Gartner associates around the world go out of their way to give back to their communities, support causes they care about, and step up during times of need. This year, associates in India have taken on many projects and causes to make life easier during the pandemic. Below are some of their inspiring stories.
Gartner associates have been working with Donate an Hour (DoaR) to improve the infrastructure in the villages of Mewat, a district in Haryana located 45 km from Gurgaon. With our support, DoaR installed 25 solar lights spread across four villages. “It gives me immense pleasure to see that our efforts are bringing grass-root changes in people’s lives. Looking at the lit-up streets gives us a sense of completion and the enthusiasm to make more such changes,” says Anjali Grover, Director at Gartner, who was one of the champions of this initiative. Solar lights are a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to provide electricity in this rural village.
Improving village infrastructure
Associates are currently working with CORD (Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development), a service wing of Chinmaya Mission that operates as a trust and NGO (non-governmental organization), to build sanitation infrastructure in Sidhbari, in Himachal Pradesh, India. The sanitation infrastructure will help villagers maintain hygiene and allow them to be self-reliant, which is especially helpful during the pandemic. “CORD is grateful to the Gartner team for their kind support and helps to enable us in our efforts toward empowering marginal and needy communities in rural India,” commented Dr. Kshama Metre, National Director of CORD.
Providing essentials
Gartner joined hands with Responsene, a Delhi-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation organization, to provide relief kits and meals for families adversely impacted by the economic pause due to the pandemic. With Gartner’s support, Responsenet served more than 18,000 meals to over 200 families in and around Delhi.
Transforming lives through education
Gartner worked with the Spark-A-Change Foundation, a Mumbai-based not-for-profit organization, to provide meaningful education to kids. Gartner sponsored its Computer Literacy Program for 2020-21. Under this program, the enrolled students will be able to gain knowledge on the MS-CIT curriculum, which is the most popular literacy course in Maharashtra, India.
Staying connected and spreading knowledge
Our associates provided virtual support and stayed connected to house parents and children from Snehasadan, a non-governmental organization that provides a home and a future for homeless street children in Mumbai. When the lockdown in India started, our volunteers connected with house parents via phone calls to check in on their well-being and the health of all the kids. They also kept the children engaged and conducted online classes in mathematics and science for grades 9 and 10.