Mumbai :-Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, today announced USD $240,000 in grants to six NGO’s across India focused on bridging inequalities in society and making education and nutrition accessible during these unprecedented times. The grants will go to six organisations — The Akshaya Patra Foundation, United Way of Hyderabad, Anthill Creations Foundation, Goonj, SOS Children’s Villages of India and Protsahan India Foundation — and in a collective effort to help benefit the lives of over 15,000 people across the country.

These grants reflect Salesforce’s ongoing commitment to help ensure the Indian workforce of today is equipped with the skills and experience needed in the professional workforce of the future, especially in tech careers.

• The United way of Hyderabad in addition to providing nutrition and sanitary kits, will build Trailblazer Community Learning centres to help build post COVID resilience in communities and provide access to learning resources throughout the year to children and youth in under-resourced communities.
• The Anthill Creations Foundation will focus on addressing the learning needs of children with play-in-a-box kits to help children build motor skills, analytical skills and hygiene practices through play in the safety of their home.
• Protsahan India Foundation will use the grant to strengthen its community lab which provides a safe space for girls to continue learning during the pandemic in spite of schools being closed.
• The Akshaya Patra Foundation will use this grant to provide nutrition, sanitary and learning kits to children across the country.
• Goonj will work with migrant workers to revive their old livelihood or pick up a new means of income.
• SOS Children’s Villages of India will support livelihood restoration of 45 poor and vulnerable families in rural Telangana & AP.

Business as a platform for change

Business leaders are directly under pressure to step up and ensure that their businesses act responsibly rather than just pursuing financial success.
The technology industry can play a unique part throughout this pandemic in striving to keep people connected and help organisations adapt to change and embrace digital transformation.

Recent Research commissioned by Salesforce titled ‘Global Stakeholder Series’ surveyed 20,000 people globally, including 2,000 people across India, that focused on gaining insights about the participants’ perceptions of the future of work. Salesforce believes business can be the greatest platform for change and is committed to listening to all of its global stakeholders on major issues impacting the world. Insights from the research highlight the importance of businesses to prioritize closing inequalities, and businesses in India are in a position to do so:

• 65% of survey participants from India say closing global inequalities should be a high priority for businesses
• 58% of survey participants from India believe companies will invest more in workplace equality as a result of COVID-19
• 61% of Indian respondents say it’s critical their employer gives back to their community

Trust in business and government is significantly higher in India than global population and only rising;

• 89% of survey participants from India trust businesses to create a better future
• 70% of survey participants from India trust business leaders to create a better future

Comments on the news:

Arundhati, Bhattacharya, CEO and Chairperson, Salesforce India, said, “At Salesforce, we believe that business can be a platform for positive change. The technology industry has played and continues to play a unique role connecting people forced apart by this pandemic, keeping supply channels open, tracking the disease and in multiple other ways. As we help organisations adapt to change and embrace digital transformation, we also believe in reaching out to individuals bridging inequalities that curtail innovation. These grants reflect our commitment to empower individuals with enabling skills and creating an equitable future for all.”

Shridhar Venkat, CEO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “As schools continue to remain shut, Akshaya Patra through the grants made by Salesforce will be able to serve thousands of children and their families, protecting them from hunger, while offering these children a chance to continue to learn and grow. We are deeply grateful to the team at Salesforce for their generosity and support which will help us expand the programme and help more children.” 

Jaswinder Singh, Executive Director, Protsahan India Foundation, said, “Salesforce believed in us and invested in our slum digilab program to help promote creativity and innovation at the grassroots, and inspire girls from some of the toughest backgrounds to pursue STEM careers. Technology for these girls is way more than a computer, it’s an outlet for their expression, their dignity and their financial independence. With support from Salesforce, we’ll be able to extend the impact reaching over 1200 girls this year.” 
About Global Stakeholder Series Research

Data in this report is from a blind survey conducted in June 2020 that generated 20,000 responses from general population citizens in the U.S., Canada, U.K./Ireland, France, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, India, and Singapore. The data was weighted by age, gender, income and education to reflect the national representation of citizens in each country. To dive into more data please visit this Tableau Dashboard.