Workday Foundation

The Workday Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Workday, a provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. Established in 2013, the foundation's primary mission is to close the opportunity gap by creating career pathways that unlock human potential. It focuses on supporting programs and organizations that equip individuals, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds, with the skills needed for careers in technology and other in-demand fields. The foundation operates by providing impact grants, fostering deep partnerships with grantee organizations, and encouraging employee involvement. Since its inception, it has awarded over $49 million in grants to organizations pioneering workforce development.

A key initiative connected to the foundation is Opportunity Onramps®, a workforce development program that offers paid training, internships, and job opportunities to candidates from diverse backgrounds, including veterans and those without four-year college degrees. This program is central to the foundation's strategy of promoting skills-based hiring over traditional, pedigree-focused recruitment methods. The foundation believes that talent is universal, but opportunity is not, and aims to address this imbalance. It supports various training programs, from coding camps for youth to technical training for veterans, and also invests in green job training. The foundation is led by Workday's Chief Philanthropy Officer, Carrie Varoquiers, and governed by a board that includes Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri and CEO Carl Eschenbach.

Keywords: philanthropic foundation, workforce development, opportunity gap, skills-based hiring, career pathways, job training, impact grants, corporate philanthropy, economic opportunity, social impact, non-traditional talent, technical training, green jobs, Opportunity Onramps, community investment