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As Global Volunteer Month approaches this April, you can start preparing by taking note of current social impact trends and leveraging your knowledge to equip your team with the tools, resources and opportunities they’ll need to make the month a success.

Here are a few current trends in the world of Corporate Social Responsibility to consider as you plan your Global Volunteer Month initiatives.

SOCIAL IMPACT TRENDS FOR GLOBAL VOLUNTEER MONTHVIRTUAL VOLUNTEERING

It’s no secret that the workplace environment has changed drastically over the past few years during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While many teams once congregated in a central location, now there are individuals spread out across a vast virtual landscape. These same adjustments have been made in the world of social good, and there are more virtual volunteer opportunities than ever before.

According to a 2020 survey by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), 44% of nonprofits reported an increase in virtual volunteering due to COVID-19. To find virtual volunteer opportunities that could be a good fit for your team, check out Points of Light’s Engage platform, which features hundreds of thousands of volunteer opportunities throughout the world just waiting for the right volunteer to reach out.

CAUSE-DRIVEN CAMPAIGNS

People today expect more from social impact efforts. They want to see for-profit organizations stepping up to solve real-world issues that affect them, their loved ones and their communities in a tangible way. Companies that align their volunteer efforts with their mission and values will go further than companies that don’t. Plus, employees who participate in social impact programs often become more engaged in their work. A study by SAP showed a $40 million revenue fluctuation when employee engagement rose or fell by just 1%.

A study by Cone Communications found that 87% of consumers expect companies to take a stand on social and environmental issues. Use this knowledge to your advantage by centering your Global Volunteer Month efforts on current issues that your employees are passionate about. Giving your workforce an opportunity to respond to these issues through meaningful volunteer campaigns will benefit your company, your employees and the individuals you’re serving.

EMPLOYEE-LED INITIATIVES

Employees are taking the lead in creating volunteer opportunities and organizing community events. One of the biggest benefits of social impact initiatives – besides making the world a better place – is the opportunity for your employee volunteers to increase their leadership, planning and organizational skills.

The same study by Cone Communications found that 92% of employees believe it’s important for their company to support social and environmental issues. Start planning your Global Volunteer Month initiatives by asking your workforce what issues they’re most passionate about, seeing where interests lie and allowing individuals to organize and lead events related to those issues.

SKILLS-BASED VOLUNTEERING

According to True Impact’s research, volunteers who engaged in activities designed to leverage professional skills generated significantly more value across nearly all social, employee and business categories. Skills-based volunteers were significantly more likely than traditional, hands-on volunteers to increase the organizational capacity of the nonprofits they were serving.

Giving employees a chance to do pro bono professional work with nonprofits helps volunteers increase their managerial skills and grow their expertise in new subject matter. True Impact’s study showed that skills-based volunteers served an average of 25 hours, compared to traditional volunteers’ 12 hours. Consider this as you decide on which types of volunteer opportunities you offer to your workforce.

COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

While volunteering with any type of mission can help to better the world, individuals tend to be more impacted by volunteer opportunities from which they can observe the fruits of their labor. And it goes without saying that most people interested in social impact are passionate about making changes in their own backyard.

Collaborating with local nonprofits can help increase employee engagement and can also help your company see gains in brand recognition and positive reputation in your communities – the places where your employees and your customers may live.

UTILIZE POINTS OF LIGHT’S GLOBAL VOLUNTEER MONTH TOOLS

Whether you’re leading the charge in your CSR department or attempting to organize an event for Global Volunteer Month, you can use Points of Light’s resources to glean knowledge and inspiration. Our Global Volunteer Month toolkit for corporations is specifically tailored to companies – including ideas and resources to help you shine a light on your company’s volunteer program by recognizing the impact your employees make in the communities you serve.

And if you need help expanding or revamping your CSR or employee engagement program, you can reach out to Points of Light’s Corporate Services and Solutions team. We’re here to help you increase your impact with best-in-class tools, frameworks and customized support.

