace were able to take it and run with it,” explains Envato Senior Product Manager and Greener Good Sustainability Committee founder, Jimmy Joslin. “We were presented with Envato’s CO2 emissions, and Trace was able to obtain carbon credits to offset our output using projects aligned to the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They then helped us get to a position of ‘Carbon Positive’ by calculating our emissions and selecting meaningful projects that deliver carbon credits as well as investing in planting trees.”

In partnership with Trace, Envato is able to measure the amount of carbon that the business generates, globally. This includes not just our physical offices in Melbourne, Guadalajara, and Los Angeles, but also an estimate of the footprint of our tech cloud and remote teams around the globe.

Trace’s CEO and Co-Founder Catherine Long explains, “Envato is the perfect example of a fast-moving tech business that already has a demonstrable commitment to sustainability but needed a solution for measuring and managing their carbon footprint that matched the speed and efficiency of the way they work. We’re super proud that Envato chose Trace to be that solution and can’t wait to see how their whole team uses our software to support their journey to net-zero.”

But the work doesn’t stop there. To maintain our carbon-neutral status, we’ll be regularly recalculating our offsets in line with the pollution we’re producing as a company, as well as continually improving our practices to reduce emissions from the get-go.

In addition to being a significant environmental milestone, Envato’s carbon-neutral status has also had a positive impact on company morale – assuring employees that their environmental concerns are being heard and put into action.

“Being part of a company that actively strives to do the right thing and is willing to invest in social outcomes that are not just shifting needles towards our bottom line, is a game-changer,” says Jimmy. “In addition to employee outcomes, it’s important for us to lead by example, following in the footsteps of those before us who have paved the way to now inspire other organizations to take similar actions which will ultimately benefit all of us. This initiative speaks right to the core of what we’re trying to achieve in the sustainability space, and from here on out we’re going to continue to go beyond maintaining where we are now, and further into reducing our impact on the environment.”

To make your own commitment to reaching carbon zero, visit Trace and learn more about reducing and offsetting emissions and increasing your impact.

This story was submitted by Intopia

As a social enterprise, giving back to the community has been Intopia’s purpose from the very beginning. As a certified B-Corporation and a member of the Pledge 1% movement, our commitment goes beyond words. We’re about action and tangible results in making a difference.

We joined 1% pledge in 2017, as we wanted to concrete our commitment to philanthropy being part of our DNA. Since our inception, we have contributed over $600,000 to support various initiatives and charities, reinforcing our dedication to building a more inclusive and equitable world.

“Giving back has been part of our focus at Intopia from the very beginning. It is why we operate as a social enterprise and we believe helps us in our goal of creating and inclusive digital world”, shares Stewart Hay, Director and Co-founder of Intopia.

Our dedication extends beyond maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace that truly looks after their people. We offer paid volunteering days to our employees every year, for them to contribute to causes that they’re passionate about.

As a business, we engage in pro bono work for purpose-driven organisations and events, using our skills and voice to actively advocate for accessibility, inclusion, and women in technology. Intopia financially contribute to and provide substantial support to the A11y Camp Australia Conference and A11y Bytes, which are Australia’s largest events focused on building awareness of digital accessibility and inclusive design.

One of our biggest beneficiaries has been NV Access. Our donations have supported their work to create NVDA, a free, open source, globally accessible screen reader for Windows. We have been supporting them since we were founded 7 years ago and continue to do so as part of our pledge.

We’re proud to be part of Pledge 1% and to champion corporate philanthropy. We believe that businesses have the power to make amazing positive changes in the world.