How Okta's Giving Back to the Community this Holiday Season
When you live and work in San Francisco’s little (or maybe not-so-little) tech community, it can be all too easy to get wrapped up in our world of product launches and funding announcements and to forget about the other communities in our beautiful city.
There’s no denying that the Bay Area is home to some of the world’s most innovative and influential companies. But it’s important that those of us who work at those companies realize that one in five people in our community live in poverty – and, more importantly, do something about it. At Okta, we believe we can add value to this community of ours with more than just our product.
We’ve seen our CEO Todd McKinnon do just that as a member of Family House’s Board of Directors, helping the organization provide a “home away from home” for families with children receiving treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. His philanthropic spirit is contagious and you can see its effect on the whole company throughout the year. Earlier this year, we participated in SF Gives, a corporate challenge that brought together local businesses to fight poverty. And our Women of Okta (WOkta) group coordinated a volunteer beach clean up day just a few months ago. We encourage giving back throughout the year, especially during the holidays.
This holiday season, we’re thankful to have the opportunity to be involved with our community in a few additional ways. We’re continuing our tradition of matching any charitable donations our employees make now through January 1st. We’re also sponsoring five families through the Compass Adopt-A-Family program. Together we’ve already fulfilled those family wish lists, with Okta employees contributing time and money to shop for families that would not have otherwise received holiday gifts. The team purchased and wrapped clothing, educational toys, furniture, kitchen supplies, grocery cards and gift certificates in hopes that they will brighten the holidays for these families. It’s a tradition we started in 2010 and the excitement around the program has just grown year after year.
“We were able to sponsor more than double the families we sponsored last year, thanks to the support from Okta and an amazing amount of donations from our team,” Christie Beeman, our front desk assistant who coordinated our participation in the program this year, explained. “It was awesome to watch it all come together, seeing people host wrapping parties at lunch and shopping together after work. The excitement around participating made it a breeze for me to coordinate everything.”
We feel honored to be part of our amazing community and encourage our team to give back – during this season and every other. So from our team to yours, we wish you a happy, giving holiday!