Box.org announces the International Rescue Committee and Think of Us as BoxWorks 2018 Social Impact Partners

Box.org powers how the world does more good together.  We offer 7,000 nonprofit organizations and our corporate peers the capacity-building resources they need to innovate and fulfill their social mission.  Youth well-being, inclusion in tech and humanitarian aid are Box.org's impact focus areas.  In addition to offering donated or discounted access to Box’s cloud content management software, Box.org builds nonprofit capacity through employee-led volunteering and giving programs, coalition building (www.impactcloud.org and www.pledge1percent.org) and good business practices.  

Two of those organizations, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Think of Us, were announced today as our BoxWorks 2018 Social Impact Partners during BoxWorks. Both organizations shared their missions, where they are making an impact helping refugees around the world and empowering foster youth, while also demonstrating how they are leveraging technology to achieve their goals.  We're urging our entire Box.org Community to support these great organizations and a third BoxWorks2018 social impact partner featured at the Box Women's Network Summit, Black Girls Code at the Box.org Impact Center this week.  Box.org and Box executives will match the first $23,000 donated to EACH of our three social impact partners before midnight this Friday August 31st.

“An unprecedented number of people – 68.5 million— have been displaced by conflict and persecution and they need our support more than ever before,” says Madeleine Fackler, chief information officer at the IRC.  “The partnership and support we receive from Box.org is critical in allowing the IRC to provide essential services and programming that helps these individuals and their families reclaim and rebuild their lives."

IRC has been a Box.org partner since its inception in May 2014. Over that time IRC has served tens of millions of displaced people around the world. Deploying Box to digitize formally paper-based process in some parts of the world has availed the IRC of new funding from their funders. Many of the IRC's key systems such as their intranet and grants management systems use Box as their content back-ends via the Box API. 

Think of Us is helping lead a movement to #HackFosterCare.  On any given day in the US, there are 450,000 youth in foster care.  Think of us has created a life coaching platform and Box powered "Digital Locker" that helps foster youth build their own personal advisory boards and manage key life documents (academic, medical, financial, residential, etc).  It will help make navigating and transitioning out of the system smoother for youth.

"Every year 28,000 young people are forced out the foster care system at 18 or 21 without being adopted or returning to their family of origin. Navigating school, a first job and housing become very difficult. It is an honor to partner with Box to ensure young people aging out of foster care without family support have the tools required to thrive both personally and professionally,” said Sixto Cancel, Founder of Think of Us.

IRC and Think of Us also received grants from the Box.org Fund, a donor-advised fund formed in March and housed at Tides. The Fund supports Box.org’s nonprofit capacity building and social impact investing aspirations. Both organizations align well with the Box.org Fund’s invent areas: nonprofit tech capacity building, youth well-being, inclusion in tech and humanitarian aid.

For Box, teaming up with and empowering social impact organizations world-wide is a reflection of who we are as company. And giving back through the Box.org Fund has enabled us to expand our philanthropic aspirations.  Box.org and Box executives are excited to match the first $23,000 raised for EACH of the three nonprofits featured in the Box.org Impact Center - which will be available until midnight this Friday August 31st.

We also announced nine additional Box.org Fund grant recipients: Girl Scouts of the USA, Team Rubicon Global, Innovations for Learning, Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, Full Circle Fund, Shanti Volunteer Association, Team4Tech, and Pledge 1%. The Box.org Fund has made over $115,000 in donations to date. 

The Box.org Fund is funded with a quarterly financial commitment from Box and augmented by a scalable social intraprise model which re-invests a percentage of heavily discounted subscription revenue contributed by larger social impact organizations for upgraded Box access.

To learn more or to apply for donated access to Box visit www.box.org.