Some days it’s what I do outside of my “day job” at Symantec that reminds me why I am proud to be a part of this organization. As many of us who work for Symantec know, the company is not just about the financial bottom line. Symantec also strives to have a wider positive impact on our communities through the company’s philanthropic strategy that contributes primarily to four key focus areas - science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and equal access to education, diversity, online safety, and environmental responsibility.
My manager, Tom Martin, leads a newly formed organization, created as part of the transformation to our new business strategy, which we call Symantec 4.0. As a leadership team, we wanted to signal to our new organization the value (both personal and professional) of supporting the company's key philanthropic focus areas, and to provide another proof point of the benefits of reaching out beyond our organization.
To do this, I organized a volunteer event supporting one of Symantec’s key non-profit partners in STEM education – Science Buddies.
The mission of Science Buddies is to help students from all walks of life to build their literacy in science and technology so they can become productive and engaged citizens in the 21st century. Science Buddies does this by empowering K-12 students, parents, and teachers to quickly and easily find free project ideas and help in all areas of science from physics to food science and music to microbiology. Through its website sciencebuddies.org, the non-profit puts comprehensive, scientist-authored tools, tips, and techniques at your fingertips.
Symantec has been a sponsor of Science Buddies since 2007, and last year the organization was one of the key recipients of Symantec’s donation of $1 million USD to support STEM education. Through the years, Symantec and Science Buddies have partnered to celebrate and encourage K-12 computer science exploration both through the creation of new Project Ideas and through visible recognition of students conducting science experiments presenting their projects at science fairs, both on the community and national level. Additionally, Symantec has provided core program support and enabled ongoing development of the Computer Science interest area at Science Buddies.
The volunteer event was organized across four sites within the US and Singapore. During the event 31 employees spent three hours “guinea pigging” new science projects that Science Buddies will offer on their website. Employees were paired up and given a kit with which to complete the stated project. They were asked to identify any unclear instructions and take photos along the way in order to help future kids complete the project.
This was one of the first times we had employees volunteering together across international borders and it was a fantastic experience!
Employees shared that they enjoyed doing something new and different with their volunteer time, enjoyed meeting new people, accomplishing something worthwhile outside of our organization, and learning new aspects about science.
One of the best parts of this event was actually touching and living the Symantec 4.0 values. Additionally, it helped us in our work of building a team, by creating a common fun experience, and a forum where people could meet one another face to face. As part of our leadership team, I am committed to hosting more volunteer projects within our core philanthropic areas—next up is Earth Day!
Kristen Woods is Symantec's Senior Director, Sales Operations.