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Adobe News: Our Social Impact in 2013(3BL Media Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BY MICHELLE CROZIER YATES, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITYSOURCE: Adobe DESCRIPTION:At Adobe, we believe that creativity is the catalyst for solutions that create positive change. So, it’s only natural that our social purpose is part of the fabric of who we are as a company: to inspire creativity and innovation in those who want to make a meaningful impact in the world. Through our partners and our technology, that impact continues to stretch across the world. I’m happy to share our progress in our 2013 CR report and provide highlights of the impact made through our education, community and sustainability initiatives. <b>Education</b> – In 2013, we invested $8.8 million in our Adobe Youth Voices program, providing digital media skills to over 33,000 young people around the world. Our 2013 AYV Awards winners demonstrated their ability to think globally and act locally by tackling social issues from tolerance to education to civil rights. Not only are they using these skills to tell powerful stories for social change through digital media, but they are honing the additional skills of self-expression, ideation, collaboration, flexibility and persistence. In fact, 96 percent of AYV youth believe that creativity is important to their success. <b>Community </b>- Every year, we invest in our employees and partners to drive local social impact. In 2013, $58 million was invested back into communities through grants, product donations and employees volunteering their time and talent with their colleagues or through individual pro bono projects. All Adobe employees who have participated in our Pro Bono Initiative say that it positively affects their job satisfaction and 100% of the non-profits believe Adobe’s support will improve their organization. This connection has created a mutually-beneficial impact on our people and our communities. <b>Sustainability </b>– Every year, we strive to outdo ourselves on the sustainability front. We are managing our operations very efficiently and cost-effectively, and investing in renewable technologies in our offices and data centers to mitigate against the risks of climate change. Adobe is incredibly proud to have been recently recognized by Newsweek as the #1 greenest technology company, #2 greenest US company, and #3 greenest international company. And, we increased our CDP score to 99 — a small, but significant improvement from 97 in 2012. An exciting development is we have begun to track how we make our customers more sustainable through the use of our products. In 2013, 31.2 million Adobe EchoSign transactions saved 31.2 billion pounds of wood and 4 million tons of potential travel emissions were avoided through the use of Adobe Connect. We also estimate an average 70% carbon reduction per customer among the 817,000 Creative Cloud subscriptions in 2013. <b>A More Targeted Approach to Data Reporting</b> – As you go through the data, you’ll see that we are taking a more targeted approach in which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) we track and report. We made adjustments to make it easier for stakeholders to find the relevant information they seek, and added a GRI index. We have included 25% more KPIs than in 2012, and more than 50% are new – including our diversity statistics. <b>Employee Diversity </b>– Adobe’s gender and ethnic diversity statistics are in line with our industry peers, and like them, we are committed to finding new ways of enhancing diversity within our current workforce while continuing to grow the pipeline for the future. To help increase diversity within Adobe and across the tech industry we are focusing on attracting key talent through university recruitment and partnerships with coding initiatives including Girls Who Code, developing leadership skills among employees, offering industry-leading benefits, and cultivating communities for sharing and collaborating. We firmly believe a diverse workforce drives richer collaboration, innovation, and creativity and we are committed to achieving the longer-term outcome of a more representative workforce. Next year, you can look forward to our continued commitment to supporting our local communities through skilled volunteering; discovering new ways to conserve natural resources for our business and our customers; broadening the computer science talent pool by highlighting the creative side of coding; and taking our AYV program to the next level by making it accessible to any young person who wants to use digital media tools to create social change. © Copyright 2014, 3BL Media LLC |