At Okta’s first office, our co-founders Todd McKinnon and Frederic Kerrest had a poster above their desks with former Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher’s famous quote: “We have a strategic plan, it’s called doing things.” That philosophy can be applied to almost every aspect of the business when you’re a fast-growing company like Okta, but nowhere does it resonate more than with social impact.

 

When it comes to making a commitment to your communities, you don’t have to have a grand plan or all the answers — you just have to start. And the earlier you do, the more impact you’ll make, and the more powerful the long-term effects will be.

 

Okta sent a signal when we took the 1% Pledge, and with the success of our IPO, that early commitment has paid dividends for the community. Here are a few highlights to give you an idea of how far we’ve come:

 

  • To date, we, along with our employees, have donated more than $1.3M in cash and equity to nonprofits. But guess how much we raised in our first employee giving campaign? $9K!
  • More than half of our employees participate in our programs nowadays. But at our first major volunteer effort, only 15% of employees participated.
  • We now have a team of three that runs Okta for Good. But there was a committed group of employee volunteers to thank for getting the program up and running — before I even started.

 

That growth is due to the fact that we started with a commitment to give 1% of our equity, time and product back to our communities.

 

Our founders shot a signal flare into the sky by taking the pledge — and it lit the way for dedicated employees to build a culture of giving back. As we’ve scaled, we’ve continued to attract like-minded individuals into our ecosystem and employee base. We’ve heard from several new hires that Okta for Good was the deciding factor for them in accepting their offers. We’ve seen individual employees like Simon Marlor bring his personal passion to Okta, rallying hundreds of his fellow teammates to help children and families battling cancer, and developers like Matt Raible are using their technical superpowers for good.

 

And we know that our early, pre-IPO pledge signified to our community partners that we are a company authentically invested in their success. This has built trust and a feeling of shared outcomes that has led to strong partnerships, like our relationship with NetHope.

 

Our program wouldn’t be what it is today without our early pledge. You have to start somewhere. Send a signal, and then build from there.