Five years ago, Taival was established to change the way company’s approach strategy and strategic change. Since then, one of our core values is to give forward to the community. This is why we have partnered up with StartUp Refugees in 2019, as we strongly believe in their vision and mission. StartUp Refugees is working together with companies, NGOs, universities, and others to offer refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers support in finding employment and a chance to develop entrepreneurial skills. Through the partnership, our Taivaleers have worked together with many future entrepreneurs that were part of the Startup Refugees programs. One of these cases is Eleonora and her business. Watch the video to find out more.

This month, Lob.org hosted its very first company-wide Impact Week: Claws for the Cause. The goal of the event was to give all employees an opportunity t o have a positive social impact while at work. We virtually volunteered, learned and gave back in our core focus areas: Civic Action, Racial Justice, and Sustainability. Since the launch of Lob.org this past April, a key part of our approach has been to mobilize our people in addition to our product. The true test for us was to successfully host this week virtually. Spoiler alert: it can 100% be done!

While we are looking forward to safely volunteering in person in the future, we found creative ways to engage with organizations remotely:

On Tuesday, we built Kynd Kits for Casa de Paz that will support immigrants and asylum-seekers who were recently released from detention centers. Since we were focusing on Civic Action on this day, this was a great way to show up for our community. 

On Wednesday, we completed a Reentry Simulation with the Next Chapter team. The Reentry Simulation simulates the struggles and challenges faced by individuals who are transitioning from incarceration back into society. According to the California Innocence Project, more than 65 percent of those released from California’s prison system return within three years. The simulation was an important, emotional and eye-opening experience for our team. 

On Thursday, our Partner Team shared more insight into our company’s sustainability commitments. From the beginning, it has been Lob’s commitment to minimize our footprint and seek out new, creative ways to deliver sustainable, eco-friendly initiatives to our customers. For every employee that attended, we donated to the National Forest Foundation to plant one tree. We planted 76 trees on top of our tree-planting partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects, where we plant two trees for every one used in the production of our mailpieces.

On Friday, we closed out the week with an Ideathon. The question was simple, yet left so much room for interpretation. How might we use our resources to have greater impact in our focus areas? Our teams came up with incredibly innovative ideas. Stay tuned to see some of these ideas put into action. 

Fostering community and discussion, especially in this remote environment, is important to us. In addition to the actions above, we also posted a daily question in Slack for everyone to answer. At the end of the day, we did a raffle for those who participated and the winner received $100 to donate to an organization of their choice. Some of the organizations were: Black Girls Code, San Francisco Achievers, and the Edible Schoolyard Project. 

So, the result of the five days? 

• Over 50% of the company participated in some way during Impact Week


• Every department was represented


• 15 nonprofits were supported


• 38 Kynd kits were built and donated to individuals and families that were recently released from detention centers


• Over 180 hours were spent volunteering and learning in our core focus areas


• Over $2000 was donated to organizations our team cares about

Wow! We could not have done it without our incredible team and all of the organizations that shared their time with us. The Lob.org team believes giving back and educating ourselves is our responsibility given the immense privileges we have as tech employees. We are excited to continue this important work and increase our impact through future Claws for the Cause events! 

If you are a nonprofit leveraging direct mail, or are interested in doing so for your important work, we offer donated and discounted products through our Lob for Good program and we’d love the opportunity to work with you. If there are other ways we can work together, email us at lob-org@lob.com. 

Supporting the communities where we live and work has always been an integral part of Alteryx’s culture and our employee experience which is why we are proud to partner with Pledge 1% to donate our time to give back to our local communities. Our Alteryx for Good (AFG) program includes giving each associate 20 paid hours per year to volunteer with any verified nonprofit organization that is meaningful to them. Meanwhile, our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team curates quarterly events that invite our global workforce to engage with an outstanding network of nonprofit organizations we support, making it that much easier for them to give back, connect with one another, and take those much-needed brain breaks from their computers.

One of our most popular volunteering opportunities is with the The Ecology Center, a 28-acre regenerative organic farm, located in San Juan Capistrano, nearby to our corporate headquarters in Irvine, CA. During our most recent event there, 40 Alteryx associates from a variety of departments, including several C-level executives, contributed approximately 120 hours of their time to giving back. The Ecology Center is an amazing place. It is one of the last remaining organic farms in Orange County and it aims to teach volunteers and visitors the importance and critical need of creating and maintaining ecologically sustainable systems, better understanding where our food comes from, and to be a source for vocational training and apprenticeships.

Their mission aligns with one of Alteryx’s core CSR pillars: Sustainability.

At Alteryx, we are proud of the relationships we have formed with several nonprofits and various environmental organizations committed to building more sustainable and resilient local communities. In addition to our work with the Ecology Center, we also partner with the Boulder Watershed Collective in Colorado, the Newport Bay Conservancy in Southern California, the Thompson Island Outward Bound Program at the Boston Harbor Islands, and have raised money for One Tree Planted and charity: water.

