Teachers from Loreto Normanhust, in Sydney.
ADAPTOVATE are proud supporters of Pledge 1% and commit to giving back 1 percent of our time and skills every year in all our offices globally. We have worked with several in need organisations over the past few years, and this year we are proud to have worked with Brittany’s Backpack Ministry in Texas USA and Loreto Normanhurst School for girls, in Sydney Australia.
——
Brittany’s Backpack Ministry was founded in 2009. The purpose and passion behind the ministry are in honor of Brittany Nicole Smith who passed at the age 8 from Asthma. In memory of Brittany, who was incredibly generous and fond of school, they provide food, school supplies, and other resources to their neighborhood and under-resourced communities.
As part of our Pledge 1% partnership – ADAPTOVATE supported the organization recently with launching their new website and providing business advice from the team.
——-
Loreto Normanhurst, an independent school for girls is running a Design Sprint program at scale for 180+ year 10 students in November 2021. ADAPTOVATE partnered with them as part of our commitment to Pledge 1%
The school has partnered with 9 businesses including Netflix, Google, Universal and Guzman and Gomez to help them solve 9 business problems with an adapted version of the widely used Design Sprint format created by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky in 2016 (book published).
Read more here.
More case-studies from our Pledge 1% commitment
This Giving Tuesday, we wanted to try something different.
By living out our “be the change you seek :bethechange: ” value, we are empowering Atlassians
to be their own Mini Fundraisers. The month long campaign encourages Atlassians to tap into
their own networks, form little fundraising teams, promote and raise much need funds for the
causes that they are most passionate about.
So how does it work?
Participation is really simple: employees need to set up (or join) a team of 5-10 other Atlassians,
find a cause that they are passionate about and promote the opportunity to raise funds. Most
opportunities aren’t big or elaborate but they drive team engagement and some healthy
competition. After all, there are some limited edition personalised apparel (hoodies) up for grabs
for the team that can attract the most number of donors.
Just in the first week of launching, we have over 300+ Atlassians joining different teams with
causes ranging from doggie rescues to multiple causes like End Homelessness or The Hunger
Project.
With this we’re hoping Atlassians can reach out and create impact not just for their
causes but also with their fellow colleagues and maybe enjoy the holidays wearing some
warm and nice hoodies with their teams.
Originally published on Twitter.
Today, we’re celebrating the news that as part of our 1% equity commitment through @PledgeOne, we’ve helped to unlock $1B in new philanthropy in just 4 months. pic.twitter.com/B8MxQXZVUl
— BetterUp (@BetterUp) October 26, 2021
With the support of @dougpepper of @ICONIQGrowth, @alexkayyal and @jsomorjai of @SalesforceVC, and @RonConway of @svangel, we’re leveraging our assets to connect corporate philanthropy to community building to help people everywhere live with more clarity, purpose, and passion.
— BetterUp (@BetterUp) October 26, 2021
Beyond our equity commitment, we’re also donating 1% of our revenue, employee time, and product to create positive changes within our communities and support mission-aligned non-profits.
Better all for a better world ⚡️
— BetterUp (@BetterUp) October 26, 2021
Congratulations! We’re proud to have you in the Pledge 1% community. Thank you for your leadership and support, BetterUp!
Originally published at Inside Philanthropy. Written by Ade Adeniji.
Fellow tech donor Marc Andreessen once called him “the human router.” Others call him the Godfather of Silicon Valley. Ron Conway, 70, has invested in hundreds of internet companies since the early 1990s, including PayPal, Google, Twitter and Airbnb. He founded SV Angel, the San Francisco-based seed fund, in 2009. But his Silicon Valley bona fides go way back to early positions at National Semiconductor Corporation and Altos Computer Systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Along the way, Conway has amassed a rolodex of allies in technology, politics and Hollywood. And he’s advised a number of celebrity figures—Kevin Durant, will.i.am and Ashton Kutcher among them.
Through the years, Conway has been a major donor to the University of California, San Francisco, including via a $40 million donation to the new 207,500-square-foot UCSF Ron Conway Family Gateway Medical Building at the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. More recently, Conway helped organize an all-volunteer COVID Tech Task Force to increase coordination between technology companies and policymakers. And amid new calls for social justice and racial equity, he backs Slauson & Co, which aims to democratize access to entrepreneurship.
