The Foundation plays a central role in making life better for billions of people one community at a time by volunteering, caring for our communities and supporting opportunities where we are needed most.
Annual Report 2021
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Our Global Impact: 2021 Giving Highlights
Foundation Grants
STEM EDUCATION
Digital Equity and Inclusion
Working to create equitable access and a more inclusive technology sector is a crucial focus of Akamai and the Akamai Foundation. As the Foundation grows, we are expanding beyond our focus on K–12 STEM education to make a bigger impact on society and the tech ecosystem. Not only is it essential that our digital tools are created by diverse minds, it’s essential that our organization creates pipelines into digital-focused careers to provide a variety of outlooks and life experiences. In action, this means supporting the work of our exceptional partner organizations who ensure internet access for students along with training so they can use it effectively. Honoring our continuing commitment to STEM education and Digital Equity and Inclusion, the Akamai Foundation disbursed $1.118M in grants to 52 partners around the globe in 2021. We’re excited to showcase some of those partners here:
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I used to have no interest in STEM activities, but coding was something I wanted to try and joining SFD made me realize there’s more to STEM than just being on a computer all the time or tech and science stuff. I am now considering more jobs in this field.
STEM from Dance
Participant
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Women need to become independent decision makers. They should be able to support their well-being in an environment where patriarchy and oppression are dominant.
Student Partnership Worldwide
Participant
Student Partnership Worldwide India Trust. 2021. Annual Report
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Together with the whole project team we see this initiative as an amazing opportunity to develop our skills (by delivering workshops, leading, and mentoring) but even more so to help women who need support to make working in IT a reality. We are very proud of all the great comments participants shared during our webinars and we're glad that this initiative was not only successful but most of all really needed.
Fundacja Mamo Pracuj
Akamai employee
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Not only did the organization serve over 700 students last academic year, but for the first time in our history, we enrolled a majority of girls (54 percent) in project-based STEM learning.
Latino STEM Alliance
Organizer
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Being able to develop an online platform to scale our program and impact thousands of young women across our country is the next step for this proven program. The Akamai Foundation's support is key for more women in the rural south of Costa Rica to explore and learn about their potential academic and professional futures in STEAM careers through the MenTe en Acción program.
Ideas en Acción
Organizer
Employees in Action
DANNY LEWIN
COMMUNITY CARE DAYS
Danny Lewin was a brilliant mathematician and cofounder of Akamai Technologies. Believed to be the first victim of the 9/11 attacks, Danny was killed when he tried to stop the hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11. His legacy lives on at Akamai in many ways, one of which is Danny Lewin Community Care Days (DLCCD). This year marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and Danny’s passing. To honor Danny’s commitment to giving back, Akamai employees celebrated with a month of DLCCD, taking part in over 80 activities in 20 countries around the globe, totaling more than 3,000 volunteer hours.
3,113+
volunteer hours
80+
volunteer activities
20
countries
30
cities
Check out these videos from our employees to learn more about their incredible work for Danny Lewin Community Care Days:
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE FOUNDATION
ERG Program Showcase
Employee-led Resource Groups (ERGs) are an essential part of the Akamai community, providing opportunities for personal development in the workplace and raising awareness of inclusion and diversity at Akamai. ERGs facilitate opportunities for employees to engage with their communities, providing invaluable insight to what is needed on the ground. In a transformational year, these ERGs increased their impact, once again partnering with the Foundation to select 20 organizations for grants.
— BCNC Constituent
East Asia Circle
In 2021 East Asia Circle chose to support the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC.) The Akamai Foundation’s grant supports BCNC’s programs for children, youth and families, the majority of whom are Asian and new immigrants from low-income households. East Asia Circle also organized the Standing Against Violence Panel, a virtual employee event featuring panelists from BCNC, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Stop AAPI Hate and Akamai to further the critical conversation around the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence against Asian Americans.
— Akamai Employee
Ohana
The Ohana ERG expanded its relationship with Brookview House in Boston this year. Brookview House provides support and a place of safety for women, children and youth recovering from homelessness. In addition to providing grants to the organization, over 20 Akamai employees developed Careers in Tech, a monthly series featuring Akamai experts’ insight on the realities of working in the tech sector.
— Akamai Employee
Women’s Forum, EMEA
The Women’s EMEA ERG worked with STEMettes, Girls Who Code in the UK and Girls Not Brides. STEMettes works across the UK and Ireland to inspire and support young women and young nonbinary people in STEM. In the US, Akamai has a long-standing relationship with Girls Who Code and was excited to pilot this program in the UK for the first time, establishing what is now a transatlantic partnership. Girls Not Brides is an organization focused on keeping girls in the educational system. In addition to disbursement of funds, the ERG organized a panel of women in STEM to talk about their current jobs and career paths.
Learn more about Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement at Akamai.