“At Eaton, we are always looking for talented workers to join our team. The Georgetown Pivot Program introduced us to a cohort looking to start the next phases of their careers, and we were excited to be a small part of their stories of change, hope and growth.”

Rachel Johnson (she/her) Manager, Human Resources

We believe it is incumbent for us as good corporate citizens to remove barriers to employment and advancement by allowing individuals with prior criminal records to fairly compete for job opportunities. This is why for years, we have applied ban-the-box policies.

In 2021, we worked with the Business Roundtable to launch the Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC), co-led by our CEO Craig Arnold, to improve access to employment and advancement for people with prior criminal convictions. In just one year, the SCBC grew from 29 to 40 Fortune 500 member companies.

At the same time, we continued to enhance our second chance hiring practices. Our U.S. job postings began to read, “Eaton considers qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with local laws.”

We shortened the look-back period for certain misdemeanors from no time limit to seven years, while reducing the look- back period for other more minor misdemeanors to three years.

We also incorporated our second chance philosophy and expectations into third-party suppliers’ contracts for contingent labor. In the future, we will enhance training for managers and human resources on second-chance hiring and criminal history review practices.

We are also working with Georgetown University on its Pivot Program, which provides formerly incarcerated individuals with leadership and professional development opportunities. This one-year transition and re-entry program blends academic work with employment. We have made our aerospace facility in Beltsville, Maryland, available to future fellows.

Changing how we screen:

By shortening the look-back period on certain misdemeanors and emphasizing the second chance philosophy when reviewing criminal flags, more applicants with criminal convictions passed our screening in 2021. Of those candidates with criminal flags, 81.3% (1,282) passed our revised criminal review process, up from 79.1% the year before.

Read the full report here.

Lenovo has been recognized for leadership in corporate sustainability by the global environmental non-profit CDP, securing recognition at the leadership level for its efforts to combat climate change and increase water security through business management and processes.

As a leader, Lenovo received an ‘A-’ ranking from CDP in both climate change and water security areas of assessment and met or exceeded all industry benchmarks across areas of measurement. Lenovo earned the highest ‘A’ rankings across both assessments in governance, risk management processes, and value chain engagement.

More than 15,000 companies disclosed their environmental data through CDP in 2022, making CDP the largest environmental database in the world. More information about CDP, its scoring and methodology can be found here.

Learn more about Lenovo’s sustainability efforts in its latest Environmental, Social and Governance Report.

Did you know that around 90% of the world’s population lives within walking distance of a river system? Many people’s lives depend on how healthy these rivers are. “If rivers are unhealthy, people risk being unhealthy too”, said Zach Green, President at Be Alive Studios. “And so, we need to come together to do something about it.”

One of the initiatives that aims to do just that is Rivers are Life (RaL). Dow is a founding member of RaL, a platform for creating a human connection with rivers around the world, to inspire the need to improve, protect and preserve them. By demonstrating the many ways in which they reveal their beauty and wonder, the life and our own lives carried in or upon their waters, they inspire us collectively to act and treat them as the valuable resources they are.

In this episode of the Seek Together podcast, ‘Water & Waste’, I ask our guests about the challenges, but also positive actions that contribute to cleaner rivers around the globe to help people understand their impact on river systems and inspire them to take action.

Zach Green: “I strongly believe in the power of storytelling to help educate audiences around the world. In sharing the stories of our waterways and those working to protect them, we can help increase awareness around the importance of our planet’s rivers while driving innovative solutions, inspiring sustainability, and curbing waste.”

In this podcast episode, we also discuss the latest RaL film called ‘Keepers of the North’ that was created to showcase a collaborative project to clean up Alaska’s gulf coast. John Holm, Vice President Strategic Initiatives at PYXERA Global: “We are a non-profit organization aiming to help solve the world’s most pressing challenges, one community at a time. We really look at uniting the public, private and social sectors together to work consistently on how we can solve collective problems but at a community level. For the project in Alaska, we brought together an all-star project team including The GoAK, First Mile, Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Dow, the Center for Regenerative Design & Collaboration and Fedex.”