At the end of 2020, Conway and his wife Gayle signed the Giving Pledge. A driving force behind their decision to sign, he writes in the pledge letter, is to “encourage more tech founders to join and become role models for their generation.” He goes on, “I encourage founders to see the tipping point when they donate meaningful amounts of their net worth and begin the process of becoming ‘never-billionaires’ by donating their worth now and not later. And advise them not to let their money sit in a donor-advised fund. It’s much better to put it to work in philanthropy and see the good it does.”
I caught up with Conway by phone to ask him about his philanthropic approach and his thoughts on the broader philanthropic landscape in Silicon Valley. This conversation has been edited for clarity.
Tell me about the 1 % pledge and signing the Giving Pledge. Why have you chosen multiple ways to catalyze giving?
I spend vast amounts of time encouraging founders to begin thinking about philanthropy and to give back from the very beginning. The catalyst that I use for that is getting their company to sign up for Pledge 1%, which Marc Benioff of Salesforce started. It’s an effort to invite technology entrepreneurs and their companies to commit 1% of their time, product and pre-IPO equity to develop philanthropic programs at their companies. Each employee also uses 1% of their time on volunteer causes in their community. It’s a public pledge. (Inside Philanthropy covered the launch of Pledge 1% here.)
As the company gets bigger and the founder gets wealthy, or if they become a billionaire, then I pitch them on signing the Giving Pledge. That also places a marker in the ground that this founder is philanthropic. I later introduce them to the [confidential] “Conway philanthropy chart” to show founders how to pick philanthropic sectors they want to donate to and focus on.
By the way, the founders of these companies are not the only wealthy ones. Overall, there’s hundreds of people who become very wealthy from these IPOs. So when a founder says, ‘I’m going to give away 50% of my wealth,’ that sends a message to everyone else on their team who also made lots of money on the IPO that they should be generous and they should start donating money, too.
What do you find are some of the most attractive giving interests for Silicon Valley donors these days? And I’m seeing you using this “Never Billionaire” slogan.
Well, the Airbnb founders, because it’s synergistic with Airbnb, are donating millions for refugees. Many founders are very interested in aspects of healthcare and healthcare research. Others are interested in the education space. Really, it’s whatever floats their boat. I just encourage them.
As for the second part, part of what’s made Silicon Valley great, is that we’ve created all these philanthropists. But you can’t do it on your own. You need a mentor, you need somebody suggesting this to you. They just need a path, and I provide them a philanthropic path. And then they become role models themselves. It just feeds on itself and becomes an ecosystem.
What was the tipping point for you getting involved with social justice causes?
Oh, George Floyd, for sure. It was a huge wake-up call for me. I think racial equality, the only way to solve it is through economic prosperity. The only way to do that is to have more founders of color. Well, the only way to get more founders of color is to have venture capital firms invest in founders of color. So I interviewed 20 Black-led VC firms. I could only partner with one, but I’m helping them all, and make sure they become the next Andreessen Horowitz or Sequoia. I partnered with Slauson & Co in Los Angeles. I’ve helped them raise over $60 million. And they’re already actively investing in founders of color. We need to create, through venture capital funding, the next Google or Facebook-sized company, and we will do that with Slauson & Co. And those founders of color will build a diverse management team naturally.
When those companies go public, then the employees in that company will go out and start their own shops. Just like all the people who left Google and Facebook started companies. That’s how you build an ecosystem of racial equality and racial equity. It’s going to take time, but it’s about time we start. I talk to Ajay and Austin (Ajay Relan and Austin Clements, the managing partners of Slauson & Co) every single day.
You signed the Giving Pledge in the winter of 2020. I saw that interesting line about not really wanting to set up a personal foundation. What do you think are the advantages of this?
I like to give big and give fast. And I encourage that in all the founders that I work with. Once you get going, give big and give fast. The more you give and the faster you give it, the more you’re going to enjoy it. It feeds on itself with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It’s hard to pull the trigger for the first time. What I’ve been doing lately is to get them to pull the trigger in a certain area. I just say, ‘You’re really interested in this, aren’t you? Let me make it easier. I’ll write a check for a million and you write a check for a million.’ I said, ‘Yes, I want to encourage you to get started. So I’m happy to invest a million of my philanthropic dollars to kickstart your philanthropic journey.’ I’ve done that three times in the last few weeks and it works every time. It just gives the founder confidence.
Is there any reason why you’ve conducted a lot of this giving under the radar?
