Sasan Goodarzi, CEO at Intuit
We launched a company-wide, work-from-home order in March. To smooth the transition to a new way of working, we rolled out easy-to-access resources on working from home. We led virtual teams. We provided resources to help keep kids engaged and employees stay physically and emotionally healthy.
With many customers and small businesses struggling to survive, we provided free tools to help them navigate federal aid programs such as the CARES Act. We built an application to help them take part in the government’s Paycheck Protection Program. We helped them get tax credits, benefit from coronavirus relief programs, create GoFundMe fundraisers and more.
Prosperity Hub jobs are well-suited to veterans and military families wanting to build civilian careers, especially because the jobs are often virtual. We also help support the military community through our Military and Veteran Initiative (MAVI), which helps transform the lives of vets through jobs and financial empowerment.
We also partner with a variety of nonprofit organizations to help vets and their family members gain skills and build civilian careers. These include the National Military Family Association (NMFA), the Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) program, Bunker Labs, VirtForce, Hirepurpose and Hiring Our Heroes.
Many people in underserved communities are not prepared for today’s job market, and our schools and colleges aren’t providing the skills they need to be employed tomorrow.
We’re laying the groundwork for future prosperity through job readiness. We do this through initiatives like our Prosperity Hub School District programs and our Prosperity Career Path program, which helps people in Prosperity Hub communities earn certifications and credentials so they can grow their career.
And students? We help them build skills, smart money habits and an entrepreneurial mindset using our products, design thinking, business simulations and more. In FY20, we supported over 150,000 students and educators. By 2023 we aim to better prepare 1.1 million people for jobs.
As the lack of equity and equality in society made headlines in 2020, Intuit supported and stood up for the long-overdue conversation on how to eradicate institutional racism from our society. Our CEO and the company made a commitment not to be silent. Our employees, peers and the public were urged to openly condemn racism in any form, and to commit to discussing the realities and barriers that the Black community has historically faced and continues to face today.
To promote racial equality, we provided funds to the United Negro College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. And employees from our African Ancestry employee resource group, along with executive sponsors, formed a special team to fight racial injustice. Named the Racial Equity Advancement Leadership Team (REAL Team), it reflects the Black community at Intuit with a view to listening to and including employees in developing and carrying out sustainable action.
In FY20, led by Intuit’s Pride network, we pioneered the industry’s first-ever Transgender Summit — a day of open dialogue about advancing equality for the transgender community. One outcome: improved healthcare benefits for our transgender employees around the world.
With our partner, The GenderCool Project, we also launched a mentorship program. It pairs transgender youth with mentors from Intuit who share their work, skills, experiences and advice.
Also in FY20, we scaled our LGBTQ+ allyship program across the company’s global sites, promoting education and ensuring allyship companywide.
We’re not stopping at carbon neutrality. In FY20 we set a new, even bolder goal aimed at helping the planet and communities grappling with the impacts of climate change. Using our 2018 carbon footprint metric as a baseline (40,000 metric tonnes), we committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50 times greater than our 2018 carbon footprint (2 million metric tonnes) by 2030.
The strategy calls for us to measure the impact of this climate-positive goal across four groups — employees, customers, communities and partners — and to work with each to find ways to collectively act on climate change.
Also in FY20, we signed the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Along with 12,000+ signatories in 160 countries, we’ve committed to 1.5°C science-based emissions reduction targets. These targets align with a net-zero future and how corporations should function within planetary boundaries.
The UN Global Compact recognized Intuit as one of only 87 major corporations setting ambitious climate-positive goals. The move further underscores our long-term commitment to the planet. In addition, our CEO signed on to the UN Global Compact’s letter urging world leaders to embed climate action into their COVID-19 recovery plans.
These reports highlight our commitment to powering prosperity in the communities in which we work and live. Each annual Corporate Responsibility report is available below.
1. Source: Sage Policy Group, 2020