Originally published on Medium by Conor Nolan.
In a recent conversation with a friend, I attempted to do the impossible — Explain Blockchain.
So I described it through football, a medium we both understood, using a cool analogy I recently came across. During a game, everyone playing and watching knows the score; how much time is left; how many players are on the pitch; and this cannot be changed without a good reason for doing so and the referee’s confirmation. Blockchain is essentially the referee, putting the power in the hands of everyone there. So each ‘block’ in a blockchain-based peer-to-peer ‘chain’ is agreed and verified by everyone watching, ensuring the legitimacy of every element of the game.
Taking a step back from football and applying that to real world scenarios, the opportunities are endless.
At Blocknubie, we want to give great teams and great ideas that take advantage of this technology, the best possible chance of success. Our emerging, open source platform acts as a bridge between off-chain organisations, startups and the blockchain ecosystem, something we’ve explained in other blogs.
Blockchain and Social Entrepreneurship
There are already some incredible ideas with ambitious goals to create a massive social change, but current practices and methods are ineffective. This is where blockchain can be a catalyst for positive impact.
According to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, 30% of foreign aid never reaches its destination due to corruption, or failure of accountability and transparency. So UNICEF are hiring blockchain developers to explore applications of blockchain to help distribute and deploy foreign aid.
A blockchain powered Foreign Aid system could enable transparency and accountability in the operation – distributing financial aid safely, securely and directly to the people and organisations they were meant for.
This is only one example. Think identity, think security, think financial empowerment. The potential is immense.
So what has Blocknubie got to do with Pledge 1%?
I have personally have been involved in Social Entrepreneurship for a number of years and a company’s corporate social responsibility is something I believe to be of vital importance. From donating to charitable organisations to assisting start-up ventures with a purpose to ‘do-good’.
At Blocknubie, giving back and promoting social entrepreneurship has been a core element of the company since it’s inception, and the 1% Pledge aligns strongly with the values of our team. We will be:
- Allocating 1% of NUB Tokens raised in our ICO to the 1% Pledge
- Guaranteeing at least one Social Venture will be part of the Blocknubie Accelerator Fund per cycle.
- Giving full access to the platform and integrated DApps for Social Ventures
Blockchain technology has been around for a while, it’s mass adoption is still quite premature. New applications for this potentially revolutionary enabler will continue to emerge as more and more people are educated, and the team at Blocknubie hope to help as many ideas prosper as possible.
It is a no-brainer for socially-focused organisations to at least consider blockchain, and we expect our partnership with 1% Pledge breaks down any barriers to entry for those considering it.
By Conor Cawley, Tech.Co
Around the holidays, charitable giving is on the rise. Whether it’s the spirit of Christmas or a recognition of cold weather making things harder for people, there’s no denying that this time of year is best for giving back. However, there are many causes that require your attention year round, which is why Pledge 1% is such a noble and necessary movement in the world today.
Pledge 1% helps companies, especially startups, give back to their communities and causes, as well as build a culture of giving. They encourage everyone from small businesses to large companies to Pledge 1% of their profit, time, product and/or equity to a philanthropy of their choice. Since they launched in 2014, over 1,500 companies in 40 countries have taken the Pledge 1%, including Salesforce, Atlassian, Yelp, Box, Twilio, and many more.
To date, the top Pledge 1% companies alone have already ignited over $500 million in new philanthropy. Pledge 1% was also most recently recognized on Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies list and #1 most innovative nonprofit.
We are proud to announce our partnership with Pledge 1% and spark some good will at CES Startup Night. We’re also asking startups to join us in the festivities and Pledge 1%.
To spur a little more buzz about giving back, every company that joins Pledge 1% won’t have to wait to get into our CES Startup Night event and can enter via the VIPledge express line. If you have already registered and want to take the Pledge, sign up here.
“We recognize the importance of startups and companies giving back to society,” said Jen Consalvo, COO and cofounder of TechCo. “We are excited to take the Pledge 1% ourselves and encourage other companies to join us!”
Check out Pledge 1% today and join other companies building a culture of giving back to society. Want to attend CES Startup Night? Make sure to RSVP here.
Read more about causes for social good on TechCo
Originally posted: January 4, 2018
We are pleased to announce that MOVEMENT is now part of the Pledge 1% family, a corporate philanthropy initiative of which member companies pledge 1% of their equity, profit, employee time and/or products to charitable causes. MOVEMENT is a smartphone case maker and social enterprise with a mission to keep plastic waste out of the world’s oceans before it becomes a pollution risk. An important part of MOVEMENT’s mission is supporting organizations that focus on marine pollution cleanup and prevention projects, therefore we are donating 50% of profits from every purchase to organizations that champion our values by using science and education to fight this global health crisis.