Yeah, I don’t want to take the limelight from the founder. The founder will decide if they want to disclose the gift. If they disclose the gift, I’ll say I’m happy to disclose mine too, or I’ll keep quiet. I just want them to get used to donating and if they want to do it quietly, I’ll do mine quietly. I’ll follow the founders’ lead.
There’s a component of your work that involves connecting with athletes and celebrities and empowering some of their work. When did that start? And why?
That goes all the way back to the very early days of Google. will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas visited Google. He talked about his goal of helping inner city youth and was just so passionate about it. I went up and introduced myself to him and told him he had a special calling to help inner city youth. I introduced him to Laurene Powell Jobs, who is the founder of College Track, which has a number of branches around the country that help inner city youth with college preparedness. Ten years ago, he started the College Track branch in Boyle Heights, where he grew up. Now, they’ve helped 1,400 kids get placed in college and they do another 400 every year.
And then Ashton Kutcher and I were doing some investing together. He said he wanted to find a charity that would be on his tombstone. Something that he would support for the rest of his life. We did some research and he said that human trafficking and child pornography are what he wants to solve. He went on to start Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, which is is now a huge charity, stopping online child trafficking and pornography.
Kevin Durant—same type of story. He wanted to help his community in Washington, D.C. I introduced him to Laurene Powell Jobs, too. He’s in his second year into College Track in the D.C. area where he grew up. I [also] helped Goldie Hawn with her mental wellness cause.
So if a celebrity wants to do good, I want to be a facilitator of that. I want to make sure that they’re successful. So I introduce them to the right people who give them infrastructure.
What first got you involved with UCSF and why have you continued to support the school steadily through the years?
First philanthropy I ever did was at Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. We lived down there at the time. I was thankful my young kids were healthy. So I managed the first three capital campaigns for the Ronald McDonald House. When we became empty nesters, we moved to San Francisco and there were some folks in San Francisco I connected with. I was born in San Francisco. I was kind of moving back home, so to speak, and they said, ‘why don’t you get involved in UCSF?’ The largest donation we’ve ever made is at UCSF—$40 million.
Who was someone who helped you when you were coming up?
Well, Laurene Powell Jobs has been a real inspiration. will.i.am has been an inspiration. The people that I collaborate with, we all inspire each other. Chuck Feeney. He is a huge inspiration and he’s in the venture capital business. He came out of venture capital with Atlantic Philanthropies. Marc Benioff, massive inspiration. Benioff’s probably the first person that I had deep conversations with about the importance of philanthropy. We hosted founders at his home, evangelizing. You have to put a stake in the ground that your company’s going to be community-minded.
Originally posted: October 25th, 2021
Originally published in Businesswire.
Equity pledges from Pledge 1% companies like Remitly, Sprinklr, and Toast contribute to $2 billion benchmark in just four months
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pledge 1%, a global movement to inspire, educate, and empower all companies to leverage their assets for good, today announces $2 billion in new philanthropy has been unlocked for good since the launch of its CEO Equity Playbook in the summer of 2020. Working closely with Boardroom Allies to help top companies set aside equity for social impact prior to liquidity events, Pledge 1% has doubled the $1 billion equity impact announced just four months ago, ensuring proceeds from a record-setting summer of IPO and market activity are earmarked for philanthropy. Pledge 1% ensures nonprofits benefit along with private markets, and is well on its way toward a goal of unlocking $5 billion in new philanthropy by 2025.
“Remitly is grateful to be in a position to help model how companies think of their role in the broader ecosystem, and we’re humbled to be part of this important milestone,” said Matt Oppenheimer, Co-founder and CEO of Remitly. “Pledge 1% has helped provide tools we need to transform our philanthropic objectives into impact. Now, the funds we’ve dedicated to invest in the financial, economic, and social inclusion of immigrants and their families can grow in lockstep with our company’s success. We look forward to a future where committing equity for good is part of every IPO.”
After Atlassian, DocuSign, PagerDuty, Salesforce, Twilio, and other top companies found success weaving equity commitments into their overall philanthropic pledges, a coalition of CEOs and board members from these companies sat down with Pledge 1% leadership to develop the step-by-step CEO Equity Playbook that incorporates all the lessons they learned along the way. Formalizing how executives and their teams can easily join the movement has dramatically accelerated impact. In the first year after its publication (June 2020 through June 2021), Pledge 1% had already unlocked $1 billion in new philanthropy — a contribution that has now doubled in the four months since.
