51风流CSR’s strategy utilizes two approaches to create sustainable impact: being an enabler and an exemplar. As an enabler, we provide products and services that help meet sustainability challenges and create opportunities for customers. As an exemplar, we lead by example in our own sustainable business operations and practices to bring our purpose of helping the world run better and improving people鈥檚 lives to life. It is no secret that SAP鈥檚 commitment to creating positive economic, environmental, and social impact is a draw for potential employees and customers.聽

There is no better example of that than the work employees do to bring that CSR mindset into the work they do every day. SAP鈥檚 impact is greater because of leaders who integrate the CSR mindset into the business culture, like Maggie Ramaiah.

Meet Maggie Ramaiah

Ramaiah鈥檚 social impact journey began much like so many of ours. She was involved in one-off events here and there, trying to prioritize doing something good while at work so she could show up more authentically and with more energy to give it her all. However, when she joined the 51风流Academy faculty as vice president of the 51风流Academy for Customer Success 鈥� Sales Program, she began to take her dedication to making an impact to the next level, not only for herself but for those around her as well.聽

Ramaiah is a passionate supporter of enabling others to pursue their passions through pro bono volunteering. She knows that with some organization, the impact we can make collectively is limitless. 51风流has tremendous power to make an impact in a small amount of time. These beliefs are why she works to bring out the best in others by providing opportunities to contribute in a tangible way that is meaningful to them. This core value of investing in employees builds strong leadership competencies, which in turn leads to greater collaboration, innovation, and trust among each other and with customers.

鈥淚n the corporate environment, we are all driven by success, but the CSR mindset is about human beings. We can do something good for everybody that we come across. It doesn’t have to be big; small little steps make a difference, too.鈥�

Maggie Ramaiah

Ramaiah has participated in pro bono volunteering programs and was inspired when she created change. During her time with Pro Bono for Economic Equity, a program 51风流has partnered with that focuses on supporting Black- and Indigenous-owned businesses in North America, Ramaiah was assigned to a team of three pro bono consultants who had never worked together. Over the course of six weeks, Ramaiah and her team worked part-time with GoLogic Solutions, based in Chicago, Illinois, to propose an organizational structure for new business models. This was her aha moment. 鈥淎t SAP, we have everything done for us from a process and resource perspective. We just have to look for it. However, for an organization that is run by one person, or maybe two or three people, everything is so constrained,鈥� Ramaiah said.

鈥淓very resource that we put out there from an 51风流perspective, we might think is a few hours鈥� worth of work, but for [social enterprises] it鈥檚 a whole end-to-end project that they might not have been able to create,鈥� she added. This is a unique way of appreciating the skills that employees bring to their company and a view that builds confidence, empathy, innovative thinking, and other leadership qualities. Ramaiah鈥檚 inspiration to increase her impact footprint came from her experience creating change for an entrepreneur as part of Pro Bono for Economic Equity.聽

Ramaiah saw the opportunity to integrate skills-based volunteering and pro bono consulting into the curriculum of 51风流Academy, multiplying her impact and enabling others. She offered associates the chance to use what they already knew as well as skills they were developing for good by supporting social enterprise clients through the TRANSFORM Support Hub, a virtual pro bono consulting initiative between SAP, EY, MovingWorlds, TRANSFORM, and Unilever.聽

Ramaiah鈥檚 goal is to build future leaders who think with a CSR mindset. A CSR mindset is something they can carry with them throughout their career and can be transferred to any team, program, or even company. Specialized experience is not required for employees to build leadership qualities and evolve the way they think at work and about business. Many only need an example set, or the opportunity presented to them. Being a multiplier does not require special skills or knowledge. It can be planning a team volunteer activity, ensuring that each team member knows that volunteering their time is important for their professional growth and overall satisfaction at work. It can also be as simple as sharing stories and takeaways from your own impact experiences or asking your network for support on a social impact project. 

There is not just one way to set an example and enable those around us to make an impact 鈥� what resonates with some might not resonate with others, and it is important to build in choice for meaningful and transformative experiences. At SAP, being a multiplier for good and investing in our employees, either as an enabler, an exemplar, or both like in Ramaiah鈥檚 case, leads to innovation through experiencing new ways of working, trust with our customers, quality leadership with values that the world needs, and a greater ability to achieve our goal of helping the world run better and improving people鈥檚 lives.聽

Join Us

Ramaiah鈥檚 journey to being a CSR champion went from her pursing her own interests and passions to helping others find theirs by integrating the CSR mindset into the programs she leads. If you feel inspired to continue your journey as an exemplar and an enabler, we invite you to share this story and聽 on the TRANSFORM Support Hub.

