SAN FRANCISCO — April 2, 2020 — Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise, today announced a commitment of $10 million in philanthropic funding over the next three years, the majority of which will support the technology needs of nonprofits. At the core of the commitment is a new Nonprofit Technology Initiative, the goal of which is to enable every nonprofit to leverage technology to power and scale its mission.
The Nonprofit Technology Initiative will focus on three key areas including accelerating nonprofits’ move to the cloud, supporting digital transformation to enable nonprofits to reach their stakeholders digitally at scale, and securing nonprofits and their critical data. Okta will also continue to provide its technology and services to nonprofits to help them achieve their missions, estimating an additional $10 million worth of technology and services donations over the next three years. In addition, as part of the philanthropic funding, which comes out of the Okta for Good Fund, a fund at Tides Foundation, and will be made over a three-year period, Okta is also committed to supporting the needs of critical issues in its global communities, as well as employee giving and education programs.
“Nonprofits should be as powerful as their missions. As every company becomes a technology company, we need a paradigm shift in how we support, fund, and enable nonprofits to make that same transition,” said Erin Baudo Felter, Vice President, Social Impact, Okta. “The global crisis we are in showcases how critical it is for global nonprofits to have a strong technology foundation to effectively and securely achieve their missions, adapt to new ways of working, and better reach their stakeholders. This commitment represents a recognition of the urgency of community needs and of the role Okta and our ecosystem can play in supporting nonprofits more directly.”
Okta for Good’s New Nonprofit Technology Initiative
Okta for Good’s mission is an extension of Okta’s –– to strengthen the connections between people, technology and community –– and it has been working to empower nonprofits with technology and technical talent since its formal launch in 2017. A critical component of Okta for Good’s philanthropic strategy is radical collaboration with technology peers and nonprofits. That’s why the Nonprofit Technology Initiative is made up of a series of new grants, partnerships, and commitments, including:
- Nonprofit Technology Ecosystems: Continued support for NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit; a new impact investment in TechSoup’s Direct Public Offering; continued investment in FastForward’s work to accelerate tech nonprofits; and a new investment in Tech Impact to support nonprofit technology capacity building
- Innovation: Innovation funding for a new shared technology solution being developed by leaders from Oxfam, GOAL, Marie Stopes International and other NetHope member NGOs, nonprofits, agencies and academia around Frontline Humanitarian logistics
- Talent: A new partnership on NTEN’s Nonprofit Tech Readiness Program to accelerate the skills and capacity of nonprofit technology leaders working across Okta’s global communities; support for Full Circle Fund’s COVID-19-focused Tech Accelerator Program, which will place executive-level tech talent with Bay Area-based nonprofit leaders to co-create technology solutions in response to the global pandemic
- Collaboration: Continued leadership of #ImpactCloud to strengthen the ways in which the tech sector works together in support of global nonprofits
- Research + Advocacy: The funding of a “Civil Society and the Cloud” research report in partnership with TechSoup, which will be released later in 2020; a new investment in Tech Matters to support systems-level field-building and advocacy around nonprofit technology needs
“Okta has never been afraid to tackle the hard problems. For Okta as a company, that means solving the identity challenges of global organizations, enabling them to securely connect to the technologies that help them be successful,” said Frederic Kerrest, Executive Vice Chairman, COO, and Co-Founder, Okta. “The Nonprofit Technology Initiative furthers our focus on solving tough challenges, enabling us to help nonprofits leverage the power of technology to make a greater impact and improve the lives of others.”
Quotes from Okta Partners
“From NTEN’s research, we already knew that organizations weren’t ready for the situation we’ve all been put in with the COVID-19 pandemic – many nonprofits didn’t have safe password management let alone virtual work policies and cloud-based systems”, said Amy Sample Ward, CEO, NTEN. “Support capacity building is key in this critical time and always. Nonprofit leaders are managing internal needs to support a new remote staff and external needs as programs and service delivery options shift literally overnight. This investment in Nonprofit Tech Readiness meets nonprofits where they are and supports them moving forward with the support they need to be successful even in trying times.”
"As organizations around the world digitally transform, it is critical that the nonprofit sector also benefits from this foundational shift in the way we use technology and the way we can achieve our missions," said Rebecca Masisak, CEO, TechSoup. "We’re excited about the way Okta for Good is investing in the social sector because it’s thinking about the sector as an entire ecosystem, and providing funding to nonprofits, which they have said they need. Okta’s Nonprofit Technology Initiative and support of TechSoup will help us empower our partners to do more with the resources available to them. That, ultimately, will expand the impact they have on their communities.”
“At Year Up, we're focused on closing the opportunity divide for young adults. We can’t successfully do this without a shift in mindset of our organization, the students we work with, and the companies we partner with from thinking about technology as tools, features, and functions to thinking about technology as human experiences powered by digital solutions,” said Sarah Angel-Johnson, CIO, Year Up. “We are lucky to have Okta as a partner as we work towards this shift and are grateful for their dedication to helping nonprofits get access to the technology and services they need to achieve their missions.”
To learn more about the Nonprofit Technology Initiative, visit our website here.
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