Workday Foundation: Going Upstream to Address Root Causes

In this article, we highlight Workday Foundation Upstream Grant Fund recipients who focus on:

• Building Unified Communities

• Disease and Pandemic Prevention

• Disaster Resilience and Response

At Workday, we believe in doing good for the greater good. The Workday Foundation is critical to this effort and has helped create opportunities within our communities since 2013. That includes funding nonprofit workforce development organizations that provide job seekers with resources and skills training for in-demand careers.

While the education-to-employment pipeline remains a focus area for the foundation, we've expanded our mission. As we all know, many of our communities have suffered extraordinary upheaval in recent years. As a result, our foundation has moved to formalize our long-standing commitment to grantmaking in the areas of social justice, public health, and natural disaster relief through the creation of our Upstream Grant Fund, which supports investments in prevention initiatives. With this fund, we're aiming even further upstream to help address the root causes of some of our most pressing global issues.

Our Upstream Grant Fund investments cover three specific areas:

• Building Unified Communities: Funding organizations dedicated to preventing vitriol and violence through interventions that foster a culture of understanding, appreciation, and trust across differences within our communities.

• Disease and Pandemic Prevention: Funding global health organizations working to prevent and reduce the impacts of the next pandemic.

• Disaster Resilience and Response: Funding efforts to better prepare for future natural disasters in order to reduce the devastation caused to communities.

Read on to learn about recipients of the Upstream Grant Fund and the great work these organizations are doing within their communities and across the globe.

Building Unified Communities

Building bridges between people and communities helps eliminate the root causes of distrust and violence. In fact, within our company, we've activated bridge-building lessons and tools to help our employees actively foster a culture of positivity and progress.

As a foundation, we support the following organizations that equip community leaders with the tools needed to bring people of varied backgrounds and beliefs together to build community, find belonging, increase trust, encourage unity, and draw on their differences to resolve shared concerns.

Braver Angels: Brings together organizations and volunteers across the U.S. to address political polarization, with a goal to bridge partisan divides and strengthen communities.

Diana Award: Set up in honor of the late Princess of Wales; works with young people to end identity-based bullying and hate.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation: Aims to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and realize a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

More in Common: Partners within civil society organizations, faith groups, environmental groups, employers, and unions on research and development and test initiatives to counter polarization and unify communities.

New Pluralists: A funder collaborative that invests in creating a more politically vibrant, multiracial, multifaith democracy.

One America Movement: Supports faith leaders in confronting toxic polarization within their communities and working together across ideological differences.

Over Zero: Partners with community and religious leaders, civil society, and researchers to help prevent, resist, and rise above identity-based violence and other forms of group-targeted harm.

Welcoming America: Works with civic leaders to build welcoming communities for refugees and immigrants and create a society where every person can fully contribute and shape our shared prosperity.

"With this fund, we're aiming even further upstream to help address the root causes of some of our most pressing global issues."

Disease and Pandemic Prevention

The Workday Foundation has invested in health organizations that mobilize life-saving medical care, vaccines, and resources. Our preventive global health investments are supporting organizations focused on reducing the severity of future pandemics and preventing disease.

CDC Foundation: A nonprofit created by the U.S. Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's critical health protection work.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Has helped vaccinate more than 888 million children in the world's poorest countries, preventing more than 15 million deaths and ensuring the equitable procurement and distribution of vaccines to low-income countries.

WHO Foundation: Ignites private funding to address global health challenges including pandemics, access to antibiotics, clean water, improved sanitation, and healthcare access.

Disaster Resilience and Response

Proactive investments in disaster preparedness, not just disaster relief, allows organizations to prepare communities prone to natural disasters well in advance. Our contributions also enable direct response organizations to deploy aid money the moment a disaster occurs-instead of waiting for donations to come in. Our investments include:

American Red Cross: In addition to responding to an emergency every 8 minutes, it also trains individuals, schools, and communities to be prepared in advance of a disaster so they know how to best protect themselves.

Direct Relief: Works globally to expand access to medicine and healthcare by equipping doctors and nurses with lifesaving medical resources, and its programs help address the needs of vulnerable communities before disasters strike.

Habitat for Humanity: The organization's Disaster Risk Reduction and Response program provides year-round disaster preparedness efforts, and it also guides people through the steps necessary to reestablish a secure living situation following a natural disaster.

By tackling the root causes of some of society's biggest issues, we can reduce the harm felt by individuals, families, and communities globally. We can all find small ways to contribute to the health, unity, and overall welfare of our communities. We hope that outlining our Upstream Grant Fund helps inspire education and action in this space.

Learn more about Workday's efforts to drive positive change in the world in our Workday 2024 Global Impact Report.