Wendy Takeguchi from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, of which Dow is a founding member: “We worked together to develop a sustainable solution to turn marine trash into a usable product. In this case, it was possible to transform historically hard-to-recycle plastic into RESIN8, a building material that can improve the performance of concrete and asphalt.”

Thank you for tuning in, and we hope you’ll enjoy listening to the Seek Together Podcast!

In New Jersey, Women Aware helps survivors and their children move on from unsafe situations

“Last year, we served the most individuals we ever have in our 41-year history.”

That’s Women Aware, the leading domestic violence services agency which for more than four decades has served Middlesex County in New Jersey.

With a population of 825,000, the county relies on Women Aware to find placement for people who need to escape an unsafe situation and help them get back on their feet.

“We shelter more than 200 women and children on average per year for anywhere from 30-day stays to 90 days or even more,” says Susan Dyckman, Development Director at Women Aware. “Last year, that number rose to 278.”

During the pandemic, Women Aware expanded its shelter capacities by starting a hotel placement program, meaning that staff could still provide case management services until an opportunity to move individuals into safe housing emerged.

“It’s really amazing that, throughout the entire pandemic, Women Aware did not have to close our doors,” says Catherine Cintron, Director of Grants and Compliance at Women Aware. “Because we have always been committed to cross-training our staff, we could adapt staffing and expand shelter capacity to serve more clients than ever before.”

Cross-training was key for Women Aware, as staff who might normally spend their time in legal advocacy were able to rotate into roles such as a hotline operator when the situation called for it.

In 2021, Enbridge donated $15,000 to Women Aware as part of our commitment to help build sustainable communities near our operations. The funding enables Women Aware to meet 2023 goals that include sheltering 215 women and children, answering 6,000 hotline calls and providing non-residential services to 1,800 victims.

In addition to the daily services offered by Women Aware, the organization puts on the Moving Beyond Abuse 5K & Charity Walk during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Enbridge provided a $5,000 grant in 2022 to help put on this event that connects Women Aware with the community.

The overarching vision for Women Aware this year is to continue to build upon an established facility that brings all services under one roof.

“We opened the doors of the Family Justice Center in late 2020, where the goal is to bring all resources necessary for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and their children under one roof,” says Dyckman.

The goal is to be as seamless as possible—particularly for individuals in times of urgent need.

“A survivor can walk in, no appointment necessary, and then an intake process occurs where a trained advocate meets with a survivor to hear their story and connect them to all necessary resources.”

And once a survivor moves through the shelter and resources and has landed back on their feet, they’ll often stay in touch.

“Often our client services colleagues will share survivor success stories,” says Dyckman. “To hear where the survivor was, and how far they have come, is a truly overwhelming feeling.”

 

In response to the recent devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Kimberly-Clark is donating essential health and hygiene products to support active relief efforts across the region, including the company’s Kotex®, Huggies®, Kleenex®, and Kimberly-Clark Professional™ products, which it’s working to distribute as quickly as possible.

The company is coordinating the urgent delivery of products from its manufacturing facilities around the globe, including 2 million Huggies® diapers and 100,000 packs of Kleenex® wipes. Kimberly-Clark has already sent 1 million Kotex® menstrual pads via local charities, as well as Kimberly-Clark Professional™ gloves, coveralls and sterile masks.

In addition, the company established an employee giving program, and the Kimberly-Clark Foundation will match all donations. By supporting the communities where its employees live and work, Kimberly-Clark is delivering on its purpose to provide Better Care for a Better World.

