Akamai Aids India Through Corporate Social Responsibility Partnerships

For decades, Akamai has both taken pride and made strides in our efforts to support key social causes in healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability — advocating to improve diversity, equity, and inclusivity throughout our organization globally.

Akamai recently held our annual Danny Lewin Community Care Days in celebration of the life of Akamai’s co-founder. We take this time to reflect on how we can work to benefit disenfranchised communities around the world. 

Read on to learn how Akamai employees are making a positive impact through ongoing community service initiatives as part of our India Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Trust. 

Unlocking possibility through key partnerships

Today, the people of India face many challenges surrounding primary education, financial equality, child rights, and women’s empowerment. But over the last two decades, individuals, organizations, and nonprofits from around the world have been instrumental in providing India with the swift, critical support needed to overcome steep social barriers.

At Akamai, we believe that no one should fight alone, and we have worked to implement CSR initiatives made possible through key partnerships. This enables us to support causes that are important to the people of India. 

Over the past 20 years, we have collaborated with several Indian nonprofits to address  challenges in the areas of education, environment, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and healthcare. In doing so, Akamai hopes to empower nonprofits to deliver impact where it matters the most.   

Educating the youth to shape the future 

Education is foundational to the development and empowerment of any nation. Over the years, India has made significant progress in strengthening its education system. Still, the country faces several unique roadblocks that may stifle its potential. 

To  address the need for quality education in both rural and semi-urban parts of India, Akamai has collaborated with the Aangla Kalike program by the American India Foundation in the Gadag district of Karnataka. This program uniquely leverages government resources to help students from rural India learn the basics of the English language. 

Another organization that Akamai is involved with is the Akshara Foundation. Their program, Ganitha Kalika Andolana (which means “Math Learning Movement”), aims to improve Indian students’ primary-level mathematics knowledge and is implemented in partnership with the state governments of Karnataka, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. 

Akamai has also aided with other initiatives focusing on Indian students, such as Purna Vidya by the India Literacy Project. In addition, the Rashtrotthana Parishat organization ensured the continued education of 200 students, ranging from 3 to 17 years old, and enrolled 343 students in the Sure Pass Program to receive supplementary coaching and monthly assessments. 

Embracing inclusivity to amplify more voices

Akamai believes in a culture where diversity and inclusion spark innovation. The Akamai Foundation is proud to offer STEM grants that financially support youth diversity programs to help increase diversity in the technology industry. 

As part of this initiative, Akamai has partnered with Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled to offer the Inclusion Through Skill program. Samarthanam is known for providing training and employment opportunities to the disabled and the underprivileged of Bellary as well as the adjoining districts in Karnataka. This partnership program is aimed at training disabled and underprivileged populations between the ages of 15 and 59 throughout India. 

In addition, Akamai partnered with The Association of People with Disability (ASD), a Bengaluru-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that runs extensive programs throughout rural and urban areas in Karnataka for both children and adults with a range of disabilities. The program provided horticulture training to 38 youth with disabilities (YwD) and their caregivers from marginalized communities, and supplied 28 people with gainful employment opportunities.  

Providing healthcare access to improve lives

In January 2020, the pandemic began to significantly impact India’s health and infrastructure systems. Certain economically disenfranchised parts of Indian society were particularly burdened, with many local hospitals becoming unable to manage the flow of patients due to shortages of beds, personal protection equipment (PPE), oxygen cylinders, and critical care kits. 

In response, Akamai partnered with Right to Live, a charitable crowdfunding platform from the Kote Foundation. In doing so, we were able to equip both rural and government hospitals with the critical medical infrastructure needed to properly treat patients suffering from COVID-19 and many other illnesses.  

Since we believe that all people deserve equal access to affordable healthcare backed by qualified medical professionals and equipped with cutting-edge technology, diagnostics, and other allied services, we partnered with the Sambhav Foundation. This NGO is known for providing excellent public health services in addition to educational, women and youth empowerment, and community-based entrepreneurship services. 

We also collaborated with LabourNet to help combat COVID-19 by supplying 1,444 COVID-19 patients and their families with hospital admission, vaccination support, COVID-19 tests, and a helpline, and distributing 2,500 PPE kits, 4 BiPAP machines, and 20 oxygen concentrators.

Promoting environmental sustainability to aid our planet

Approximately two-thirds of the world's population suffers from severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. Moreover, nearly half of the world's population is anticipated to reside in water-scarce regions by 2025, and according to a 2019 report by the Indian government, nearly 600 million Indians are threatened by the worst water crisis in the country’s history. 

Employees at Akamai believe water conservation is a necessity that should be proactively pursued to ensure a safe and healthy future for everyone. As part of Akamai’s Accelerator Program for Water Conservation, we partner with Agromorph, Digital Paani, and Solinas, innovators in the clean water technology space, to help them achieve market-ready proofs of concept for groundbreaking water safety projects. 

Changing the world through community service

Giving back to society is in Akamai’s DNA. To that end, we will continue working diligently alongside our community service partners to benefit the wonderful people of India and many other countries. With Danny Lewin Community Care Days, we continue to thank our employees for their overwhelming show of support over the years as we take further steps along this philanthropic journey. 

Stay tuned for more updates on Akamai’s India CSR Trust initiatives, as well as ways to get involved in this important movement.

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