“It’s so encouraging to see these large, public companies commit to social change in a real and sustainable way,” said David Yuan, general partner at Tidemark, and Boardroom Ally as a director of Toast. “We are seeing this trend accelerate through Pledge 1%, and it’s thrilling to see the impact on the organizations and causes these companies support.”
“As a longtime supporter of Pledge 1%, it has been amazing to watch the movement ignite,” said Rich Wong, partner at Accel and Boardroom Ally. “Each time we go through the CEO Equity Playbook, it inspires another board member or executive at the table to take the pledge. The social impact is among the most inspiring parts of my job, and I imagine taking part will be essential for top VCs in years to come.”
Pledge 1%’s latest $1 billion milestone is the cumulative value of several types of corporate commitments, including:
- Increased market value (both private valuation and in public market performance) from companies who previously committed equity, such as Canva, Coinbase, and Unity.
- Over $800 million in new equity commitments from pre-IPO companies like BetterUp and Checkr and funds allocated via standout successful exits such as Remitly, Sprinklr, and Toast.
This momentum builds on more than $1 billion in philanthropy previously ignited by the Pledge 1% industry leaders whose equity pledges prior to the release of the playbook in 2020.
“There was no way we were going to build Toast, an organization whose purpose is to enrich the food experience for all, without a commitment to Toast.org, our philanthropic arm which focuses on solving critical food issues that impact communities across the nation,” said Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast. “I first learned about Pledge 1% from our co-founder and co-president Aman Narang long before talks started about our public debut. While social impact was already in our DNA, having the support of Pledge 1% and Boardroom Allies along on our path to IPO made it easy to set aside meaningful assets to fund these efforts for the long term. We are thrilled that our early performance as a public company can contribute to this huge step in the Pledge 1% movement.”
Pledge 1% hopes that the value of the equity Toast set aside for social impact will continue to grow with the success of the company. The estimated value of Coinbase’s equity commitment, for instance, has grown by roughly $65 million since Pledge 1%’s June announcement, in line with the increased value in its stock.
“The meaningful impact our Pledge 1% members and Boardroom Allies have made in such a short period of time underscores the power of the equity model,” said Amy Lesnick, Chief Executive and President of Pledge 1%. “Not only are more business leaders able to bring their values to life by setting aside pre-IPO stock for social impact, but also the dollar value of these commitments has the potential to grow exponentially as these companies succeed and their share price rises. We see today’s milestone as a major step toward a future where leveraging company assets for good is the industry standard.”
This milestone was achieved with the help of the following Boardroom Allies:
*Directly advised/supported and/or currently supporting portfolio company to set aside equity
| Name | Firm | Equity commitments within firm portfolio |
| Andrew Braccia* | Accel | Atlassian, Checkr, Code42, DocuSign, Lookout, PagerDuty, Slack, UiPath |
| Richard Wong* | Accel | Atlassian, Checkr, Code42, DocuSign, Lookout, PagerDuty, Slack, UiPath |
| John O’Farrell* | Andreessen Horowitz | Airbnb, Coinbase, DigitalOcean, Lookout, Okta, PagerDuty, Slack |
| Ajay Agarwal* | Bain Capital Ventures | AvidXchange, DocuSign, Gainsight, Justworks, SendGrid |
| Enrique Salem* | Bain Capital Ventures | AvidXchange, DocuSign, Gainsight, Justworks, SendGrid; individually serves on the board of Atlassian |
| Matt Harris* | Bain Capital Ventures | AvidXchange, DocuSign, Gainsight, Justworks, SendGrid |
| Chelsea Stoner | Battery Ventures | Coinbase, Gainsight, Olo, Sprinklr |
| Neeraj Agrawal* | Battery Ventures | Coinbase, Gainsight, Olo, Sprinklr |
| Roger Lee* | Battery Ventures | Coinbase, Gainsight, Olo, Sprinklr |
| Chetan Puttagunta | Benchmark | Upwork, Yelp, Zuora |
| Eric Vishria | Benchmark | Upwork, Yelp, Zuora |
| Miles Grimshaw | Benchmark | Upwork, Yelp, Zuora |
| Peter Fenton* | Benchmark | Upwork, Yelp, Zuora |