About Kimberly-Clark 
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people’s most essential needs, we’re committed to our purpose of Better Care for a Better World. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, holds No. 1 or No. 2 share position in approximately 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build strong communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company’s 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com

Hut Life | Pizza Hut Blog

In 1959, the year after the first Pizza Hut® opened in Wichita, Kan., the Carney brothers introduced the opportunity to franchise – starting first with family and friends. The franchise business quickly grew. By 1966, there were more than 140 Pizza Hut locations.

Today, the Pizza Hut System operates more than 18,000 restaurants, most of which are owned and operated by franchisees, in more than 100 countries. In Pizza Hut’s new series – Building the Brand – you’ll be introduced to some of Pizza Hut’s U.S. franchisees, find out how they grow as a business, get to know their leaders, and understand how these teams lead in their community.

In our first edition, meet Tom Wyczawski, president of Tasty Hut LLC, a division of Tasty Restaurant Group. Tasty Hut LLC has more than 220 Pizza Hut locations in 11 states and aspires to deliver the Pizza Hut-defined Guest Experience – great food, served fast and friendly.

Tom, tell us about yourself and why you chose to work with Pizza Hut.

In the past 30 years of my career, I have been in the restaurant industry. I started with operations engineering and consulting, then went to brand management. For the last 15 years, I’ve been both a franchisee and a franchise operator.

Tasty Restaurant Group’s CEO, Robert Rodriguez, and I have worked together several times throughout my career. When we talked about his new adventure working with Triton Pacific to build Tasty Restaurant Group and the challenges of building a great restaurant operation company, it seemed like an incredible opportunity to work with a talented team of people and to have a positive impact on our family members’ (what we call our team members) lives while serving our guests and our shareholders.

What’s the Pizza Hut experience like at a Tasty Hut restaurant? 

We are a large company that aspires to deliver the Pizza Hut-defined Guest Experience (great food, served fast and friendly), but we always put people first and still offer a culture characterized by love and caring support for our family members and customers. We call this our Hut Family Values. We work hard to create inviting exteriors and interiors and utilize modern technology to be both productive for our teams, but also relevant for our customers. We have seven operational foundations that, when executed well, help provide great guest and family member experiences, as well as grow business results. These seven foundations are 100 percent staffed; 100 percent trained; food safety basics; perfect dough and pizzas; fast and effective compliant management; ready for customer; and Hut Family Values.

We continue to grow with more than 60 remodels, relocations, rebuilds, and new stores in the last two years. This includes a mix of delivery/carry-out restaurants and a few dine-in restaurants.

We also adopt new technologies that will help enhance the guest and Team Member experience, leveraging third-party delivery services (like DoorDash Drive), world-class operation boards, pickup windows, digital signage, menus, and purchasing systems.

What does Tasty Hut look for in leaders in their organization?

We try to keep it simple at Tasty Hut. We believe if people respect and aspire to live out our Hut Family Values, are skilled to do their job, and are open to learning and receiving personal growth, then we can teach folks the rest. Leaders, whether at a restaurant or here at corporate, who have been most successful at Tasty Hut are those who build strong teams with diverse thinkers, are maniacs about execution and strategies, and really lean in and lead change.

What is Tasty Hut’s growth strategy and what’s most important to Tasty Hut?

(see graphic above)

How is Tasty Hut involved in the community?

We not only strive to support our communities with jobs at our restaurants and offering incredible food to our guests but also try to give back where we can through philanthropic donations. This may include fundraising or providing meals for individuals experiencing hardship or tragic events.

Right now, we are doing a Ukraine fundraiser to support World Central Kitchen, providing emergency meals to Ukrainians all over Europe. This organization is also supporting families around our restaurants in Eastern Kentucky. And most importantly, we have dozens of family members who get involved in their communities to support those in need.

What’s next for Tasty Hut?

We will continue to march down the path of becoming one of the very best Pizza Hut franchisees in the world by continuing to invest in our people, energizing our current assets and building new restaurants, delivering consistent results for our shareholders, but even more, impressing our guests with great guest experiences.