— Akamai Employee
Volunteerism Awards
Volunteerism is core to the Akamai experience. Every employee has 16 hours of paid volunteer time off to donate to a cause of their choice and many go beyond those 16 hours. This year saw the first-ever Akamai Employee Volunteer Challenge, shining a spotlight on our employees and their meaningful contributions to their local communities. The top five employees with the most hours logged received awards for their incredible efforts and were given $1,000 to allocate to a pre-vetted nonprofit of their choice. Select Akamai employees logged over 1,400 volunteer hours in only five months!
Akamai Reaches Out
The Compassion Fund
Hardship has no boundary. For the past two years, Akamai has recognized that some employees need extra support. The Foundation established the Compassion Fund, an employee hardship fund focused on providing personal grants for employees unexpectedly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund was made possible in part thanks to the generosity of the Akamai employees who submitted donations to support their colleagues.
“I love that Akamai always prioritizes the health and well-being of our employees. And it’s not just words. We put money and resources in support behind it, that’s a beautiful use case of how we make life better, not just for billions of people billions of times a day, but also for our own employees. Because if they’re not thriving, how can we be in service to the world?”
Kim Salem-Jackson
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Global Disaster Relief & Current Events
At the Akamai Foundation, we often focus on building the future through tech. However, current natural disasters and civil unrest also dictate where we need to focus in the present. We aid all stages of disaster relief, including preparedness/resiliency and relief and recovery efforts, and take a long-term view so as to stand alongside our global communities during all phases of a crisis. We focus support on the most vulnerable populations and target and identify unmet needs. We were all impacted by the ongoing pandemic and some of us found ourselves trying to heal from natural disasters as well. On a global level, we partnered with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in support of their work providing medical care where it was needed the most.
Germany
In July, heavy rains swept across Germany, causing widespread flooding. A team of Akamai employees offered support by baking cakes, cookies and other treats, including over 800 waffles, to raise money for a hospital devastated by the flooding. Learn more about the Waffles for Hospitals project from the Akamai employee who led the effort. Additionally, Foundation partners Frankfurter Tafel and Münchner Tafel provided for those in need, with volunteers distributing food throughout Frankfurt and Munich.
India
The American India Foundation (AIF) provides opportunities for the most marginalized populations in India, with a lens that prioritizes the lives and well-being of women and girls. In 2021, Foundation grants supported AIF’s COVID-19 relief response, with a program focused on vaccinating those who too often get left behind: the disabled, women outside traditional job structures, sex workers, migrants and the most rural communities.
Mexico
Fundación Dr. Sonrisas works across Mexico and in Central America to provide immediate food assistance and joyful creative opportunities to the families of pediatric patients with chronic and advanced medical conditions. A new partner to the Akamai Foundation, the relationship has grown from just grant giving to employee involvement. This year, Akamai employees led webinars for patients 6 to 10 years old. Employees, their children and the children of Fundación Dr. Sonrisas spent the time singing, dancing and painting.
Israel
American Friends of Natal, based in Israel, is an apolitical nonprofit that provides support to any individual requiring crisis intervention, psychological and emotional support, and aids thousands who suffer from trauma symptoms due to terror and war. With 200 therapists and 180 trained volunteers hard at work on their help line and in their trauma centers, clinics and mobile units, they have helped hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country.
Thank You, Join Us!
At Akamai, we are always working to make our philanthropic efforts even more effective, which is why we have integrated our Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement (IDE) approach and values into our giving. This evolution signals Akamai’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, and serves to consistently remind us that we are building something that transcends any one moment in time.
In addition to our areas of focus around STEM and Disaster Relief, we will continue to rely on our Employee Resource Groups to ensure that we’re having the widest impact and providing the support that our partners truly need.
Internally, we’re refining how our purpose informs our efforts. The work that we do at Akamai impacts billions of people billions of times a day. We’re working to take the deeper meaning of that impact and bring it to life in everything we do, from volunteering to philanthropic donations.
Building the world that we want, and the world that we deserve, will never be done. But we get closer when we work together. I’m excited and proud to be doing this work with you.
Khalil Smith
President of the Akamai Foundation and
VP of Inclusion, Diversity and Engagement
Thank you to WilmerHale for their ongoing philanthropic pro bono legal support and guidance.
Thanks for viewing the Akamai Foundation 2021 Annual Report
This report, published March 9, speaks as of the date it is published. Neither Akamai nor any of its affiliates assume any responsibility or obligation to update or revise any such information, data, opinions or activities. This report does not, and is not intended to, create any relationship, rights or obligations, legal or otherwise, and you should not rely upon this report to do so. Our goals and philanthropic initiatives are aspirations. They are not guarantees or promises that we will meet all or any of our goals. Any quantitative data and metrics regarding our philanthropic activities are estimates and may be based on assumptions or developing standards. The inclusion of information and data in this report is not an indication that such information or data or the subject matter of such information or data is material to Akamai for purposes of applicable securities laws or otherwise. This report and the information contained in this report are not incorporated by reference into and are not a part of any offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company pursuant to any offering registered under or any offering exempt from the Securities Act of 1933.