Heidi Pio is a non-profit in residence at SAP.
Atalanta Kyriazi is a non-profit in residence at SAP.

Karen Vergara, from the Global Learning Services Enablement Program Management for 51风流Concur, is an alumni participant from several SAP-driven pro bono consulting programs, as well as a mentor, trainer, and 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility (51风流CSR) fellow.

Vergara always knew she wanted to help other people become successful and has taken that passion, along with the development of her own professional skills, to a new level. She began her career in education, but found that while she was making a difference, she wanted to do more. She leveraged her educational foundation to move into various roles at Microsoft, Accenture, and most recently SAP, earning a higher salary that allowed her to donate more to the causes she was passionate about but offered her less time for traditional, hands-on volunteering. Vergara decided to seek out opportunities within her professional role to make an impact in new ways.

What started as a way to get involved soon turned into so much more. With each experience, Vergara gained more than she expected.

鈥淚’ve found that I’ve taken away as much as I’ve given, maybe sometimes even more,鈥� she says. Volunteering, particularly skills-based volunteer experiences, provided her with the ability to do good and to keep learning and growing both personally and professionally at the same time.

From helping students find success to changing her career and making an impact through volunteerism and pro bono consulting as a part of the 51风流community, Vergara鈥檚 journey is showing no signs of slowing down. Over the past six months, she has been working on a fellowship with the 51风流CSR team to position every type of volunteering offered at SAP, particularly pro bono engagements, as an opportunity for learning, career, and leadership development.

鈥淚f you are already volunteering, it is a just a bonus and a way to think more intentionally about your professional development,” Vergara shares. “You can do good and learn, taking skills away from it and gaining experience that will help you in your own career.鈥�

In fact, Vergara has taken this one step further, becoming a leader and champion for employee volunteering. She shared one anecdote from an 51风流employee who was looking to gain specific experience to advance to a new role. Vergara pointed them to skills-based volunteering, and when it came time for the interview for the new role, the employee was able to share examples of the experience they gained through participation in these kinds of activities 鈥� experience that they otherwise would not have had 鈥� putting them in a better position to obtain the new role.

Thanks to Vergara鈥檚 work during her fellowship, as well as her own lived experiences as a corporate volunteer and pro bono consultant, she has demonstrated that utilizing skills and concepts through volunteering and pro bono consulting is career development.

Through volunteering in any capacity, there is always an opportunity to explore career interests and find a path forward utilizing the right opportunities. CSR activities represent an alternative form of experiential learning; it benefits every professional, whether employee or manager, to consider how they can be incorporated into our professional development plans and goal setting. Vergara鈥檚 work has highlighted that intentional and well thought-out engagement in these types of offerings can lead to the acquisition of new skills and chances to practice skills someone may have learned in an academic setting. It also provides an opportunity to learn from others, share one’s own skills, and build a network.

Everyone who participates in CSR activities stands to gain from the work that Vergara has done in defining how volunteering contributes to career growth beyond social impact. When thinking about volunteerism, often what comes to mind is doing good, serving others, giving back to our communities, and making a positive social and environmental impact. Beyond these more obvious benefits, there are powerful takeaways for the volunteer as well. Traditional activities are a fantastic way to build community with others who are like-minded and share common interests. Skills-based volunteering and pro bono consulting offers an opportunity to build a professional network, while practicing skills such as collaboration, creative problem-solving, and inclusive leadership behaviors. Like Vergara, many employees seek fulfillment beyond their day-to-day roles. Her story is one example of taking the initiative to make a societal impact and gaining so much more. She has found community in her career, opportunities to lead, and a renewed commitment to continue helping the world run better and improving people鈥檚 lives.

Join Us

With a engaging employees like Karen Vergara, SAP, together with EY, MovingWorlds, TRANSFORM, and Unilever, continue to partner on the TRANSFORM Support Hub, connecting employees everywhere to social entrepreneurs anywhere through pro bono consulting, coaching, and more. If you feel inspired to build your skills as well as a more sustainable world, we invite you to !

