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Silicon Valley Community Foundation Recognizes Seven Award Winners at Annual Powered by EF Reception

Silicon Valley Community Foundation Recognizes Seven Award Winners at Annual Powered by EF Reception

Published 09-27-12

Submitted by Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF

Seven companies were recognized at the 2012 Powered by EF reception for their outstanding commitment to the community.

The annual Powered by EF reception was a recognition reception for companies in the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF and Silicon Valley Community Foundation networks.  For the first time, this year’s event was hosted in partnership by Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The awards were presented by Emmett D. Carson, CEO and President of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, which serves as a comprehensive resource for companies providing both strategic and hands on corporate philanthropic services. More than 200 guests, from entrepreneurs to multi-national corporate representatives and nonprofit partners, attended the reception sponsored by NVIDIA and Symantec at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club in Menlo Park.

“We are excited to recognize the outstanding efforts by these companies. Their contributions to the community have meaningful impact that can be felt throughout the world” stated Samantha Owen, vice president of business services at Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The awards at this year’s 13th annual reception and the companies receiving them were:

Company of the Year Winner: Symantec
The Company of the Year award is given to a company that clearly demonstrates its commitment to corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship programs as part of its core business values.

Symantec was recognized for its exemplary commitment to the environment, education, online safety and diversity. Through grantmaking, strategic partnerships with non-governmental organizations and employee engagement initiatives, Symantec has made great strides in each of its four focus areas while empowering employees to volunteer through its Dollars for Doers and corporate grant programs. All employees are offered a chance to participate in a matching gift program and are encouraged to contribute their skills through pro bono and skills based volunteering opportunities.

“We’re honored to be recognized by Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF and Silicon Valley Community Foundation,” said Cecily Joseph, Symantec’s Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility and Compliance. “We strive to integrate our commitment to corporate responsibility throughout all aspects of our business, and to build a culture of engagement at Symantec. Our philanthropy, community outreach, and volunteer programs help connect our employees to our commitment to building a diverse and sustainable technology industry.”

Impact Award Winners: Juniper Networks and Xilinx
The Impact award is given to companies that have maintained a strong community program for three years or longer and continue to develop and grow those programs.

Xilinx is a leader in the global educational community. Its signature Global Educational Ecosystem program places special emphasis on education by supporting elementary through secondary education, and the proliferation of developmental attributes and assets that foster leadership in a global society, while developing youth for the workforce of the future. This innovative Bay Area program is built on a unique scaffolding approach in which universities, public schools and nonprofit organizations work together to educate today’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math.

“Xilinx is honored to be recognized by Silicon Valley Community Foundation for the work we have accomplished with the Global Educational Ecosystem.  Public-private partnerships are essential to the success of our youth in building the global workforce” said Patty Nation, director of global corporate and community engagement at Xilinx.

Juniper Networks is being honored for its work with the Not for Sale Campaign. Juniper’s Community Engagement vision centers on the company's bold aspiration to use the power of the new network to take on the toughest challenges facing our communities and to connect and empower people everywhere. Juniper has a long standing relationship with Not for Sale (NFS) because the nonprofit is tackling one of the world’s toughest social problems – the trafficking and enslavement of more than 30 million people around the globe. NFS utilizes innovative approaches that leverage technology and the network to educate, build awareness and empower solutions that increase transparency in our global supply chains; rescue, rehabilitate and educate victims; and economically empower at-risk communities through the incubation of social enterprises. Juniper and NFS share a vision for using technology and the power of the new network to solve tough challenges that will change the world. Through this partnership, the company has real power to have a positive impact on human trafficking globally.

Steven Rice, Senior Vice President, HR, said,  “We are honored to receive the 2012 Impact Award on behalf of Juniper Networks. The work we do with Not For Sale is closely aligned with Juniper’s vision to 'connect everything, empower everyone' and our core values to pursue bold aspirations and make a meaningful difference. Through this partnership, we will aspire to support and empower positive change in the world."

Luminary Award Winner: Adobe
The Luminary award is given to the EF member company that demonstrates superior commitment to corporate community involvement through exemplary executive leadership and ongoing efforts to expand and improve the efficacy of their community program. Their leadership programs inspire others to take action and encourage companies to create CSR programs with even more impact.

