Giving Back to Our Community: Happy Holidays from Okta!
Community is important at Okta. Not just the community we’ve built within our company walls or the Okta Community, but this epicenter of innovation – the wider Bay Area – that almost all of us call home. To say thank you to that local community, we’ve been working closely with a few charities to give back and wanted to take a minute to share a bit on the organizations chosen and their objectives in the community.
It’s been a big effort this holiday season for Okta and it’s been amazing to observe the teamwork and camaraderie displayed in making these donations happen. We’re also proud to say more than 50% of the company has participated in activities this year...and that Okta has matched all employee donations!
1. Family House: You only need to glance at their @familyhouseSF Twitter handle to realize the massive impact Family House has had on thousands of families in California.
Family House is a San Francisco-based nonprofit providing a ‘home away from home’ to families of seriously-ill children receiving treatment at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital. It serves more than 2,000 families each year, all of which live more than 50 miles from UCSF and many at or below the low-income status.
Our very own Todd McKinnon also serves on Family House’s Board of Directors and has also inspired our team to give back. (He also tweets about his involvement often!) This holiday season, our company is working to provide Safeway gift cards and gas cards to the families staying at Family House over the next few weeks. We’ve already totalled $1,200 that Okta will match!
2. Adopt-A-Family East Bay: This organization is focused on building strong communities and empowering families to take crucial steps toward self-sufficiency, health and happiness. Okta sponsored three families this holiday season for Adopt-A-Family East Bay to to ensure their holidays are brighter – and more fun will be had on Christmas morning. Many of our Bay Area-based employees contributed both their time and money to shop for families that would not have otherwise received holiday gifts.
We fulfilled three wish lists, including clothes, shoes, kitchen appliances, games (to promote family time), grocery cards and gift certificates for family shopping trips. Employees took the initiative and got into teams themselves, went shopping and wrapped gifts to contribute. Two of our employees even drove the gifts over to the East Bay to make sure our contributions were felt.
3. San Francisco and Marin Food Banks: It’s hard to believe that nearly 150,000 people in San Francisco live with the threat of hunger, and it is no doubt rewarding to contribute to an organization that distributes more than 31 million pounds of food every year to our fellow San Francisco residents.
Okta employees pulled out all the stops to collect non-perishable food items to help local families in need. We’ve already donated almost 100 items – including jams, pastas and plenty of canned goods – and have overflowing barrels to deliver today.
4. Red Cross: As an opportunity for our growing base of remote employees to participate, Okta has partnered with the Red Cross so employees can donate to their local chapter – or provide funds where they are most needed most for example adding to the $11+ million already donated in response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. (They’re also very tech-savvy and offer many different mobile-friendly ways to donate, which our employees and their families love!)