At Salesforce, we believe business is a platform for positive social change, and as corporate leaders we must hold ourselves accountable to a broader set of stakeholders: our customers, employees, partners, shareholders, communities, and the environment that sustains us.
That’s why Salesforce is committed to creating a sustainable, low-carbon future, advancing equality, and fostering customer and employee success. These goals align with our core values, long-term growth strategy, and financial and operational priorities.
Each year, Salesforce publishes our annual Stakeholder Impact Report, which ensures stakeholders have more timely access to the company’s corporate responsibility data—governance, sustainability, equality, trust, employee programs, giving back—and the progress we’ve made on our commitments.
This year’s report is our most comprehensive and transparent report yet, disclosing our environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and metrics, amongst many company achievements, and blueprints for other companies to follow.
Trust is Our #1 Value
Trust is a core value at Salesforce. Every year we produce this comprehensive stakeholder impact report so that key stakeholders can stay informed, track our progress, and support our work. Salesforce is committed to transparency and the contents of this report are informed by the Global Reporting Initiative Standards (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (SASB) Software and IT Services sector guide, that includes an evaluation of top business drivers, sustainability impact areas, industry benchmarking, and interviews with customers, investors, NGOs and employees.
Salesforce discloses ESG initiatives and metrics in this report, as well as in our annual financial filings with the SEC because companies need to understand the critical importance of these issues in creating long-term value. At the Finance for the Future Awards in October 2018, we were thrilled to be recognized for the disclosure of these initiatives by winning the “Communicating Integrated Thinking” award. We are constantly working to further integrate sustainability into all that we do and partner with stakeholders to catalyze climate action.
Environmental Sustainability
The planet needs bold action now. As the effects of climate change worsen, we continue our commitment to protect the environment. In FY19, we published our Clean Energy Strategy, detailing how we plan to get to 100 percent renewable energy by 2022. To us, 100 percent renewable energy means sourcing renewable electricity from renewable energy sources equivalent to what we use globally on an annual basis.
And, at Salesforce we recognize that we can’t create the change needed alone. Collaboration with other corporates, the public sector, and NGOs is a key step in driving positive change. Last year we partnered with Mission 2020 to establish the Step Up Declaration, an example of how a vision by two organizations can spark an alliance of more than 20 businesses to drive urgent change. In FY19 we also announced an all-new renewable energy deal in collaboration with leading companies—Bloomberg, Cox Enterprises, Gap, and Workday—that not only helped get us a step closer to our goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2022, but enables those just starting their renewable energy journey to pilot similar projects to meet their climate goals.
Equality for All
Equality is another core value at Salesforce. We work to drive equality within our own walls and beyond across four pillars—equal rights, equal pay for equal work, equal access to education, and equal opportunities to succeed. We have established a number of programs to support these pillars, including establishing an Office of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology, making a human rights commitment, supporting employee resource groups that foster equality at work, and investing in companies outside of Salesforce that benefit both people and the planet.
Here are just a few steps we are taking to advance equality:
- Adopting inclusive business practices: Inclusive Hiring and Inclusive Leadership modules for our managers, via Trailhead, our interactive learning platform.
- Building the diverse workforce of the future: Donated more than $15.5M in grants to local Bay Area schools in FY19.
- Elevating underrepresented voices: Hosted first-ever racial equality summit, Representation Matters, to inspire, empower, and elevate the tech industry’s most underrepresented talent.
Learn more about our programs and initiatives to drive positive change by downloading the full FY19 Stakeholder Impact Report.
You can also learn more about our renewable energy projects here.
