Salesforce donates $9M each to SFUSD and OUSD

File photo of Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff | Digital First Media/The Mercury

SFGATE • Aug. 11, 2020 • By Tessa McLean

Salesforce has donated a total of $18 million to support Bay Area schools in advance of the new school year, which begins this month.

With the contribution, the company said it hopes to support teachers and help close the digital technology divide amid the pandemic. While parents and children are expected to embrace remote learning, many students don’t own a computer or have internet access. Shutting down schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations.

Nine million will support the San Francisco Unified School District, building on existing programs that aim to improve student outcomes and opportunities. Another $9 million will support middle school students and educators in the Oakland Unified School District, with unique support for Newcomers — unaccompanied immigrant youth, refugees and asylum seekers.

Support for schools from the tech giant isn’t uncommon. It’s the eighth year that the company will contribute to SFUSD and the fifth year donating to OUSD — a total of $85.4 million going to San Francisco and Oakland public schools during that time.

"Public schools are the backbone of our communities — the heart and soul of our neighborhoods,” Ebony Beckwith, Chief Philanthropy Officer for Salesforce, said in a statement. “As we reimagine education for a post-COVID-19, learn-anywhere world, we are committed to helping our schools build an equitable future for every student."

The company also announced an additional $2 million will be spread equally between Indianapolis Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, the New York City Department of Education and the Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

Salesforce also announced this week a new program called Work.com for Schools to help schools make data-driven decisions on when and how to return to campus safely, facilitate communication between teachers and families at scale and support students remotely.

Earlier this year, the company released Work.com to aid businesses and governments reopen safely.

Last week, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and his wife Sara donated $10 million to SFUSD through their charitable organization, the Someland Foundation. The donation is also being used to help narrow the digital divide, with an initial distribution of 15,000 digital devices and hotspots for students in pre-kindergarten to second grade.

Of the SFUSD student population, 55% live at or below the poverty line. In Oakland, 50% of public school students lack internet access.