We are also committed to integrating sustainable practices into our business and accelerating actions to reduce our environmental impact, because we know change starts at home. Our Alter.Eco employee resource group (ERG) was formed in 2020 and advocates for driving positive environmental changes, both at home and in the office, to create a more sustainable future. Alteryx is committed to being a more sustainable company and we are ready to accelerate investment in this space.

What’s next on our journey?

This year, Alteryx will conduct its first-ever environmental, social, and governance (ESG) materiality assessment, which will help identify ESG issues that are material to our company. It is the first step towards moving environmental and social considerations from siloed initiatives to a core criterion for company-wide decision-making. Following the results of the materiality assessment, we will audit our global carbon footprint to understand where our company generates the most negative impact on the environment and where we have opportunity to offset that negative impact, honing our strategy for subsequent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

To get a sense of how our sustainability partnerships operate, take a peek at the video we made that highlights our relationship with the Ecology Center. During our most recent volunteering event, we helped make several clay bricks from soil from the farm (it’s not easy work!) and managed to weed half a field of asparagus, which helped destroy one-quarter acre of weed seed!! Most importantly, however, we connected with the Ecology Center’s cause, each other, and the world around us in a deeply meaningful and impactful way.

A pillar of the San Diego, California community for more than three decades, Asset Preservation Strategies has dedicated time and resources to drive positive change. Founder John Jenkins, alongside CEO Greg Banner, and President Monica Szakos Cramer share a passion for serving others. Together, they have committed 1% of their firm’s profits and time from every calendar year for charitable giving. Their commitment has helped fuel social change for organizations such as Trees for the Future, Helen Woodward Animal Center, FACE Foundation, Promises 2 Kids and Jacobs Cushman Food Bank. Here in 2021, their pledge will go to Trees for the Future, whose mission is to end hunger and poverty by training farmers to regenerate their land. Recognizing the impact that the pandemic has had on the non-profit sector, the APS team’s commitment only strengthened, inspiring them to connect further with the San Diego community and organizations that have a direct, local impact. Read more about the 1% pledge at Asset Preservation Strategies HERE.

“Our entire leadership team is unified in the calling to serve. We value the fulfillment we receive in being able to make a true and tangible difference in the lives of others.” –John Jenkins, Founder and Chairman, Asset Preservation Strategies

Fidizzi Pledge Happy Day!

Our commitment is to give 1% of our time and profit to worthy causes, and that is why Fidizzi will help to carry out this activity that will aim to hold two board game sessions and give a donation for food to Associação Integrar.

The mission of this association is to support disadvantaged populations, including children and youth at risk, former prisoners and individuals serving prison sentences in the community.

The “Associação Integrar” aims to develop several projects, such as the “Banco Mágico and Cozinha Solidária”.

The “Banco Magic”  is a temporary lending service and donation of playful, pedagogical and didactic material, namely toys and textbooks, which seeks to develop strategies to promote the development of personal, family and social skills.

The “Cozinha Solidária” was inaugurated on November 25, 2011, with the financial support of the EDP Foundation, the Solidarity Kitchen Project has given life to one of the multiple designs of the Integrar Association, always in favor of social inclusion, aiming at the acquisition and development of skills in home management and food economy.

As we said, we’ll doing  board game sessions and give a donation. The game sessions will be in the morning at “Cais” and in the afternoon at, the location will be at “Casa Aninhas”,there will be a variety of games that day, such as “Klask, Splendor, Flamme, Rouge and Lusitania”.

 We will attach some pictures of the following games, which were played that day with a lot of enthusiasm and dedication from the team. 

At Atrium, our three core values are diversity of thought, authenticity, and initiative. All three are at the center of Atrium’s Pledge 1% partnership and Cultivate program, founded in September 2020, with a mission to give back by donating time and expertise to nonprofit customers and charitable organizations.

When searching for a new volunteer opportunity that aligned with Cultivate, one of Atrium’s consultants reconnected with the Linda W. Daniel Foundation (LWDF) and decided to champion an internal Atrium volunteer program to support the LWDF’s #MoveMeMonday (MMM) campaign. As Mondays are a notoriously difficult day to get momentum, MMM encourages the LWDF’s social media followers to get moving on Mondays through various forms of exercise. They then turn that exercise — measured by “beats” — into funds donated to top-tier cancer research facilities on the participant’s behalf.

As per the LWDF: “Each Monday, for every mile participants run, walk, bike, swim, etc. or 15 minutes they exercise, participants earn 1 beat. For every beat shared via [The LWDF’s] social media channels or website, the LWDF raises $1 to support select cancer organizations on a one-for-one basis. Anyone anywhere can participate.” Atrium ran with this idea, and pledged an additional $3 for every beat an employee generated.