Our MOVEMENT launched in 2017 with the recognition that plastic pollution not only manifests in single-use plastics but also in lesser known durable plastics from discarded technology hardware and accessories. The current lack of infrastructure to recycle post-consumer durable plastics led us to launch MOVEMENT’s “Buy One Recycle One” program. The program targets an opportunity to recycle used phone cases from the general public, most of whom cannot physically access or amass the scale to dispose of durable plastics at the right facilities. Customers can take advantage of the prepaid return shipping included with each purchase to mail in old cases for recycling with our recycling partner. However, we enthusiastically encourage non-customers to participate in the program as part of MOVEMENT’s core commitment to fight plastic pollution.
Environmental responsibility is and always will be part of MOVEMENT’s DNA. As a young company in the business of making products, we are adopting extended producer responsibility early on because we believe that the practice is non-negotiable with or without the enforcement of law. All numbers have led us to the same conclusion: Durable plastics have become a high waste footprint that is only growing bigger faster. The technology research firm Gartner reported that nearly 1.5 billion smartphones were purchased in 2016 worldwide, while 3 out of 4 smartphone owners will go through at least one case during each phone’s life cycle. That is roughly 65 million pounds of durable plastics heading to the landfills in the next couple of years. In addition, McKinsey & Company estimated that 3 billion people from developing nations will rise to the middle class by 2030. Whereas that is great news for societies, higher purchasing power creates an ever greater demand for products, raw materials and energy. Growing income and reliance on mobile technology will make no exceptions of demand for smartphones or tech accessories.
The environment must not bear the costs from these statistics especially because many solutions already exist. We implore businesses, producers, and suppliers to assume stewardship that bridges hope to reality while there is still time. As the venerable Sir David Attenborough recently said, “It is one world. And it’s in our care. For the first time in the history of humanity, for the first time in 500 million years, one species has the future in the palm of its hands. I just hope he realises that that is the case.”
Originally posted: January 1, 2018
Xpand IT announces that it’s joining to the global social movement, Pledge 1%. The company intends to integrate corporate philanthropy into its business model officially and will donate 1% of its product and profit to non-profit organisations every year.
Lisbon, 10 November 2017 – Xpand IT has the privilege to announce their joining of the international corporate philanthropic movement, Pledge 1%. The company has committed to donating 1% of product and 1% of profit annually, giving to charitable organisations a part of what has been the business’s success throughout the years. Taking this pledge is a small commitment, adopted by more than 2750 companies around the world, in nearly 60 countries, and it can have a significant impact on the future.
Pledge 1% was founded in 2014 by some of the world’s largest technology companies, such as Atlassian and Salesforce, and by a non-profit organisation, Tides. Their goal was to spread a philanthropic vision around the globe and to encourage other companies to share 1% of their product, 1% of employee time, 1% of profit or 1% of equity.
According to Amy Lesnick, Executive Director of Pledge 1%: “We are incredibly excited that Xpand IT has taken the pledge. We believe the company can play a pivotal role in building this movement and promoting a new normal in which all companies – big and small – integrate giving back as a core value in their business.”
To Paulo Lopes, CEO of Xpand IT, “The Pledge’s essence is, precisely, the evangelisation of the movement. It may seem a little, but if we all take the pledge and contribute 1% of what we generate, in the end, it will be a lot and will bring value to the entire ecosystem.”
For Pedro Gonçalves, CTO of Xpand IT, joining this movement was also a natural step for the company and a formalisation of what Xpand IT already does concerning social responsibility. “This membership allows us to create a much more structured approach to social responsibility, and, in addition to our role in giving back to the community, we will use our stature to entice other companies to follow our steps and join Pledge 1%.”
For further information about this movement, please go to https://www.xpand-it.com/pledge- 1/.
Originally published on PR Newswire.
Pluralsight, the enterprise technology learning platform, announced that the Women Tech Council named two Pluralsight leaders as winners in the tenth annual Women Tech Awards, a prestigious honor recognizing technology-focused women. Vice President of product Mariah Hay and head of social impact Lindsey Kneuven were recognized as two of Utah’s most powerful technology leaders at a luncheon held on Friday, October 27th, at Salt Lake City’s Grand America Hotel.
Each year, the Women Tech Council recognizes Utah’s finest women who are driving innovation, impacting companies, creating new technologies and inspiring the technology community. During the 10th annual Women in Tech Awards, seven women were recognized for forging new paths in technology.
