HPE team members direct over $6M to tech nonprofits in the last five years
OCTOBER 16, 2023 • BLOG POST • FRED TAN, HEAD OF GLOBAL SOCIAL IMPACT
HPE Foundation supports 70 tech non-profits to create social impact
At HPE, our mission is to advance the way people live and work. As such, and in an effort to improve communities, our social impact strategy focuses on areas where HPE’s technology, expertise, and people can have the greatest impact. Innovation can tackle many of the monumental challenges of today in areas like climate change, healthcare, and human rights. Yet, the innovation ecosystem is broken. Technology non-profits are developing cutting-edge solutions, but are locked out of funding methods, like venture capital. That’s one place HPE, and HPE team members, can help.
Building on a year’s worth of mentorship and engagement
Our annual HPE giving program, named “HPE Accelerating Impact” focuses on the people behind the solutions, to bring technology, awareness and funding to those disadvantaged or underrepresented in the digital economy. Over the past 5 years, we have directed more than $6M to support 70 tech non-profits developing solutions that drive change.
Aside from who receives the funding, what makes this program unique is the way the funding decision is made. Through HPE Accelerating Impact, we put the decision-making power in the hands of each of our HPE team members. Every HPE team member receives US$25 that they can donate to one of the many tech non-profits that HPE and the HPE Foundation supports during the year. Through this effort, we are democratizing how philanthropy is conducted – empowering our team members to help direct our capital to causes and organizations they personally connect with, whether geographically or thematically.
If we were to take a closer look at one of these 70 organizations, we have tech non-profit, SIRUM. It may not be well know that an estimated $5 billion worth of usable medicine goes to waste each year in the United States. Yet, approximately 50 million Americans report not being able to afford taking their medications as prescribed. SIRUM leverages technology to decrease the amount of medicine going to waste in the U.S. by redistributing unused, unexpired drugs to safety-net clinics. Over the years, SIRUM has redistributed more than 1.5M prescriptions to over 230,000 people – we are proud to support them along their journey.
Technology can be an incredible tool for driving better outcomes for our communities. We at HPE are incredibly grateful for the innovators and problem solvers that use technology to address critical needs; and to our HPE Accelerating Impact partner, Fast Forward. HPE and the HPE Foundation have a goal of helping foster the next wave of innovation to combat climate change, health inequities, and threats to human rights. Thank you to all who participated in HPE Accelerating Impact 2023 and to the tech non-profits who are advancing technology and helping to make the world a better place. For more information on our efforts, visit our HPE Foundation page.