| Sarah Tavel | Benchmark | Upwork, Yelp, Zuora |
| Byron Deeter* | Bessemer Venture Partners | Auth0, Canva, DocuSign, Gainsight, Guild Education, PagerDuty, SendGrid, Toast, Twilio, Vlocity, Yelp |
| Ethan Kurzweil* | Bessemer Venture Partners | Auth0, Canva, DocuSign, Gainsight, Guild Education, PagerDuty, SendGrid, Toast, Twilio, Vlocity, Yelp |
| Kent Bennett* | Bessemer Venture Partners | Auth0, Canva, DocuSign, Gainsight, Guild Education, PagerDuty, SendGrid, Toast, Twilio, Vlocity, Yelp |
| Niki Scevak* | Blackbird Ventures | Canva |
| Laela Sturdy* | CapitalG | Airbnb, UiPath |
| Seth Miller | Fearless Ventures | Not publicly disclosed |
| Mike Jung | Founders Circle Capital | Airbnb, Auth0, DocuSign, Gainsight, Twilio |
| Brad Feld* | Foundry Group | AvidXchange, Glowforge, Rally Software, SendGrid, Xometry |
| Ryan Mcintyre* | Foundry Group | AvidXchange, Glowforge, Rally Software, SendGrid, Xometry |
| Seth Levine* | Foundry Group | AvidXchange, Glowforge, Rally Software, SendGrid, Xometry |
| Philipp Stauffer* | FYRFLY Venture Partners | Altoida, Fluorome, rready, SendGrid, Twilio |
| Julie Maples* | FYRFLY Venture Partners | Altoida, Fluorome, rready, SendGrid, Twilio |
| David Beatty | Gaingels | Not publicly disclosed |
| Scott Mosser | Gaingels | Not publicly disclosed |
| Lance Quek | Gamerforce Ventures | Not publicly disclosed |
| Charles W. Friedland | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| David Glynn | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| Jacob Ziemann | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| Jacqueline Glynn | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| John W. Glynn | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| Kim Moore | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| Scott Jordan | Glynn Capital | DocuSign, Okta, Slack, Zuora |
| Doug Pepper* | ICONIQ Capital | BetterUp, DocuSign, Guild Education, Pluralsight, Skilljar, Sprinklr |
| Alda Leu Dennis | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Parul Singh | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Brett Gibson | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Garry Tan* | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Jen Wolf | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Kim Mai-Cutler | Initialized Capital | Coinbase |
| Somesh Dash | IVP | Checkr, Coinbase, Slack, UiPath |
| Pete Solvik* | Jackson Square Ventures | DocuSign, Upwork |
| Gabriel Jarrosson | Leonis Investissement | Not publicly disclosed |
| Melissa Widner | Lighter Capital | Not publicly disclosed |
| Rajeev Batra* | Mayfield Fund | Crunchbase, SmartRecruiters, Skilljar |
| Rishi Garg | Mayfield Fund | Crunchbase, SmartRecruiters, Skilljar |
| Tim Chang | Mayfield Fund | Crunchbase, SmartRecruiters, Skilljar |
| Peter Sonsini | New Enterprise Associates | Code42, Salesforce, Upwork |
| Rick Yang | New Enterprise Associates | Code42, Salesforce, Upwork |
| Zac Zeitlin | New Ground Ventures | Not publicly disclosed |
| Dave Zilberman | Norwest Venture Partners | Not publicly disclosed |
| Tim Connors* | PivotNorth Capital | Cloud Apartments, Stremium |
| Jeff Brody | Redpoint | Guild Education, Twilio, Zuora |
| Scott Raney* | Redpoint | Guild Education, Twilio, Zuora |
| Alex Kayyal | Salesforce Ventures | Auth0, BetterUp, Crunchbase, DocuSign, Gainsight, Guild Education, SmartRecruiters, Twilio, Vlocity |
| John Somorjai* | Salesforce Ventures | Auth0, BetterUp, Crunchbase, DocuSign, Gainsight, Guild Education, SmartRecruiters, Twilio, Vlocity |
| Ron Conway* | SV Angel | Airbnb, BetterUp, Coinbase, Crunchbase, Lookout, Okta, PagerDuty, Slack, Twilio, Upwork, Weebly |
| David Yuan* | Tidemark | Firm commitments not publicly disclosed; individually serves on the Board of Toast |
| David Cohen* | Techstars | DigitalOcean, Remitly, SendGrid, Skilljar, Twilio |
| Jason Seats | Techstars | DigitalOcean, Remitly, SendGrid, Skilljar, Twilio |
| Nicole Glaros | Techstars | DigitalOcean, Remitly, SendGrid, Skilljar, Twilio |
| Ben Orthlieb | 2.12 Angels | Not publicly disclosed |
To download Pledge 1%’s CEO Equity Playbook and Companion Guide for CFOs and GCs, visit pledge1percent.org/equityplaybook. To learn more about how to set aside social impact at your company or join this alliance of top VCs as a Boardroom Ally, email allies@pledge1percent.org or visit pledge1percent.org.
