Workday, a financial and human resources management software vendor headquartered in the Bay Area, is one of Oakland Leaf’s most dedicated corporate partners. In 2020, Fortune magazine and SF Business times ranked Workdayas one of the top companies to work at based on employee satisfaction surveys. A big part of what makes Workday so special is their company-wide commitment to giving back to their communities. Between community impact grants, workforce development initiatives, environmental sustainability commitments, employee giving programs, and employee volunteer projects, Workday is setting the bar for engaged corporate responsibility. They don’t just do this work because they “have” to do it. It’s truly part of who they are.

Workday’s first ever Oakland Leaf volunteer effort was organized by Josh DeFigueiredo, a long-time Oakland Leaf supporter and Workday’s Chief Security Officer. He brought together 40 of his coworkers to provide support for an afterschool program student showcase. Since then, Workday volunteers have provided support in classrooms, coordinated a toy drive, created activity workbooks, recorded kids book read-alouds, and trained staff in online tools, just to name a few of their many contributions. Workday has also invested in Oakland Leaf with grant funding. In addition to creating opportunities and incentives for all their employees to volunteer and donate, Workday gives “Team Volunteer Grants” to organizations for any volunteer project that involves five or more employees.

“When we suddenly had to start doing everything remotely last year, we were really at a loss for how we were going to engage volunteers in meaningful and productive ways”, shared Rena Stoler, Development Manager at Oakland Leaf, “Everyone at Workday, especially Zoe, their Employee Events Manager, has been so flexible, reliable, and genuinely enthusiastic about whatever project we come up with. Our partnership over this past year is a testament to what is possible, even in a virtual context, when “giving back” is so fully embedded in a company culture. We look forward to many more years of creative partnership with Workday.”