Friday, November 21, 2008

Tech Citizenship

CA, employees team on giving to children's education

By Mass High Tech Staff

Information technology software giant CA Inc. believes that philanthropy is a team effort, and it has structured its giving programs to help engender that sense of team spirit. CA combines all of its employee and corporate contributions, employee volunteer efforts, and community grants under one umbrella called CA Together. For its in-kind donation of products and services, it has “CA Together IT.”

All of that effort gets directed mainly to children’s education, according to Anne Marie Agnelli, vice president, communications and community relations for CA.

“CA’s core philanthropic mission is to provide quality education for under-served children and young people around the world,” she said. “We do this by supporting nonprofit organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Boston Digital Bridge, Teach for America, PENCIL, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the CA Hope School in India.”

Which is not to say education is the sole beneficiary of CA’s giving efforts.

“Since CA is also dedicated to the communities where we live and work, we support a number of organizations in the areas of health and human services, arts and culture and the environment,” Agnelli said.
When asked how CA gets employees involved in giving back, Agnelli said, “That is the easy part.”

“CA employees have a long history of giving back to their communities, and they have big hearts,” she added. “Our employees love to get involved — whether it is one employee mentoring a child, a team of employees building affordable housing or a small group helping out local community centers and food banks.”
 

Citizenship Facts

CA Inc.

Total cash contributions in New England in 2007: $7,000,000

Number of volunteer hours in New England in 2007:  626

In-kind contributions of equipment and services in New England in 2007: $281,068

Principal/local recipients of charitable activities in 2007:  Anita Borg Institute for Women & Technology; Boston Digital Bridge Foundation; Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Common Impact Boston; Habitat for Humanity; National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; UN Global Compact.

Interesting philanthropic activities: CA and its Framingham operation are committed to growing its charitable outreach every year. For example, CA has been supporting Boston Digital Bridge Foundation since 2007. CA’s Technology Goes Home program is a training program targeting inner-city families via community collaboration and the Boston public schools.