Second Major Grant from Okta for Good Fund Helps Scale Support for
Tech Nonprofit Ecosystem
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2018--
Okta,
Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of identity for
the enterprise, today announced the next grantee of the Okta for Good
Fund, Fast Forward, an organization that funds and supports nonprofit
entrepreneurs building technology for social impact.
Fast Forward is focused on scaling tech nonprofits because the
combination of original technology and a nonprofit business model
unlocks unprecedented social impact. The organization’s investments span
beyond philanthropic funding to include resources and programs such as
its Accelerator for nonprofits. This second grant of the Okta for Good
Fund will aid Fast Forward’s efforts to support nonprofits in their
direct programs and entrepreneurs across the broader nonprofit
ecosystem. In addition to the grant, Okta for Good will provide
resources through direct Okta employee engagement, including an
Okta-hosted accelerator day featuring mentors across the company’s
technical and business leadership.
“Tech nonprofits build products that solve problems like education,
health care, and human rights, but will never drive value in a market
because their focus is 100% on impact. Applying the best technology to
the biggest social problems requires philanthropy and resources from the
tech community," said Shannon Farley, co-founder and Executive Director,
Fast Forward. "With Okta's support, we are building out a scalable way
to connect tech sector resources with tech nonprofit entrepreneurs. Not
just for our 31 Accelerator alumni, but for the broader ecosystem of
promising tech nonprofit entrepreneurs around the world.”
Okta for Good has expanded rapidly over the past year, surpassing $1
million in donated products and supporting hundreds of nonprofit
organizations through Okta's products, employees or grants. The Okta for
Good Fund’s first grantee, NetHope, also undertook a major research
study through its Center for the Digital Nonprofit initiative, releasing findings
on the state of technology transformation among NGOs. The findings
set the standard for how to measure digital transformation in the
nonprofit sector based on its Digital Nonprofit Ability (DNA) Assessment
across NetHope’s member organizations, which today includes 56 of the
world’s largest nonprofits that together deliver more than 60 percent of
aid worldwide. With this insight, the Okta for Good Fund’s grant will
next support the Center for the Digital Nonprofit’s work to close the
gaps identified in the DNA research with resources, tools, guidance and
grantmaking needed for nonprofit digital transformation.
In addition to the Fast Forward grant, Okta for Good also hosted its
first-ever nonprofit customer summit at Oktane18, the Nonprofit
Collaborative, bringing together nonprofit leaders, technologists and
partners to find ways to use technology to reduce frictions common to
NGOs. Okta for Good also released new Businesses
@ Work insights for nonprofits, announced a new support portal for
nonprofit customers, and shared details on its new partner initiative,
Okta for Good for Partners, to further scale its support of those
organizations in the Okta ecosystem.
“One thing we've learned in these early days of Okta for Good is that
nonprofits need an ecosystem that understands them, funds them and
supports them – especially when it comes to technology. This new grant
to Fast Forward is the next step on that journey for us, and another
great partner to give to and learn from,” said Frederic Kerrest, Chief
Operating Officer and co-founder, Okta. “By extending our philanthropy
to Fast Forward’s community, we’ll be able to support social
entrepreneurs as they bring new thinking and new solutions to social
challenges – together empowering the next generation of nonprofit
startups.”
The Okta for Good Fund is a donor-advised fund of Tides Foundation. For
more information about Okta for Good, visit: https://www.okta.com/okta-for-good/.
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise.
The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to both secure and manage
their extended enterprise, and transform their customers’ experiences.
With over 5,500 pre-built integrations to applications and
infrastructure providers, Okta customers can easily and securely adopt
the technologies they need to fulfill their missions. Over 4,350
organizations, including 20th Century Fox, JetBlue, Nordstrom, Slack,
Teach for America and Twilio, trust Okta to securely connect their
people and technology.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180524005047/en/
Source: Okta, Inc.
Okta
Jenna Kozel King, 415-418-9600
Press@Okta.com