“We are proud to have two of our deserving leaders earn this recognition,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “Mariah and Lindsey have cemented their careers in improving the lives of others. Their professional and personal contributions are invaluable to both the success of our company and our community.”
As VP of product, Hay leads six co-located product teams and challenges and inspires each one to understand the daily life of Pluralsight customers, guiding the design of a human-centered product from the ground up. Under her leadership, Pluralsight successfully launched its technology learning platform, which now serves 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies. Hay founded and co-organizes Ladies that UX Salt Lake City, a collaborative community of women that pushes boundaries, promotes women and discusses UX. She also spends her time as a co-organizer for Product Hive, a community of product managers, strategists and designers who learn, contribute and connect through volunteer-led opportunities.
In her position as head of social impact, Kneuven plays a vital role in creating and implementing strategies that align Pluralsight’s product, culture, community, people and brand to make a meaningful impact on the way the world learns. Less than six months after joining Pluralsight, Lindsey oversaw the creation of Pluralsight One: a social initiative that supports nonprofit organizations around the world. Under this initiative, Pluralsight joined the Pledge 1% integrated philanthropy movement and has committed one percent of its product, time, equity and profits to uplift communities in need. Kneuven has been recognized by Utah Business as one of 30 Women to Watch and listed by the Community Foundation of Utah as an Enlightened 50.
This is a great day for us as a team and as a young company. We are officially part of this great movement that promotes and celebrates giving back. Joining Atlassian, Salesforce and thousands of other companies.
Dentem is proud to join Pledge 1%, a global movement creating new normal where companies of all sizes integrate giving back into their culture and values. Pledge 1% empowers companies to donate 1% of product, 1% of equity, 1% of profit or 1% of employee time to causes of their choice. Dentem is excited to join Pledge 1%’s network of founders, entrepreneurs and companies around the globe that have committed to giving back.
Arnold Schwarzenegger once said in a speech in front of university students “Call me anything, but never call me a self made man!” and he was right about one thing. None of us individually or as companies are self made. We work hard but together with the help of the people that support us we grow and get better.
Teaching young students the basics of web development — Rexhin Vorpsi CTO at Dentem, Innovation Hub.
Since our early days we thought of giving back to the community a little bit of ‘us’. Our time, our help in product and our support. As of late we have helped hundreds of young developers get into coding and tens of new entrepreneurs think of starting up. But we are not even stopping here. We are helping more and more developers and young boys and girls get into coding to one day become better developers and join great companies in their future. And as well help new startup founders with our network and advice. And to top it all of we are thinking of giving back more with product and health.
‘How to startup’ BIESS 2017 — Alen Saqe CEO & Oni Saqe CMO at Dentem, Polis University.
We are drafting a clear action plan to how we can give back something that will last long and create a meaningful impact in a lot of people lives. Stay tuned fore more.
Oni Saqe CMO at Dentem, mentor and jury at ‘Get in the ring’.
We urge all companies young and old. Big and small to join this great movement. http://www.pledge1percent.org/
https://pledgeitforward.today/dentem-proudly-becomes-part-pledge-1-movement/
#TeamDentem #PledgeOne #GivingBack
Originally published by Clarify Health.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Clarify Health Solutions, Inc., an innovative company that is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with clinical workflow optimization analytics, announced today that it has joined Pledge 1%, a global movement that is creating a new normal for companies of all sizes to integrate giving into the DNA of their businesses. By joining the movement, Clarify Health pledges to donate 1% of its equity to local charities and nonprofits.
Spearheaded by Atlassian, Rally, Salesforce, and Tides, Pledge 1% empowers companies to donate 1% of product, 1% of equity, 1% of profit, or 1% of employee time to causes of their choice. Clarify Health joins a network of over 1,500 companies in 40 countries that have committed to keeping their community at the center of their business by pledging 1% of equity, product, profit or time to make a difference in communities around the world.
“Our team is proud to join the Pledge 1% movement, whose vision is closely aligned with our commitment to creating a better future by giving back through innovative technology that enables the delivery of better care and direct contributions to charitable organizations,” said Todd Gottula, chief technology officer and co-founder of Clarify Health.
In Gottula’s previous role as the chief technology officer at Advent Software, he shepherded a $2M donor-advised fund which supported Bay Area charitable organizations. The primary focus of that initiative was the rehabilitation of a local Bayview elementary school through direct investment and weekly mentoring programs.
He added, “Clarify will use this commitment to Pledge 1% as a cornerstone to build up a wider focus on philanthropy – which is a core principle of why we do what we do. Joining the Pledge 1% network illustrates our diverse team’s dedication to making a difference by supporting causes we are passionate about in the communities we serve.”