About Pledge 1%: Pledge 1% is a global movement that inspires, educates, and empowers every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 15,000 members in 100 countries around the world have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours in new philanthropy. To learn more about Pledge 1%, and how your company can get involved, visit pledge1percent.org.
In joining the Pledge 1% network, airSlate commits to providing all interested nonprofits with a 10% discount for each of its products on the Salesforce AppExchange
BOSTON, MA — October 7, 2021 — airSlate, a leader in document workflow automation solutions, announced today that it has joined Pledge 1%, a global corporate philanthropic community that empowers positive social impact at the local level. airSlate is joining over 12,000 companies around the world who have committed to pledge 1% of either their product, profit, equity, and/or staff time to the charity of their choice. Boston‑based SaaS vendor is proud to announce its commitment by offering its digital solutions at a discounted rate for all nonprofit organizations.
airSlate’s team has always been passionate about giving back to the community, especially to those social causes that require IT support. One of airSlate’s ongoing projects is to provide software and hardware supplies, along with dedicated IT support, for Computer Science classes in rural high schools. Now, airSlate is pleased to offer nonprofit organizations a 10% discount across its entire suite of products available on Salesforce’s AppExchange: airSlate, signNow eSignature, and DaDaDocs’ PDF editor and form builder.
“We are honored by the opportunity to join the Pledge 1% global community. 2020 and 2021 have been very challenging years for everyone, especially nonprofits. When operating under pandemic and post‑pandemic conditions, NGOs need workflows that are 100% paperless, digital, and automated. We are happy to provide all of the above at discounted prices,” explains Borya Shakhnovich, CEO and co‑founder, airSlate.
By joining the Pledge 1% network, airSlate encourages other SaaS vendors to take similar pledges and leverage their business success towards meaningful social impact.
For more information on airSlate, visit www.airslate.com or follow the company on social media channels: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
airSlate is a global SaaS technology company that serves over a hundred million innovators worldwide with its no‑code workflow automation, electronic signature, and document management solutions. The company’s portfolio of award‑winning products, signNow, pdfFiller, airSlate, and US Legal Forms, empower teams to create, innovate, and automate in order to digitally transform their organizations so they run faster and easier.
Pledge 1% is a global movement that inspires, educates, and empowers every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 12,000 members in 100+ countries have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite half a billion dollars in new philanthropy. To learn more about Pledge 1% and to take the pledge, visit www.pledge1percent.org.
Originally published at PR Newswire.
NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Justworks, the software platform that gives small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access to benefits, payroll, HR, and compliance support—all in one place, announced today that it is launching Justworks.org. The charter of Justworks.org is to create equitable access to entrepreneurship.
To realize this charter, Justworks has pledged to donate 1% of the company’s equity and profits—joining other influential tech leaders in the Pledge 1% movement. With these resources, Justworks.org will work to level the playing field for entrepreneurs who have historically faced inequities in opportunity along race, gender, sexual orientation, and other socioeconomic lines.
“At Justworks, we’re driven by our mission to help entrepreneurs and businesses grow with confidence,” said Isaac Oates, founder and CEO of Justworks. “Entrepreneurship is challenging enough on its own, but disparities in access to resources and opportunities can be an obstacle for many entrepreneurs—preventing them from having a fair shot at realizing their potential. Through Justworks.org, we’ll build on our mission and level the playing field for more founders.”
Making entrepreneurship more accessible is what sparked Oates to found Justworks in 2012. He saw first hand that the needs of growing businesses had become more complicated, but the infrastructure to support them hadn’t kept up. Last year, Justworks launched the Just Thrive program to make its platform more accessible for both new and existing minority and women-owned businesses (MWBE). Through Just Thrive, MWBE customers get access to special discounts, resources, networking opportunities, and additional visibility for their business. Justworks has also developed its grantmaking muscle through the Spring Forward Fund, an annual $25,000 grant for one of its non-profit customers. The company also encourages all of its employees to volunteer, as well as providing them paid time off specifically to do so. With Justworks.org, the company’s goal is to build on these initiatives and introduce new ones that amplify its reach and support for underrepresented founders.