We have come a long way in 2.5 years, but we still have work to do to fully live out our mission as a premier Pizza Hut franchise. And, I am blessed to have a great team of people, both in Tasty Hut and in our support groups, who fully support us on this journey.

To learn more about Tasty Restaurant and Tasty Hut LLC, visit tastyrg.com.

A new range of 10 radios led by triple-band Radio 4485, which is 53 percent lighter than comparable products. Also launching new mobile transport and software solutionsIndustry-first, 600MHz Massive MIMO radio with Ericsson-unique Interference Sensing software that adds up to 40 percent more capacity with portfolio-wide hardware supportA quad-carrier microwave transport radio with four times more capacity plus Radio Deep Sleep support across the MINI-LINK portfolio

Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) leadership in supporting service providers’ Net Zero ambitions, while meeting market demands for higher 5G capacity and revenue growth, has taken a major step forward with the launch of an enhanced RAN and Transport portfolio. Set to be showcased at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 Barcelona, more than 10 new Ericsson solutions will cut carbon emissions and site footprint, increase energy performance and boost network capacity.

The full range of new remote radios for 4G and 5G capacity is led by the triple-band Radio 4485 for FDD (frequency-division duplexing), which is 53 percent lighter and consumes about 22 percent less energy than comparable products. New dual and single-band radios have also been launched.

Ericsson has also introduced a new range of wideband Massive MIMO radios – spearheaded by the industry-first, ultra-wideband AIR 6476 – which provides 600MHz instantaneous bandwidth that doubles capacity without additional antenna footprint and enhances user experience.

Software is in the spotlight as well with new features such as Interference Sensing, which optimizes mid-band Massive MIMO performance by minimizing inter-cell interference and increasing network capacity by up to 40 percent.

The updated portfolio includes new mobile transport offerings. The new quad microwave radio MINI-LINK 6321, with 4.8 Gbps capacity, is aimed at making RAN evolution options easier for service providers. The offering has around 50 percent smaller site footprint and energy consumption than the previous alternative for building a four-carrier MINI-LINK hop.

David Hammarwall, Head of Product Area Networks, Ericsson, says: “Capacity expansions, energy savings, and sustainability are central to service providers’ RAN evolution plans. Ericsson’s enhanced portfolio fulfills the key needs of service providers and is leading the industry towards Net Zero while capturing opportunities of data traffic growth. We expect these topics will be the center of attention in our discussions with customers at MWC Barcelona 2023 and beyond.”

Portfolio additions include:

Intelligent Cell Shaping: Ericsson-unique software with intelligent automation that improves coverage and boosts downlink speed at the cell edge by up to 35 percentBooster Carrier Sleep: energy-efficiency software feature that allows carriers to be switched on and off depending on the traffic loadEnergy efficiency features in mobile transport with MINI-LINK Radio Deep Sleep, which lowers radio energy consumption by up to 25 percent by hibernating radios in multi-carrier solutions when the capacity is not neededNew cell site router, Router 6676: with high density of 25GE interfaces and is three-times more energy-efficient than the previous generation of routers. It supports Ericsson’s new remote radios and Massive MIMO radios with 25Gbps interfaces

Underpinning the solutions is an Ericsson hardware and software co-design that allows the network to slash power consumption by up to 94 percent during low traffic compared to peak consumption.

Ericsson is also reducing its own carbon emissions in the production of new radios, using the embodied carbon* metric, which gauges the amount of greenhouse gases released before the product is deployed. Radio 4485 has 50 percent lower embodied carbon emissions than comparable products.

The new solutions will be on show in Ericsson’s booth in Hall 2 at the Fira Gran Via during MWC Barcelona 2023 from February 27 to March 2. The portfolio additions will be commercially available during 2023 and Q1 2024.