Clarify Health is dedicated to improving healthcare through a first-of-its kind digital-care-guidance platform that helps medical providers engage more effectively and efficiently with their patients, leading to higher satisfaction, better care and lower costs. Clarify’s solution leverages powerful analytics and smart workflows to help patients and their families better understand and engage in the different steps of treatment and recovery. Through the collection of real-time data from patients and care teams, Clarify Health’s analytics engine generates personalized insights that enable optimized patient care.
About Clarify Health
Clarify Health Solutions believes that patients and those who care for them deserve far better care. Clarify Health works to improve the lives of patients and their caregivers by delivering an innovative real-time care guidance platform that enables more satisfying, better outcome, higher value healthcare. The Clarify Health digital platform seamlessly integrates powerful analytics, artificial intelligence, real-time patient navigation and smart workflows to proactively guide patients and their caregivers through personalized care journeys. Providers and payers receive faster, more actionable insights to deliver more delightful care. Clarify Health brings together committed and passionate colleagues with backgrounds in big data and AI engineering from financial services together with extensive clinical operations expertise. For more information, please visit http://www.clarifyhealth.com.
About Pledge 1%
Pledge 1% is an effort spearheaded by Atlassian, Rally, Salesforce and Tides to accelerate their shared vision around integrating giving back into businesses around the world. Pledge 1% encourages and challenges individuals and companies to pledge 1% of equity, product and employee time for their communities, because pledging a small portion of future success can have a huge impact on tomorrow. Pledge 1% offers companies turnkey tools and best practices, making it accessible for any company to incorporate philanthropy into their business model. To learn more or to take the pledge, please visit www.pledge1percent.org.
By Ben Payntor. Originally published on Fast Company.
Over the last decade and a half, the cloud computing giant Salesforce has rewritten the rulebook for how corporate philanthropy is supposed to work. That includes formalizing a commitment to give at least 1% of its time, product, and equity to charity no matter how well the company may be doing. Then it formalized a process for others to follow suit in replicating that commitment: The company’s early effort became the basis for Pledge 1%, an advisory program that launched two years ago, which helps others do the same in at least one of those three areas. Pledge 1% has been adopted by well over a thousand companies, including unicorns like Atlassian, Box, Pure Storage, and Twilio.
In August 2016, the company went a step further, appointing Suzanne DiBianca, the former cofounder and president of its philanthropic arm, the Salesforce Foundation, as its first Chief Philanthropy Officer in charge of finding more commercial ways to make the act of doing good just plain good for business. A few months later, Salesforce met a promise it once made to go carbon neutral–33 years ahead of schedule.
“We came out of the gate really strong on philanthropy,” DiBianca says. In her new role, however, she realized that she could coordinate with Salesforce Ventures, the third biggest corporate venture fund behind Intel and Google. Salesforce won’t share its exact total investment, but Salesforce Ventures has backed more than 250 cloud-floated enterprise companies since 2009, including Dropbox and Twilio. That posed a new kind of question and opportunity. As DiBianca puts it: “Can we take our corporate capital and drive social change?”To find out, Salesforce Ventures has launched a $50 million impact investment fund to invest in social enterprises that are using its cloud-based customer relationship management platform in new ways to change the world. The group has already committed to at least four companies, each representing an area where they plan to be active: workplace development, equality, sustainability, and the social sector.
Future workplace development investments will target companies or entrepreneurs enabling equal access to education and preparing both traditional and non-traditional students for the jobs of the future, DiBianca says. When it comes to equality, the goal is to find companies that are “developing tools to promote equal opportunity and economic empowerment across the company and really around the world.”
For sustainability, Salesforce is seeking to back concepts that create better access to clean energy for all, while those companies are improving their own resource efficiency and supply chain performance. And within the social sector, the idea is to target promising businesses that are building different tech and tools that can help traditional aid groups up their impact by operating more efficiently and transparently.The true benefit is that as each company succeeds, it will improve Salesforce as well. All of these are strategic investments, notes John Somorjai, the executive vice president of Corporate Development and Salesforce Ventures, which means they will either help grow the company grow its footprint in new markets and potentially develop advancements that other partners can harness down the line. “The companies that we’re investing in are integrated with or built on the Salesforce platform,” he says. “So the fund, in that way, is going to be strategically aligned to our goals of building the world’s number one cloud ecosystem.”
The $50 million will be doled out to promising candidates within the next two years, While the company hasn’t released how many companies its plans to back, those that represent each category in its initial wave give some clues about what makes a promising target.