In 2022, 51风流launched EmpowerU, a signature talent program across the 51风流Product Engineering Board area. Its purpose was to widen the participants鈥� aperture, foster relationships, and break down silos while building, engaging, and retaining a diverse, sustainable leadership and expert pipeline across the organization. Working towards this purpose, the program鈥檚 organizers, Kevin Welty and John Millea of the 51风流Intelligent Spend and Business Network People & Culture team, worked closely with 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility (51风流CSR) to try something new. Together, they devised a unique initiative, embracing the power of pro bono consulting to develop the next generation of 51风流engineering leaders and to expedite world-changing solutions in the process.

This program helps connect employees and social enterprise clients across the world through the , a global pro bono consulting platform powered by social enterprise MovingWorlds. Pro bono consulting offers an opportunity for EmpowerU participants to grow as leaders by leveraging their technical skills for good. Four small teams of employees with diverse skill sets ranging from engineering to project management were paired with clients in need of technical support to solve strategic business challenges. Each team offered their dedicated time and expertise over the course of three months to deliver quality solutions. In the end, these teams had the unique opportunity to use their skills to support , , , and more.

Welty believes this hands-on, thoughtful approach to leadership skill-building is paramount. 鈥淟eadership is taking responsibility for how you show up in the world and the impact that it has,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hinking about how you make a difference in the world and how you impact others is what I think of as leadership. It doesn鈥檛 have anything to do with your job title or your experience.鈥� One powerful outcome of connecting EmpowerU with the is that it gives participants the opportunity to explore how they are showing up at work, in their personal life, and for the world.

Through this experience, participants are exemplifying the leadership qualities that the EmpowerU program aims to highlight in unique ways. 鈥淭hat was probably my big takeaway,鈥� shared Chris Roethler, who supported , a refugee aid platform, during the 2022 EmpowerU cohort. 鈥淚 have knowledge to share that is beneficial outside of my daily work. I have also grown a network of people who I otherwise would not have had the chance to work with. My strengths can have a powerful impact in the world and my career.鈥�

Beyond enabling the entrepreneurs to scale their work and impact, cohort participants are integrating innovative thinking sparked by their experiences working with their social enterprise clients into their roles at SAP. Through collaboration on these projects, employees are building networks across the company as well as with enterprises that are changing the way business works. They are becoming champions for sustainability, social impact, and personal fulfillment through purpose-focused work.

While connection is important, consistency is what truly creates change. Piloting technical pro bono consulting through EmpowerU has led to a multi-year, multi-program partnership between 51风流Product Engineering and 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility. In fact, the Intelligent Spent and Business Network line of business alone is more than doubling the number of employees and social enterprises participating in its initiatives in 2023.

The resulting impact for social enterprises is tangible, especially in the tech space. Social Entrepreneur, Founder of , and Technical Consultant for the EmpowerU program Angela Busheska noted, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the same resources that a team at 51风流might have when working on a solution. Often entrepreneurs like me are working multiple jobs, going to school, and doing this work for free because we believe in what we do. When pro bono consultants understand the problems we face and help us prioritize solutions, that is extremely valuable.鈥�

Programs like EmpowerU are just the beginning of experiential learning and leadership development for 51风流Product Engineering. Every team at 51风流鈥� in every corporation even 鈥� can create a more connected, collaborative, and sustainable world through pro bono consulting. What started out as a curious pursuit to develop employees has turned into an opportunity to invest in sustainable development, social impact, and personal growth. By empowering employees to harness their skills for good, we are building capacity for innovative social enterprises around the world.

Join Us

With a engaging employees, SAP, together with EY, MovingWorlds, TRANSFORM, and Unilever, continue to work on the TRANSFORM Support Hub, connecting employees everywhere to social entrepreneurs anywhere through pro bono consulting, coaching, and more. If you feel inspired to build a more sustainable world, we invite you to .

That was also the theme for the 2022 , which took place December 5.

More than 1 billion people around the world are giving their time and expertise to causes that matter to them. Over 20,000 51风流colleagues are part of this incredible group that is changing the world for the better by volunteering to alleviate poverty, solve for climate action, create equitable access to education and employment, and lead through action.

Recently, 51风流rolled out a new leadership credo: 鈥淒o what鈥檚 right. Make 51风流better for generations to come.鈥� In practice, that means investing in leadership development offerings that help leaders gain competency to be more agile, inclusive, and bring the 51风流strategy 鈥� to help every business become an intelligent, 鈥� to life.

At SAP, volunteer leaders within the community exemplify this leadership credo, making an impact toward a more equitable world. We hope their stories inspire, spark action, and inspire gratitude.