Justworks.org will initially focus on high-impact grantmaking for incubators and other organizations that help early-stage MWBE businesses access the fundamentals of entrepreneurship: raising financing, building products, finding customers, and ultimately delivering revenues and profits.
To spearhead this effort, Justworks has brought on seasoned diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social impact veteran, Yrthya Dinzey-Flores as Vice President of DEI, Social Impact, and Sustainability. Dinzey-Flores has led philanthropy, social responsibility, diversity, equity, and workplace inclusion in the private, non-profit, and public sectors, including the NYC Department of Education, Robin Hood, Toyota, Thomson Reuters, Time Warner, and most recently, Open Society Foundations. At Justworks, she will execute the vision for Justworks.org and lead a comprehensive and forward-thinking diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strategy to support Justworks’ mission and drive toward sustainable outcomes. Dinzey-Flores will also formalize and grow the company’s environmental, social, and governance commitments.
“I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic company with a bold vision and unique potential,” said Dinzey-Flores. “Throughout my career, I have been driven by an innate desire to help people use the power of their voice for progressive change, whether in a corporate, public, or civic setting. I’ve been inspired by Isaac’s vision for Justworks, including his sincere commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and responsibility. I know that together we can become an agent of lasting change.”
This fall, Justworks.org will open up a call for submissions for organizations supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs to apply for high-impact grants. Learn more.
About Justworks: Justworks makes it easier to start, run, and grow a business. Founded in 2012, Justworks, the fastest growing HR technology company, is a modern support system for work and life. With Justworks, entrepreneurs and their teams get access to big-company benefits, automated payroll, compliance support, and HR tools—all in one place. By combining the power of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) with expert 24/7 customer service, a simple and intuitive platform, and access to Time and Attendance solution Justworks Hours, Justworks gives teams of all sizes the confidence to work fearlessly. To learn more, visit www.justworks.com, follow us on Twitter @JustworksHR and Instagram @Justworks_HR.
Contact:
Wahaj Khan
wahaj@dittopr.co
SOURCE Justworks
Related Links
Originally published in Yahoo! Finance.
The Xometry Scholars Program is part of the company’s commitment to support sustainability and educational initiatives through Xometry.org
ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Xometry, Inc. (NASDAQ: XMTR), a leading AI-enabled marketplace for on-demand manufacturing, today announced the creation of the Xometry Scholars Program in partnership with Howard University. Xometry will pledge more than $900,000 to provide eight scholarships over the next four school years to students enrolled in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture.
In conjunction with Manufacturing Day, which seeks to raise awareness about advanced manufacturing careers and prepare the current and next-generation workforce for the skills and jobs of the future, the scholarships will be awarded to students in need who are studying for a mechanical engineering undergraduate degree and are interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing.
“Manufacturing and Design is one of the top competencies within the Department of Mechanical Engineering, so this partnership in support of historically underserved and underrepresented groups of STEM students is incredibly timely. By enabling students to acquire the top-notch training we provide and current knowledge of industry practices, there is a win-win future where the current manufacturing skills gap is reduced and the US human capital pool can continue to remain relevant and become the model,” said Nadir Yilmaz, Ph.D., P.E., chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture.
The creation of the Xometry Scholars Program is part of the Xometry.org donor-advised fund launched earlier this year. This initiative is dedicated to supporting sustainable manufacturing initiatives and providing educational opportunities for underrepresented communities.
Under the Xometry.org program, over the next five years, Xometry will pledge 1% of its equity to fund educational opportunities for underrepresented students, environmental conservation efforts, and a variety of socioeconomic causes to build a more sustainable future. The program will focus on continuing education, early education, energy production, and conservation.
“Xometry has always supported causes ranging from education to environmental conservation to civic responsibility and we are proud to formalize this program through the creation of the Xometry Scholars Program,” said Laurence Zuriff, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Xometry. “Part of re-establishing U.S. manufacturing leadership is expanding the cohort of talented mechanical engineers, machinists, and technicians. In order to accelerate innovation, the U.S. needs more than just material infrastructure. It needs to invest in training the next generation with the skills that are essential to modern manufacturing. We are proud to do what we can to make an impact here.”
According to a recent report by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, the worker shortage in manufacturing has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Xometry’s priority is to support underrepresented communities in STEM across the United States through tuition support, particularly for those pursuing mechanical engineering degrees and vocational training to simultaneously provide new opportunities for underrepresented communities while addressing the manufacturing skill shortage and subsequently revitalizing U.S. manufacturing.
