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鈥淓虫迟谤补辞谤诲颈苍补谤测.鈥�

Most of us have found ourselves saying and writing these words a lot lately, using them to describe what is new and difficult about the circumstances we are living in, to articulate what is different and challenging about the world around us.

When used positively, they could also be used to describe the impact that each of us is capable of making 听when we step into the role of volunteer and engage in our communities with the same spirit that guided Nelson Mandela鈥檚 work.

Here at SAP, there is a distinct enthusiasm that bubbles up from our employee base around giving back and connecting with purpose. Last year alone, our employees dedicated more than 270,000 hours to volunteerism, and even though we are not able to gather in groups and volunteer side-by-side right now, their desire to make an impact has found new paths to action.

One of those paths came earlier this year when 51风流launched our three-pronged response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That response allocated emergency donation funding to non-profits with both global and local reach听听and also gave us the opportunity to support our strategic non-profit partners as they made the often-difficult transition to hosting volunteer programs 听in virtual environments. This kind of online engagement rendered borders invisible, and 51风流employees across the world beginning looking for ways to lend their time and skills to help solve the unique challenges that non-profits and social enterprises are experiencing.

As one example, coming up on Mandela Day this Saturday, 51风流employees have the chance to participate in a virtual design thinking activity to support , an organization based in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in partnership with and the . 51风流has also invested in the creation of the Rays of Hope #Hope4Alex programme office and will undertake a continuous digital skills development program with the organization to stretch the impact far beyond the month of July.

The ways that we volunteer are evolving, yes, but so is our sense of ourselves as volunteers and community contributors. The recent movement towards a more socially just world has pushed us all to consider what role we can (and must) play to become positive changemakers. As a result, 51风流has re-affirmed our commitment to diversity & inclusion, and is committed to increasing investment for inclusive education, economic opportunity, and social justice reform. Employees are also encouraged to practice empathy, to listen, and to contribute small actions towards a collective impact for the communities where we live and work.

Today鈥檚 world needs enthusiastic advocates AND active volunteers to build the kinds of bridges that change perspectives听 and make the kind of impact that lasts generations. If we each honoured the 67 years that Nelson Mandela dedicated to the service of others by carving out 67 minutes and dedicating that time to a cause that matters to us, imagine the ripple effect that could have?

67 minutes spent in thoughtful conversation with someone whose perspective is different from ours, 67 minutes spent educating ourselves on the experiences of Black communities, 67 minutes spent dedicating our skills to a non-profit or social enterprise as a virtual volunteer … it just might create the kind of unprecedented, unparalleled, and extraordinary collective impact our world needs.

The post Volunteering with Purpose: Creating Collective Impact Our World Needs appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

With the constraints placed on organisations by the COVID-19 pandemic, 51风流Africa has adopted a ground-breaking, innovative and safe approach to provide employees with a unique volunteering opportunity on Mandela Day 2020. 听The organisation is hosting, what can be considered, a first Mandela Day 67-minute virtual design thinking sprint. 听听51风流is partnering with the globally recognised Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking at the University of Cape Town .听 in partnership with Siyafunda Community Technology Centres to deliver the Mandela Day programme.听 The design thinking activity will support Rays of Hope, , based in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in close proximity to 51风流offices. 听As design thinking听is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a highly user-centric way, 51风流employees will be called upon to utilise their knowledge, experience and skills to assist Rays of Hope to address the following challenge 鈥� How can Rays of Hope enable Alex youth to thrive in a world where Covid-19 has deepened the inequality gap?鈥�

听51风流Global Head of 听Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Alexandra Van der Ploeg said that 鈥� SAP鈥檚 aspirational goal听is to create a听significant and sustainable social impact听in three core areas:

• Building digital Skills
• Powering best-run Non-Governmental Organisations & Social Enterprises, and
• Connecting听employees听with purpose听

Mandela Day provides our most valuable resource, our employees, with a unique opportunity to support social impact in all three core areas of our CSR strategy.鈥�

In addition, 51风流will also support Rays of Hope in establishing the #Hope4Alex programme office, which enables the organisation to support vulnerable families and residents of Alexandra through three streams, namely the educational and pastoral centre, the general centre office and the social workers and counselling centre. 听听On the digital literacy front, 51风流will further support the continued digital skills building journey of Rays of Hope, its partner organisations and residents of Alexandra beyond Mandela month, in partnership with Siyafunda CTC, via a virtual learning platform.

Participating 51风流employees both in Africa and globally, will give up their time for approximately 100 minutes, to include the introduction, framing of the challenge, the design sprint and reflections on the proposed solution.

The post 51风流Mandela Day Inaugural 67-minute VIRTUAL Design Thinking Sprint – Saturday 18 July 2020 appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.