Okta for Good’s Response and Support During the COVID-19 Crisis
As COVID-19 continues to spread, we are learning in real-time the true impact of the pandemic, and navigating how to best respond to and support those in need. As a global company supporting thousands of employees and customers around the world, Okta’s response to this crisis is multi-faceted and ongoing. Okta for Good, our company’s social impact arm, is focused on supporting nonprofit organisations on the frontlines of the crisis. Here’s how we’re responding.
Rapid Response in Our Local Communities
Several weeks ago, our team began reaching out to our close local partners to understand their needs around COVID-19 prevention and response. We learned three important things:
- Nonprofits serving our most vulnerable neighbors need unrestricted funding now to meet spiking demands. One San Francisco-based homeless services agency shared: “We have twice as many people coming to our drop-in today as we normally see in light of so many other services closing.”
- Organisations that rely on volunteers are facing even more challenges right now as potential volunteers comply with social distancing guidelines.
- We’re entering spring, which is fundraising season for many nonprofits. With events being cancelled, entire swaths of the nonprofit sector are at severe financial risk.
In response, our team so far has committed $500,000 in unrestricted, rapid-response grants and matching funds, much of this to local organisations serving some of our most vulnerable. This includes Bay Area-based homeless and elderly services agencies and Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Small Business Relief Fund. We’re proud to be working in collaboration with 24 other Bay Area companies on these efforts to commit collective funding for organisations on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. Outside of the Bay Area, our Okta for Good Employee Leadership Council is leading giving campaigns to support food banks and other critical services in the following communities: Toronto, Bellevue, Washington DC, Chicago, London, Paris and Sydney.
Oktane20 LIVE giving campaign
Our annual customer conference is now virtual: Oktane20 LIVE will take place April 1-2, and provides an imminent opportunity for Okta’s community of employees, customers, and partners to raise funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Oktane20 LIVE COVID-19 Response Fund is supporting the CDC Foundation, Direct Relief, and International Medical Corps — three organisations working across the world to respond. Okta for Good will match total donations to the fund up to $100,000.
Putting our products into action
Many nonprofits are not yet set up for secure, remote work and are realising the need to safeguard their staff while maintaining access to critical resources. To help every organisation maintain business continuity, data security, and productivity, we are offering Okta’s core services for free to all new customers through Okta’s Emergency Remote Work Program.
We are also working with various organisations around the world - often behind the scenes - to enable seamless and secure collaboration during crisis response. For example, families dealing with school closures can consult resources and get immediate guidance at schoolclosures.org, where hotline responders use Okta to access their tools. Okta is also proud to be providing secure identity and access management for the COVID-19 Health Care Coalition, a private-sector led response that brings together healthcare organisations, technology firms, nonprofits, academia, and startups to coordinate their responses to the crisis.
If your organisation needs technical assistance from Okta, please fill out the form on this page.
Preparing for Long-Term Response
There will be more required of all of us in the weeks and months ahead. We’re considering our response to-date to be “phase one.” We are continually assessing opportunities to deploy resources, including philanthropic dollars, human power, and products—where they are most needed.
We urge you to consider donating to an organisation in your community or any of the ones mentioned in this post, including our COVID-19 Response Fund.
This is the time to take care of each other. We are inspired by people all over the world who are demonstrating the power of unity in the face of uncertainty. Okta for Good is more committed than ever to our mission of strengthening the connections between people, technology, and community.
