Salesforce Commits Another $27 Million to Bay Area Education
Salesforce has made significant contributions to Bay Area education over the past 14 years, with a total of $156 million in grants. The latest round, expected to be announced on Monday, will bring in an additional $27 million, with $18 million going towards San Francisco and Oakland school districts.
According to Salesforce's senior vice president of impact, Sunya Norman, the company has a 1-1-1 model that commits 1 percent of equity, product, and employee time to causes. This includes unrestricted $100,000 checks for every middle school principal, hundreds of hours of employee volunteering, and free or discounted Salesforce technology.
The grants have historically targeted technology access, math instruction, and computer science participation, with a recent shift towards AI literacy. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, has stated that the company's goal is to prepare students for workplaces where AI is unavoidable, even as some cities, such as Los Angeles, have banned AI in elementary and middle schools.
Benioff, who chairs the UN-led AI for Good Coalition, believes that executives minted by the AI boom should do more than just accumulate wealth. Salesforce's commitment to Bay Area education has been consistent over the years, with a notable increase in funding towards AI education in recent rounds.