Over the course of four Mondays in May and June 2021, the Atrium team contributed a total of 977 beats, raising $2,931 for the LWDF. A collective 14,655 minutes of exercise generated those beats, with 75 unique teammates participating remotely across the U.S. and in India. Those funds went to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s patient navigation program, which supports Dana Farber’s most vulnerable patients. The Atrium team is proud to not only reframe the conversation around exercise and team building at a distance, but most importantly, raise funds together for a meaningful cause.

At Smooth Consulting, we are committed to generously giving back and have committed to Pledge 1%. We donate to select charities throughout the year and to plan to contribute in greater ways as the business continues to grow! Our founder, Anna Forbes, has been actively volunteering with a local Toronto, Canada non-profit called Future Possibilities For Kids (FPK) whose mission is to coach children to believe in themselves and lead community change.

Anna has participated as a KidCoach in their Ready, Set Goal! Program for 2 years now. The program teaches fundamentals of leadership, starting with building confidence, and encourages each child to set, and achieve their goal of contribution based on an area of interest and impact. As an advocate of empowered leadership, Anna appreciates the incredible value of the program and feels it’s a program that could benefit most adults too!

On December 7, 2021 FPK will be celebrating 20 years of Kids, leadership, and community. They play an integral role in the lives of children and their communities. It’s an honour and privilege to participate in such an incredible commitment to our future leaders.
 

This year, I’m most proud of how we’ve engaged our Contentstack employees and their extended families in some of our pledge initiatives. These have been strong culture reinforcers for the organization. 

When you see team members as the whole people they are — with kids they’re doing homework with or shuttling to practices, elder parents they’re caring for, or nieces and nephews they’re helping build lego sets — it tells you a lot about who they are. It also brings you closer as an organization.

Two special moments got us closer to the kids. We put together a reading night for our Contentstack tribe and their little ones for International Literacy Day. Employees volunteered to read out loud in a virtual event and kids across the company participated. They each also received books in the mail courtesy of Contentstack to help feed their love for language.

We also brought attention to International Day of the Girl with this video. Girls are powerful, resilient, imaginative and thoughtful — but we didn’t ask stakeholders to take it from us. Our employees’ daughters shared what they want to be when they grow up and also told stories of girls who changed the world. We found we have future inventors, pediatricians, paleontologists, doctors, conservationists, activists, and more in our midst. We also donated to GirlUp, an organization dedicated to helping girls pursue their dreams and expand opportunities worldwide.

And, in a year when COVID ravaged the world, we made vaccines available to our employees and their families in Virar, India, Contentstack’s engineering hub. In just two days, we administered 421 vaccinations. We also raised $75,000 for additional COVID relief in the region. Our employees came to work while dealing with sickness and stress. We wanted to help them feel safe and supported, and stay healthy.

For us, it was a year of getting closer as people as the pandemic still by and large kept us physically apart. That closeness — spurred on by lifting each other and our communities up together — also made us stronger.

It often begins with a book. The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay, is about a boy navigating his way through adult dysfunction, peer bullying, and kindness from caretakers that fuels his maturation and intelligence. Companies and communities understand the power and impact 1% can generate. Through cultivating relationships with local business owners, the Room to Read New Jersey Chapter has helped foster a local/global connection through promoting New Jersey based entrepreneurs with a multicultural global mindset. The focus on books, literacy, and language made Room to Read an ideal Pledge 1% charity partner for Language Lizard.

Language Lizard, a New Jersey based, woman-owned business, offers multicultural children’s books in over 60 languages to school districts, literacy organizations, and bilingual families to support dual language learners and promote multicultural education. Founder and CEO Anneke Forzani, understanding the global impact of Room to Read, was particularly impressed with Room to Read’s Book Publishing program. Room to Read conducts writer and illustrator workshops and collaborates with authors and illustrators, building talent in-country and teaching life long skills that will support literacy around the world long into the future.

“Members of the Language Lizard team continue to support Room to Read both financially and with their time, most recently providing support for a large fundraiser to help build a library in Cambodia. This year, the company’s gifts to suppliers will include a donation to Room to Read along with some festive treats from another Room to Read supporter.” says Forzani.

The Language Lizard and Room to Read collections support literacy and diversity education in many ways. The Language Lizard Living in Harmony series promotes kindness, inclusion, and community. For example, the book We Can All Be Friends shows how much we have in common even though we are all different. Illustrations include diverse characters and settings from around the world, allowing children to see themselves in the book and learn about the world around them. All books also include free lesson plans to help teachers build community in the classroom.

The Room to Read Peace and Equality book series brought together diverse writers and illustrators from the United States for a “book sprint” to create 10 book titles in just four weeks on the theme of creating a more peaceful and equal world. Each book was made by a team of four creators. The series covers a range of engaging stories, from highlighting the contributions of Black inventors, to the importance of the U.S. census, to the experience of a Palestinian refugee in the U.S.

With common goals to promote reading and the development of creative, multicultural content, Language Lizard looks forward to continuing to support Room to Read in building a better future for kids around the world.