As 2022 began, Sumo Logic India embarked on a journey to align our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) philanthropic efforts with Sumo Logic’s Environmental Social Governance (ESG), Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and Employee Resource Group (ERG) goals. The goal was to leverage our local team’s passion for helping to make a difference in our communitiy, and help those in need and who are underrepresented.
These initiatives combined direct monetary donations, product donations, and skill-based contributions. The program had a broad spectrum of social and environmental initiatives like promoting gender equality, empowering underrepresented groups, caring for the elderly, fostering environmental sustainability, promoting education and preventive health care, and eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
Across India, we conducted 26 initiatives towards our corporate philanthropy and employee volunteer efforts, including:
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Six hunger prevention events wherein we donated grocery items that were much needed for the daily functioning of the shelter homes.
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At the peak of the heat wave, we donated refrigerators to keep perishable food products and water purifiers to enhance access to cleaner drinking water by the care home members.
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As the winter set in, we donated a washing machine to support care home members in washing their clothes in cold water.
- We made a conscious decision to partner with local charities at locations where we conducted our events and meetups. This created an environment of giving back to the community as well as strengthened our employee pride and belongingness.
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During our Goa meet up, we partnered with a local children’s NGO and spent some time going back to childhood with some fun games and introducing them to LEGO – a game they were so in awe of that we gifted them Lego boxes. Those smiles lit up our trip.
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Our team conducted a beach clean-up drive along with a local NGO, where we spent time bonding together as we collected eight baskets of trash that were sent for recycling.
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To support environmental sustainability, we partnered with a charity to plant around 150 fruit-bearing trees, one for each employee, to create a Sumo India forest. This event not just helped the environment but also created opportunities for local farmers to earn their livelihood in the long term.
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We are also partnering with an NGO to set up two Sumo sponsored vocational centers, a computer literacy center and a sewing center in the rural sector, which will train and enable the learners to get relevant job opportunities.
Our focus was on living our core value of bringing light to dark by creating opportunities for the underprivileged and brightening their lives through our initiatives. Below illustrates how we were able to achieve these micro-shifts to co-create a distinct approach to social consciousness by making it more accessible for our employees:
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We focused on providing flexibility and autonomy to our employees. Instead of implementing a one-size-fits-all approach, we designed our quarterly programs to empower our teams to choose the support cause that most resonated with them. Employees turned passion into impact by giving back in personally meaningful ways.
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To align ourselves with our virtual workforce environment, we became more flexible with event dates, and instead of conducting an event on a specific day, we transitioned into week and month-long observances, as exemplified by our Community Activism and Action Month in December.
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Got creative and chose to do things differently, like managing donation box pick-ups from the employee’s residence instead of a drop off or encouraging employees to visit a nearby NGO in their current place of residence.
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Encouraged our employees to bring in their children, our “Little Sumos”, into the events to seed the idea of compassion early in their lives and also live our core value of work with heart.
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As we wrapped up our India office to experiment with a fully virtual working environment, we donated a significant portion of our office artifacts and furniture to certified NGO Partners that offer shelter/care homes. We offered eligible office assets to our employees at nominal pricing, proceeds from which we donated to charitable organizations.
By supporting these causes, employees generously give their time, talent, and resources to the causes they care about and help maximize the impact of doing good.
We are proud to be a company that operates with integrity, makes good choices, and does the right thing in every aspect of our business. We always seek to align our social and environmental efforts with our business goals. With a continued commitment to drive long-term change, we are making intentional investments today to help build a better future for the communities that we serve along with our employees and customers.
As a reader, you can choose to power compassion around the world for those that need it most. Start with smaller changes to become a culture carrier. We promise it’s worth it.
Want to join our team? Sumo Logic is hiring around the globe! Check out our current openings.