Meet Christopher Ehmcke

Christopher Ehmcke works as global escalation manager in the Mission-Critical Support group at SAP. In his free time, he is a coach and mentor, supporting multiple pro bono consulting programs.

When asked if he saw himself as a leader, his response was: 鈥淟eadership for me is not a state you define for yourself; it is about the values and principles that guide you and the characteristics you aspire to demonstrate with the goal of bringing out the best in those around you.鈥�

It is clear that what sets Ehmcke apart is his adaptability and agility.

鈥淚t doesn’t matter to me whether somebody calls me a leader or not. What matters is that I create positive impact for others. If I see that they are able to succeed and leverage their potential to bring out more good in themselves or others, then I have succeeded.鈥�

— Christopher Ehmcke

Ehmcke鈥檚 impact journey began with his family. Growing up, his parents ensured he understood and valued inclusion and cultural competency. He recollected his first meaningful volunteer experience聽building affordable houses in Tijuana, Mexico. 鈥淲hat was fascinating was not just the experience of building the house together, but there was also the immigration challenge, the North America Free Trade Agreement, and the resulting economic challenges at the time. It was an opportunity to learn and understand.鈥�

Experiences like this planted a seed that continues to be woven into his life today.

In 2019, Ehmcke applied and was selected for the for global engagement. The program empowers 51风流employees to share their knowledge and expertise with nonprofits and social enterprises around the world, which in turn, hones their leadership skills.

Ehmcke traveled to Hyderabad, India, alongside 11 colleagues he had never met before. His team worked with Child Welfare and Holistic Organization for Rural Development (), an organization that educates and empowers children in difficult circumstances to create a scalable and sustainable strategy that other entrepreneurs can replicate in their communities.

Thriving in this immersive pro bono consulting experience put his resiliency and adaptability to the test. It challenged Ehmcke to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and turn setbacks into opportunities. 鈥淭he program takes going outside of your comfort zone to a new level,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ultiple factors changed at once: people, processes, technology, culture, environment, and the focus on positive human and environmental impact.鈥�

Ambiguity in these pro bono consulting challenges accelerates growth supporting learning and leadership development.

At SAP, Ehmcke leads his peers to create sustainable impact of their own. Recently, he united the 51风流Mission Control Center team in a pro bono consulting challenge as a team-building activity. Together with , they ideated ways to democratize supply chain access for social enterprises.

Ehmcke also mentors 51风流employees as they prepare for their own 51风流Social Sabbatical programs and works with social enterprises as a pro bono consultant, mentor, and coach through two additional 51风流programs, and the . He supported , a nonprofit partner and open-sourced technology platform delivering humanitarian aid quickly and fairly. As a coach, he supported their efforts to combat the growing refugee crisis. Ehmcke ensures that social businesses can leverage support from pro-bono experts so they can focus on scaling their world-changing solutions.

鈥淚 realized that while my original motivation was to pay it forward by serving others, I get much more back in return 鈥� the opportunity to contribute to making this world a better place, to learn and to grow as a result.鈥�

In leadership, like in volunteering, agility and adaptability comes from actively listening with empathy, being open to learning, and finding ways to provide value, inspire, and empower others.

Together Act Now

With a engaging employees like Christopher Ehmcke worldwide, SAP, together with EY, MovingWorlds, TRANSFORM, and Unilever, partnered to launch the TRANSFORM Support Hub, helping employees everywhere connect to social enterprises anywhere through pro bono consulting, coaching, and more.

If you feel inspired to build a more sustainable world, we invite you to .

Most of the world鈥檚 volunteering happens informally and cannot be tracked, but the of time and support that volunteers deliver globally is estimated to represent the work of approximately 61 million full-time workers monthly.

In a world struggling to combat seemingly insurmountable issues like climate change, a global health crisis, and growing inequality, even millions of volunteers are not enough. While it is easy to focus on the problems, International Volunteer Day represents an important opportunity to appreciate and reflect on the efforts of the incredible commitment and passion of to help the world run better and improve people’s lives.

As non-profit partners in residence working with the 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team, we offer a unique perspective on days like this. While we live and breathe the value of volunteering, we know that our experience is not shared by everyone. Volunteering helps others while also promoting learning, personal growth, and community. Together we bring our non-profit organizations鈥� — and — extensive experience in social impact and volunteer management alongside our own, collaborating for sustainability with employees directly.