Ed Gubbins, Principal Analyst at Global Data, says: “Ericsson’s latest RAN and transport solutions address not only a key pain point of service providers – how to grow capacity to further monetize 5G while keeping costs down – but also a top concern, which is energy efficiency or reducing their carbon footprint. The ‘more with less’ theme is spot-on with the new radios and software features – compact yet more powerful with higher capacity and energy efficiency. Also worth noting is Ericsson’s unique hardware and software co-design that enhances overall network performance.”

Achieving Net Zero green gas emissions is one of the most crucial and essential challenges the world is facing. Concerted efforts are underway across the telecoms sector by many players to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

Find out more about the latest macro and mobile transport portfolio additions.

Related launch content:
Ericsson Massive MIMO
Ericsson Remote Radios
Ericsson Mobile Transport Solutions

NOTES TO EDITORS:

*Embodied carbon consists of all greenhouse gas emissions that have occurred before the product is used. It includes emissions from the extraction of raw materials, transportation to suppliers’ production, ​Ericsson manufacturing​, and product transportation up to the customer.

Net Zero: the goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero supporting the Paris Agreement target to limit global warming to no more than 1.5°C. Ericsson is determined to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and reach Net Zero by 2040.

Other related content:

Ericsson raises sustainability bar with triple-band, tri-sector 5G radio

A holistic approach to address RAN energy efficiency (Tech Unveiled blog)

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Ericsson enables communications service providers and enterprises to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the following business areas: Networks, Cloud Software and Services, Enterprise Wireless Solutions, Global Communications Platform, and Technologies and New Businesses. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

When Kavya Krishna was growing up, few women in her rural Indian community had financial autonomy. They lacked access to the kinds of information and opportunity that could support independence. Kavya overcame those challenges to pursue a career in technology. Now as a successful coder and data engineer, she’s using her knowledge to teach digital skills to other girls from underserved and at-risk communities around the world. Kavya is the latest feature in the Logitech MX #WomenWhoMaster series. She talks about how technology can create financial freedom for women, what inspires her to give back, and the hopes she has for the future of girls in tech.

When did you become interested in STEM?

I grew up in Rajasthan in a rural town in northwestern India. My town is conservative and there are not that many opportunities, especially for women. But my parents always prioritized education. In high school, I took a computer class and I was very good at it. We didn’t learn to code but instead learned the theories of computer science. I enjoyed learning about coding logic, but it took me a long time to understand the purpose of coding. It wasn’t until I got to college that I understood the possibilities and potential.

“Coding is everywhere and for everything. It is multidimensional. Whether you’re in marketing or finance or another field, you can be a coder.”

Q: What opportunities did you think a STEM career could provide?

For most of my life, I was focused on the idea that women need to be financially independent. Where I grew up, women weren’t given their due respect because they weren’t financially independent. I knew it wasn’t because they lacked potential. They were dependent because they didn’t have access to information or opportunities.

“I saw technology as my ticket to becoming financially independent, making my own decisions, and taking control of my life.”

The same goes for starting in a tech field. No matter what kind of coding you do, you will be helping marketing, finance, or a process in another division.

Q: After college, you worked at SiriusXM as a data engineer. What types of projects did you work on?

I had an internship at SiriusXM that turned into a full-time job. I accepted the offer because I would get the opportunity to work with amazing people in an amazing industry and also move to New York full-time. I was on the data architecture and business intelligence team. We did a lot of workflows and ETL (extraction transfer load) work. I answered a lot of tickets and data requests and did a lot of modeling. At that time I mostly worked in the coding languages R, Java, and SQL (structured query language).

Q: What is the Society of Women Coders?

SOWCoders is a nonprofit organization that trains young girls in digital literacy and coding from developing countries and underserved communities. We have already trained over 4,000 girls in 57 countries, launched our own ed-tech platform and delivered multiple successful corporate and employee engagement programs in different markets in North America, LATAM, Africa and Asia. We have partnered with prestigious organizations like Malala Fund, American Embassy, Govt. of Belize, Liberty Latin America, Liberty Foundation Puerto Rico, Google, Deloitte, Wework, WITNY, and MOGUL. to deliver our training. We are currently working on accelerating our impact to 100K students by 2025!