Adobe is being recognized for its strategic grantmaking in the arts and creativity and youth services areas. In partnership with employee volunteer leaders, the company recently developed a charter to create consistency across Adobe Action Committees worldwide while also providing guidelines and resources for locations that don’t currently have a team in place.  Adobe integrated the efforts of the employee led Green Teams with Action Committees by creating a consistent resource guide allowing the company to have greater impact through its outreach efforts around the world. Adobe has also developed and piloted a pro bono program based on the input of an employee steering committee, which includes executive leadership. The company’s signature philanthropy program, ‘Adobe Youth Voices.’ empowers young people in underserved communities to speak out on important issues by learning to use Adobe multimedia tools, including audio, video, digital art, web animation, and photography. The Adobe Foundation enables educators to do this vital work in and out of the classroom by investing in training, software, mentoring, and other resources in more than 600 sites around the world, directly engaging more than 25,000 youth each year.

Rookie of the Year Award Winner: TE Connectivity
Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF named TE Connectivity the Rookie of the Year, an award, which is given to a company that has joined EF within the last 18 months and has done an outstanding job at creating a sustainable program for both the company and the community.

TE Connectivity is being recognized for its newly formed comprehensive Philanthropy and Community Involvement (CI) strategic plan that is aligned with the company’s core business initiatives. “We knew that we needed to re-focus our philanthropy and community involvement efforts to better support what our 100,000 employees are doing around the world in their communities,” said Kenzie Ferguson, director, corporate responsibility at TE Connectivity. “We have refreshed our strategy to focus on volunteerism and have started executing our plan of action to help our communities.”

The company recently refined its CI initiatives through benchmarking, key stakeholder surveys, and executive interviews. As a result, TE Connectivity revamped its corporate policies and developed new global volunteer councils to focus on volunteerism as a major determinant of how TE spends its four million dollar budget. These councils will be a critical component of helping to achieve the strategic objectives for the company. Additionally, TE Connectivity launched a strategic partnership with American Heart Association (AHA) to reinforce the importance of TE’s Health and Wellness program and to contribute to the AHA’s mission to win the fight against heart disease. The company has newly created guidelines for increasing employee volunteerism and leveraging their global reach.

Aspiration Inspiration Award Winners: Palo Alto Networks and Marketo
The Aspiration-Inspiration award recognizes emerging companies for their commitment to integrating CSR into their culture from an early point. Companies are normally given this award when they create a foundation due to a liquidity event, set aside a meaningful amount of equity for their foundation and/or continue to create exemplary CSR programs.

Palo Alto Networks was selected for the award following the company’s recent decision to set aside a meaningful amount of equity for a foundation prior to its IPO. This effort is an inspiration to other entrepreneurs to consider the community as one of their key stakeholders as they grow and build their companies. 

Marketo’s first foray into corporate citizenship demonstrates that visionary and supportive leadership combined with dedicated staff, can swiftly grow a successful corporate social responsibility program. In its first year, Marketo has created an active Green Team, Product Donations Team, and Activities & Drives Team, each run and managed by a group of thoughtful employees seeking to further integrate social responsibility into Marketo’s daily work. Accomplishments include the establishment of a commuter shuttle, three product grant donations of Marketo’s leading fundraising and marketing software, and record participation in holiday food drives.

“Marketo is honored to be recognized by Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF. Our company is dedicated to giving back to our local and global communities. This award is an opportunity to recognize the hard work and commitment of the entire Marketo team to contribute to society in a meaningful manner,” said Marcine Perry, head of Marketo’s Corporate Social Responsibility Team.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation makes all forms of philanthropy more powerful. We serve as a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region’s most challenging problems. The community foundation has more than $2 billion in assets under management and more than 1,500 philanthropic funds. As Silicon Valley’s center of philanthropy, we provide individuals, families and corporations with simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org

 

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Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF

Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF

About Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF
Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging companies in corporate citizenship and philanthropic efforts so that new and leveraged resources are generated for community benefit. For more information about Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of SVCF, visit www.efcsr.org. Press contact: Dipti Pratt at (650)-575-2202 or dpratt@siliconvalleycf.org

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