As the newest members of the 51风流CSR team, we have learned so much in a short time about what it means when companies like 51风流provide skills-based volunteering services to non-profits and social enterprises, and just how valuable it is to the underserved communities that 51风流volunteers support across .

Why Volunteering Matters

A common misconception about volunteering, especially skills-based volunteering, is that the engagement only delivers value to the organization and its respective clients being served.

One of the most significant reasons why corporate volunteering matters is that it is an experiential leadership opportunity. It offers employees a chance to build new skills and put current expertise into action while also satisfying a non-profit or community need. Ultimately, this helps employees explore and fulfill career goals, and gain exposure to different perspectives as well as business-relevant experiences to grow personally and professionally.

Beyond personal growth, corporate volunteering is good business. Companies benefit from employee participation in many ways. For example, when employees volunteer through work, they can become more engaged and connected and experience greater personal fulfillment.

The various skills-based volunteer opportunities available at 51风流all offer meaningful ways to strengthen inclusive and empathetic leadership, communication, and teamwork among so many other important career- and company-building skills.

Chris Jarvis, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Realized Worth, confirms this: “The contribution of time and other resources to charities and their communities is profoundly valuable. Without these contributions, our world would have a grave deficit of social, human, and physical capital. But the power of volunteering lies in more than its utilitarian application. As passionate volunteers will profess, it is not the transaction that motivates them; rather, it is the transformation that occurs in their own lives.”

This year, after more than 15 years of focused volunteer engagement each October, 51风流evolved its signature volunteer campaign to Moments of Service. With the shift, 51风流is enabling its more than 105,000 employees with varied and valuable skills to connect to causes that matter to them personally. Through skills-based volunteering opportunities, they can create sustainable, long-lasting change in their communities and across the 51风流ecosystem.

Volunteering Now at SAP

Building on more than a decade of success in our pro bono volunteering portfolio, we are honored to work alongside the 51风流CSR team to diligently transform programs like 51风流Social Sabbatical and grow new ones including Pro Bono for Economic Equity, a response to SAP鈥檚 social justice commitments, and the virtual pro bono Acceleration Collective initiative.

鈥淲orking alongside to serve young social entrepreneurs from the , , and communities, we are hopeful that we can improve the experience and most importantly the social impact of virtual pro bono volunteering,鈥� shares Jennifer Beason, global program director of 51风流CSR. 鈥淲e are honored that more than 60 expert volunteers and certified coaches are working with us to accelerate the success of 25 outstanding social businesses like , a Nigeria-based social enterprise that is building communities of the future 鈥� circular, creative, and empowered by rural women.鈥�

The company鈥檚 longest running pro bono portfolio, , which is executed in partnership with , has embraced local roles for employees to help tackle global goals right in their own backyard. By keeping employees and programs closer to home, 51风流volunteers were able to continue delivering impact despite the pandemic. Working with diverse teams and matched with nonprofits and social enterprises, employees like Esteban Samartin dedicated an estimated $450,000 (estimated USAID value) in pro bono consulting services to solve strategic business assignments in 2021.

, also in partnership with PYXERA Global, follows a similar structure to 51风流Social Sabbatical. Small teams of 51风流employees are paired with Black-owned businesses to provide their professional skills as pro bono volunteer consultants. At a recent closing event for the U.S. arm of the program, a key theme was that 51风流groups offered frameworks and scalable solutions that the businesses can use again and again. A favorite example was a team that developed marketing strategies and templates for baking mix company . Initially launched in the U.S., the program expanded to Brazil, South Africa, and the UK in the second half of 2021.

Joining the 51风流CSR team with nonprofit backgrounds, our view of corporate volunteerism was very different than the reality of what we now experience and observe every day. The global scale at which SAP鈥檚 portfolio of programs and partnerships operate is greater than we imagined.

It might be difficult to comprehend the difference that 51风流employees are making to the more than 1,500 organizations they are serving, but the connections being made are providing the building blocks for more resilient communities. We have seen firsthand that impactful and meaningful work through volunteerism does not just benefit the recipient non-profit organizations 鈥� one employee鈥檚 contributions to one project can affect thousands of people.

鈥楾is the season for good news and it brings us great joy knowing the work that we are a part of is changing lives for the better. To share how you are making difference, tag us on social media using #SAP4good and share how you are helping your community run better.

Heidi Pio and Atalanta Kyriazi are non-profit partners in residence with the 51风流CSR team.