Q: What makes the Society of Women Coders different from other coding programs?

Our solution is unique because our training lasts over 5 months with LIVE instruction and localized curriculums streamlined for adolescent girls. We hire local support as well as provide mandatory mentorship sessions to make sure of a conducive learning environment. We train our own teachers and offer informal leadership training to alumni to run the modules in their communities. We are unlocking a world of unlimited possibilities for these girls. They are inspired to take on STEAM careers and are confident to use a computer: we want to equip them with relevant skills so they feel confident and comfortable to tap into the global economy straight from their home.

Q: How did the Society of Women Coders start?

When I was at SiriusXM, I met Fara, who was from Haiti. She and I were the only two women on our team at the time. We started doing “women in tech” lunches to meet other women in the company. What started as lunches, slowly became passionate discussions about our journeys to corporate America and the revolting lack of support for girls back home to strive for financial independence. Our mutual anger and the desire to bring change led to the birth of SOWCoders. SOWCoders became an expression of what we wish we had growing up in Port-au-Prince and Bharatpur. We wanted to give back. The only thing We knew was how to code.

Seeing the success of organizations like Girls Who Code, which were doing so much in North America, inspired us to start something similar with a special focus on underserved and at-risk communities in emerging economies. So Fara and I created a curriculum and started traveling. I used all my vacation days and my savings to travel to these countries and conduct coding camps.

“At the time, we called ourselves the Sisterhood of the Traveling Coders, but it wasn’t an organization. We were just a group of women techies who wanted to give back.”

Then suddenly, we got this opportunity to work with the government of Belize. They wanted us to host a camp for about 200 girls in Belize City and Belmopan. After that, we did the same thing in Haiti, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Zambia and a few other countries.

Q: When you were starting out, was there a mentor in your life or career who supported you?

My college Dean Laura Haas has always been very supportive of the work that we were doing. Sruta Vootukuru, who’s on my board, has been an exceptional mentor to me too.

One of the most important pieces of advice my mentors have taught me is that a nonprofit is also a business. People care that you have a good heart, but you need to have a solid foundation and solid goals. Understanding that I have to run the Society of Women Coders as a business is something that took me some time to learn.

Q: What kind of impact do you hope the Society of Women Coders will have on girls in technology?

We have been around for almost five years now. Our alumni group is growing. We provide opportunities and host monthly events for them. The alumni events are online so girls from different parts of the world can come together. They have fun and form friendships. It’s a sisterhood of girls who 10 years from now will be scientists, top engineers, and heads of corporations. My hope is that they will come together and say, “This is something that got us here, and now it’s time for us to give back and create a legacy.”

Connect with Kavya on LinkedIn or get involved with the Society of Women Coders.

Women Who Master puts a spotlight on women who have made outstanding contributions to STEM fields. The goal of the series is to celebrate those contributions, inspire future leaders, and help close the gender gap in technology.

Photo credit: Kavya Krishna

IBM is proud to be recognized by the Anthem Awards for its IBM Security Preparedness Grant and the effort to help prepare schools for the threat of cyberattacks.

IBM has awarded 6 grants to U.S. K-12 public school districts in the Untied States. A four-part pilot project is also underway with grant recipients in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ireland, and United Arab Emirates.

The grants sponsor IBM Service Corps teams to help districts proactively prepare for and respond to cyber threats with incident response plans, ransomware playbooks, updating technology, cybersecurity training for school communities, and more.

In addition to six school districts in the U.S., 2022 grant recipients include schools in Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.

City of Dublin Educational Training Board in IrelandMohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in United Arab EmiratesCupertino Union School District in Sunnyvale, CARossville Cons. School District in Rossville, INEast China School District in East China, MINewburgh Enlarged City School District in Newburgh, NYGoffstown School District in Goffstown, NHPrince William Country Public Schools in Manassas, VA

Learn more here