The Xometry.org program will also support efforts to increase clean energy production and will devote significant funds to offsetting carbon emissions through land and sea conservation. In 2020, the company implemented a carbon offset program within its Xometry Instant Quoting Engine, which calculates each order’s estimated carbon footprint and the cost to offset the emissions.
For more information about Xometry.org, please visit www.xometry.org.
About Xometry
Xometry is a leading AI-enabled marketplace for on-demand manufacturing, transforming one of the largest industries in the world. Xometry uses its proprietary technology to create a marketplace that enables buyers to efficiently source on-demand manufactured parts and assemblies, and empowers sellers of manufacturing services to grow their businesses. Xometry’s buyers range from self-funded startups to Fortune 100 companies. Learn more at www.xometry.com or follow @xometry.
Media Contact:
Ellen Miles
fama PR for Xometry
Xometry@famapr.com
Originally published on Airbnb.
Airbnb is committed to building a 21st century company that serves all stakeholders, and that includes sharing our success and benefits with the Hosts, guests, communities and employees that helped build Airbnb into the global company it is today.
Today, as part of our existing commitments to give back to the stakeholders that make the company’s success possible, Airbnb is proud to announce that we are joining Pledge 1%– a global network of companies committed to launching or growing their social impact programs.
Airbnb has made a series of commitments that meet Pledge 1%’s mission to empower companies to donate 1% of product, profit, equity, and/or employee time to improve their local communities.
Last year the Airbnb Board of Directors established a Stakeholder Committee to assist the Board in considering the interests of Airbnb’s stakeholders and to advise it regarding our stakeholder approach. The company has also linked incentive compensation to stakeholder priorities and Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky made a commitment to donate the net proceeds from his multi-year equity award to community, philanthropic and charitable causes.
In addition to the company’s stakeholder approach, all three Airbnb co-founders– Brian Chesky, Nate Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia- have signed The Giving Pledge to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes. Since then, each has made meaningful commitments to social impact causes and non-profit organizations.
Last year, Brian Chesky committed to personally donate $10 million to non-profit organizations that support frontline workers responding to the COVID-19 crisis and an additional $5 million to Frontline stays, a program launched at the onset of the pandemic to allow Hosts to open their homes to first responders and frontline workers. Nate Blecharczyk and his wife donated $1 million each to Code.org and his high school alma mater Boston Latin Academy, and are actively engaged in other charitable efforts to support education, science and technology programs. In December 2020, Joe Gebbia donated $25 million to expand local San Francisco efforts to house homeless youth, and has donated to initiatives including those to support refugees and expand education access to girls around the world.
Building an enduringly successful business goes hand-in-hand with making a positive contribution to society. As part of our multi-stakeholder approach, Airbnb has also developed programs with the goal of strengthening the communities we serve.
Supporting the communities Hosts and guests call home
Airbnb.org is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that connects evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers to comfortable temporary stays. Airbnb, Inc. pledged 400,000 shares of Airbnb stock to support Airbnb.org’s emergency response and refugee programs. In addition, Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk committed $6 million to support impacted communities.
To build on its ongoing work with refugee communities, last month Airbnb.org announced it will provide temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees worldwide – the cost of which is funded through contributions to Airbnb.org from Airbnb and Brian Chesky, as well as donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund.
To support local communities, we created the Airbnb Community Fund to provide $100 million in grants to local initiatives around the world over the next 10 years. Airbnb announced the inaugural grant recipients earlier this year, which include awards to over 150 organizations from more than 40 countries and six continents.
Giving back is also embedded across Airbnb’s culture. To promote generosity among employees, Airbnb matches employee donations and volunteer time to eligible charities of their choice. Since November 2017, our employee social impact program has raised over $4 million for causes our employees care about, including over $500,000 for civil rights organizations in the summer of 2020.
Our commitment to hosts
To support the Hosts who make Airbnb unique, last October, Airbnb created the Airbnb Host Endowment, designed to provide education, financial resources and other support to Hosts for generations to come. Airbnb seeded the Endowment with 9.2 million shares of Airbnb Class H common stock, and it now has a market value of more than $1 billion. Brian Chesky is putting plans in place to make an additional personal contribution of shares of Airbnb common stock worth over $100 million at the time of the contribution to support the Endowment.
These are just some of the initiatives Airbnb has taken to support our stakeholders. We look forward to many more opportunities ahead.
Originally posted: September 9th, 2021