4 minute read
Amazon Web Services
AMAZON WEB SERVICES
Take On A Cause
Amazon Web Services’ employees take on causes and organise community events with one goal in mind: making a positive impact in the places where they live and work
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is committed to making a positive difference around the world, and in 2020, AWS colleagues in Ireland completed 800 hours of volunteering growing to 1,300 hours in 2021. In 2022 they are on track to increase this number by over 25%. “As our employee base grows in Ireland, so too does our company’s commitment to give back to our local community and our employees’ desire to be a force for good in their communities. There is a strong commitment to being an asset to our communities instilled in the company from the highest levels of management,” states Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager, AWS.
Employee engagement is a core pillar and priority for the AWS InCommunities team and Take On A Cause is a key initiative within that pillar. Take On A Cause aims to makes a lasting impact not only on the community but also on the employees who volunteer and make that contribution directly to the community, notes Reynolds.
“Whether it’s using technology to solve the world’s most pressing issues, or through our employees donating their time to support causes they care about, AWS is dedicated to building a world where every person has the opportunity to live a life of dignity on a healthy planet,” says Reynolds. “To make a positive impact, specifically in the regions where we build and operate our global infrastructure, we established a programme and team called AWS InCommunities.”
COMMUNITY SPIRIT AWS InCommunities launches long-term, innovative programmes that will have a lasting impact; the programmes are focused on building and supporting global and
local initiatives around science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education, equity, and access; local tech upskilling; environmental stewardship; and employee engagement.
“We know that AWS employees care deeply about their local communities and have a strong desire to give back and be involved in causes they are passionate about,” she explains. “As part of the AWS InCommunities Take On A Cause initiative, AWS employees nominate a cause in the area where they live and work and gather a team of AWS volunteers to make a positive impact for that organisation depending on their specific need. The initiative has been running in Ireland since 2018 and over 35 volunteer projects have been completed.”
With local community-based organisations often in need of additional support and investment, the Take On A Cause initiative empowers AWS employees, who live and work in the communities where AWS operates and know and understand their communities’ needs, to nominate important causes in need. The nominations are often a result of employees being involved as volunteers with local charities and organisations and/ or listening and understanding at a local level the needs of that local community. Take On A Cause is driven by AWS lead volunteers called ‘ambassadors’ and volunteers who are passionate about being good neighbours and investing in the organisations that are the pillars of the local communities.
LOCAL LEVEL Thomas Carroll, a Data Centre Operations Training Specialist for AWS Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), works at the company’s data centre in Tallaght, South Dublin – the area where he has lived and worked his entire life, and where he now volunteers.
“What I love about Amazon is the opportunity,” he says. “It’s so fast paced. Within eighteen months
Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager, AWS AMAZON WEB SERVICES
I was given the opportunity to support the launch of some new data centres across Europe. As part of a team, I led a project to redesign a system within a data centre. It’s a great environment to be in. Everybody’s opinion is valued.”
As an AWS InCommunities Ambassador, Thomas identifies community organisations or projects in his local area that need support. One of the first projects he took on as a volunteer was repainting St Killian’s, a local school attended by many data centre employees’ children, including his own. Another was working with EPIC, a community space for adults with severe learning disabilities.
Through AWS’s Take On A Cause initiative, Carroll has driven more than 25 projects in his community, ranging from refurbishing women’s refuges, to installing sensory rooms for pupils with special needs in local schools, and mobilising more than 100 AWS employees for a Christmas drive to provide meals and care packs for the homeless. “My day job allows me to work on projects that are globally impactful,” he says. “And my role as an ambassador lets me lead projects – with the company’s backing – that have a meaningful impact in my local community”.
