Celebrating Our Impact

The holiday season is upon us again, and it’s a great time to reflect on how NetApp and our employees have supported global communities this year. As chief diversity officer at NetApp, I understand the importance of social impact and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in finding ways to empower a more sustainable and equitable world. 

As we recently shared in our 2023 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report, we exceeded our goal, with 36% of our global workforce participating in social impact initiatives by volunteering and/or giving. I want to share some of the ways that NetApp served others in 2023—working to help improve opportunities for students, support diverse communities, and protect our planet.

In the 2022–2023 school year, the NetApp Data Explorers™ program reached 1,255 K–12 students through our 12-week course. And, to date, we have delivered the 1-hour “Be a Fact-ivist” data literacy lesson and activity to more than 118,200 students from across the globe. We’re working with the World’s Largest Lesson, a global educational program from Project Everyone in partnership with UNICEF and UNESCO. Through that collaboration, NetApp introduces students to the United Nations Global Goals while encouraging them to contribute to a better future for all. To further that goal, at NetApp INSIGHT^® 2023, we announced our expanded efforts to empower our customers and partners to join us in this cause. We offer multiple levels of engagement with the NetApp Data Explorers program and a way to help customers and partners generate microgrants for eligible schools and nonprofits in their communities.

In March, our largest cohort yet of Data Explorers Club students graduated: 902 students from schools in Bengaluru and Delhi City. Students presented 80 projects, with topics ranging from high-quality education to gender equality and climate action, that connect the importance of data to our daily lives.

During the 2023 NetApp^® CONVERGE event, NetAppers from our Go-To-Market organization created more than 500 hydroponic kits with handwritten messages for students in Las Vegas. In partnership with Green Our Planet, the kits were given to students to continue their education in hydroponics during summer break. Green Our Planet has taught over 140,000 students across the United states to love and to care for our planet through comprehensive STEM school garden and hydroponics programs.

NetApp continued its growing partnership with Teen-Turn, an NGO that gives teen girls the opportunity to gain hands-on STEM experience. In July, NetApp presented the opportunity for students to learn all about exploring and analyzing data—mapping, graphing, plotting, and comparing data—through our signature social impact program, NetApp Data Explorers.

As part of NetApp’s celebration of Black History Month in 2023, with our NetApp Network of Blacks in Tech (NNBT) employee business resource group (EBRG), San Jose, California–based NetAppers came together to support Project WeHOPE. This black-led nonprofit provides mobile services that increase equity through job training, medical services, and case management for San Francisco Bay Area homeless individuals.

In honor of Pride in June 2023, a group of Tel Aviv-based NetAppers constructed, painted, and landscaped at Beit Dror, a shelter for temporary accommodation of LGBTQIA+ youth in Israel. In mere hours, they transformed the shelter’s rooftop, providing residents with a safe place to rest during times of crisis and distress.

During Care4Climate week, NetApp employees recognized World Environment Day by hosting 28 volunteer events globally. Clocking in at more than 1,000 hours of service, NetApp employees volunteered by planting trees, making seed balls, cleaning up rivers and beaches, and removing invasive species.

NetApp India announced two social impact initiatives in 2023, reflecting our ongoing commitment to caring for communities in need. We continued our longstanding partnership with Akshaya Patra Foundation and began a new partnership with Ammada Trust, an NGO that’s dedicated to addressing extreme poverty. Through the collaboration with Akshaya Patra Foundation, NetApp will enrich the lives of more than 2,500 schoolchildren and provide nearly half a million meals in Bengaluru this year. NetApp’s work with Ammada Trust will provide clean water for 15 government schools in Bengaluru, establishing sustainable water solutions in low-income schools where the need for clean water is most critical. The NetApp India team continues to be recognized for its efforts, most recently in September, with the prestigious 2023 Mahatma Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Our veteran-focused EBRG, NetVets, proudly teamed up with the Red Cross to raise awareness and support for homeless veterans in North Carolina. Our executive leadership team and hundreds of employees came together with passion and dedication, resulting in more than 825 care kits for the Durham VA Hospital Homeless Initiative. These dignity kits make a tangible difference in the lives of homeless veterans, providing them with much-needed essentials. In addition, 105 volunteers stuffed more than 300 teddy bears for the children of wounded, ill, injured, or fallen military service members. Together, they made a difference in 1,100 people’s lives in the Research Triangle Park community.

At NetApp, we’re committed to applying our innovative mindset to serve our customers and communities worldwide. As we look ahead to 2024 and beyond, our social impact programs will enable EBRGs and all NetAppers around the world to have a positive impact. Volunteers in our programs help empower the diverse workforce of tomorrow, help harness data and AI skills for good, help protect our environment, and help strengthen our communities. For more information about our ESG progress and social impact goals, log in to netapp.com/esg/.