SAP in Australia in cooperation with the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) has several corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in place that are geared towards empowering the future Indigenous leaders with education and career training.
SAP in Australia enacts the German software firm’s strategic CSR approach that aims to ensure a sustainable future for society, its customers, and the company. SAP leverages its internal talent, technology, and capital on education and entrepreneurship to achieve positive social change through economic growth, job creation, innovation, and community.
Michelle Penfold, Founder and Director of SAP Australia’s CSR partner AIEF, detailed SAP Australia’s efforts in supporting the Indigenous youth in celebration of the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week happening from 8th to 15th of November 2020.
Held across Australia every July to celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NAIDOC Week was pushed to November due to the coronavirus pandemic. Local communities, government agencies, local councils, schools, and workplaces organise and participate in this celebratory event.
Working Together for the Indigenous Youth
AIEF has been creating a sustained and significant, positive impact on Indigenous education and employment since 2008. Starting from one scholarship student as a response to community demand from Indigenous families who choose to enrol their children in boarding schools, today, AIEF supports over 1,000 young Indigenous people from over 400 communities in every state and territory of Australia.
AIEF gives credit to SAP for helping the organisation grow since they started collaborating in 2013. SAP supports the organisation’s two core programs, AIEF Scholarship Program and AIEF Pathways Program. Together, they have been empowering Indigenous students through scholarship funding to complete Year 12 or tertiary studies as well as career support for successful employment in the future.
Apart from the significant financial investment, SAP in Australia supports AIEF by providing volunteer mentors for the AIEF Mentor Program, which supports students through their senior years at school. This year alone, over 80 students from Partner Schools across Australia will graduate from high school, many of whom will be the first in their family to finish Year 12 or to go to university and become the next generation’s role models.
SAP also hosts events, workshops, and training sessions to equip AIEF Scholarships Students and Alumni for further studies or employment.
SAP Social Sabbatical Program
In 2016, SAP and AIEF worked together on the SAP Social Sabbatical program to ensure that the AIEF programs are achieving strategic outcomes.
Aside from helping AIEF create a more sustainable delivery model support to a rapidly growing network of scholarship graduates, another outstanding result of the SAP Social Sabbatical was establishing an AIEF team in February 2017 co-located in the SAP Brisbane office. The AIEF QLD Team supports the state’s large cohort of AIEF Scholarship Students and Graduates, who previously received support from the AIEF team in Sydney.
AIEF Executive Director Andrew Penfold AM explained:
“Since many of our students come from Queensland, one of the recommendations was to open an office in Brisbane in addition to the one we had in Sydney. The way this has changed our program is a great example of how companies can invest expertise to support non-profits and achieve better outcomes for students.”