On the workplace development side, Viridis Learning, is a cloud-based job-matching platform that works with major educational institutions and employers to pair candidates with profiles that are based on automatically updating skill sets with potential jobs. To improve equality, the company has backed Ellevest, an investment platform aimed at women to close the gender-investment gap. According to Ellevest’s data, most women hold generally cash-based assets, which often isn’t multiplied in the ways it could be to grow their financial power.For sustainability, Salesforce invested in Angaza Design, a pay-as-you-go platform for renewable energy products like solar lanterns, which accepts mobile-based micro-payments from off-grid customers, who can buy light in pre-paid increments as they pay off the hardware supporting it. The group operates largely in Africa and South Asia. And for social sector improvement, there’s Hustle, a peer-to-peer text messaging service that allows nonprofits to organize grassroots support by sending large blasts to donors or activists, with individual replies managed in separate threads as they come in.
Much of this formalizes the work the group has been doing. For instance, a few years ago, it invested in Classy, a fundraising platform for social good organizations that would likely fit under the new social sector umbrella. To spot new opportunities and increase their return, the company may also co-invest alongside other proven operations in the impact investment space, like Omidyar Network and Kapor Capital. “What we found is that with all the rapid changes in technology that we’ve been experiencing particularly around social mobile and artificial intelligence, it’s presenting some incredible opportunities for businesses to create new solutions that have a positive impact on the world, and we want to fuel that,” says Somorjai.
Originally published on The PE Hub Network.
Togetherwork, which is backed by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, has acquired Boulder, Colorado-based Gingr, a provider of pet services software. No financial terms were disclosed.
PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) SEPTEMBER 28, 2017
Togetherwork, the emerging leader in Group Management Software and Payments, today announced the acquisition of Gingr, the innovator in Pet Services software, based in Boulder, Colorado. The company will be an operating company within Togetherwork, with Co-founders Lee Salminen and Aaron Nichols, along with the Gingr team, continuing to guide the company forward.
“We are excited to have Gingr in the Togetherwork family,” said Neil Platt, CEO of Togetherwork. “The company has brought a fresh perspective to Pet Services software. With additional support and resources from Togetherwork, the company will be able to significantly accelerate its growth.”
“The pet services business is a local one, driven by communities of pet owners,” said Lee Salminen, Gingr President and Co-founder. “Gingr has proven itself through word-of-mouth marketing within this tight-knit community, but with the expertise and capital from Togetherwork, we will really be able to extend our national reach.”
“We are happy to be part of Togetherwork and align well with its focus on group management,” said Aaron Nichols, Co-founder. “Gingr is a business that supports the pet owner community and is committed to improving the quality and reliability of service providers in this industry. Being part of Togetherwork enables us to step up our partnership with the Professional Animal Care Certification Council (PACCC).”
Susan Briggs, Co-Founder of PACCC, commented, “PACCC’s independent certification of pet care professionals helps pet parents identify those professionals who have passed stringent testing of their broad knowledge of animal care…PACCC’s pet safety mission would not be possible without supporters like Gingr. Beyond their financial support as a leading PACCC sponsor, they also help bring PACCC awareness. Gingr’s cutting edge technology has raised the bar for the way pet care providers do business and, now, their PACCC support is helping raise the bar for all pet care.”
As part of Togetherwork, Gingr will continue to support its local community in Colorado through Pledge 1%. “Gingr made a commitment early on as a company to give back to the communities in which their employees and families live,” said Matt Zwiebel, Director of Pledge 1% Colorado. “The company’s success up until this point has been impressive and we’re proud to have Gingr join the growing list of Colorado companies who have made the pledge.”
Togetherwork has acquired seven companies in 2017, as it builds a growing family of group management and payments software companies.
About Togetherwork
Togetherwork is the emerging leader in software and payments for groups and organizations of all kinds, helping them grow, become more efficient, increase revenues, and provide excellent service to their members and constituents. Togetherwork has more than 250 employees nationwide and is majority owned by Aquiline Financial Services Fund III L.P., a private equity fund that invests in financial services and financial technology businesses. To learn more about us, please visit http://www.togetherwork.com.
About Gingr
Gingr is the leading-edge business management software for facility-based pet services, including dog daycare, pet boarding, grooming, and training. Offering state-of-the-art tools for online reservations, payments, records management, automated customer communications, employee management, and much more, Gingr makes running a pet services business easier, more efficient, and more profitable and supports communities of pet parents in providing their pets with the highest level of care. Gingr is based in Boulder, CO. To learn more, please visit http://www.gingrapp.com.