Salesforce, the 22-year-old cloud-based sales and marketing platform, was founded with philanthropy baked into its core, but the major events of 2020 changed the way its corporate leaders think about giving. Ebony Beckwith, chief philanthropy officer at Salesforce and CEO of the Salesforce Foundation told Cheddar that COVID-19 and recent social justice movements are now transforming corporate philanthropy.
"I feel like people are really starting to understand the power of corporate philanthropy at the cellular level right now, and I'm really happy to see more companies stepping up because it's really a collective effort," she said.
While the foundation has been pursuing philanthropic programs for two decades, over the last year, she said, the company has shifted its charitable priorities from education and career attainment to a broader suite of issues.
"At Salesforce, our vision has always been to ensure that everyone has equal access to a quality education, a meaningful career, and the opportunity to really reach that full potential, but we're starting to think about it differently since last year," Beckwith stated.
In particular, the company is focused on closing the racial funding gap by supporting more nonprofit leaders of color.
"We're also investing in areas like civic engagement, food security, and access to capital because we see that all of those issues are so deeply connected."
Top-down planning is only part of Salesforce's philanthropic strategy. It also hopes to tap employees to gauge their own interests and concerns.
Beckwith said that Salesforce employees have volunteered a total of 5.7 million service hours.
"Employees want to be working for organizations who put their money where their mouth is, who allow them to give back, who allow them to take time off of work, even if they're working from home now," she added.
The dreaded Netflix crackdown on profile sharing translated into a major boost in subscribers while the promised rate cuts seem to be a far off fantasy.
After the 2021 boom, IPO activity slowed down significantly, in part due to monetary policy – but things are getting moving again with tech-friendly companies like Iboutta and Rubrik making a public debut.
With an increasing demand for mental health services, one person wanted to change the therapy game. In 2017, CEO Alex Katz founded Two Chairs, a company that uses technology to match patients with the right therapist.
Not only is April Financial Literacy Month, it’s also the kickoff of the spring homebuying season. So now is the time to make sure you have a financial plan in place – and why it might not be wise for that to include buying your first home.
While the U.S. may slowly be on the path to lowering inflation (and therefore interest rates), Europe has thoroughly trounced America, putting it on the path to lower rates by this summer.
April's release of the monthly Housing Starts and Building Permits reports by the Census Bureau provides crucial insights into the construction activity in the housing market. These reports are an economic indicator, shedding light on the current state of the housing market and its broader economic impact.
Caitlin Clark is heading to the Indiana Fever, the number one draft pick and the highest-scoring college basketball player of all time. And while she may not be getting millions from the WNBA, there's a few ways she'll net compensation for her generational talents.
