Sharing Talent, Technology, Time

Asia is getting hit with natural disasters.  First the Myanmar cyclone which is estimated to have affected 1.5 million people.  MILLION.  On Monday, China was hit with a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, killing an estimated 9,000 people.  Eighty percent of the buildings in Beichuan county collapsed.

China and Myanmar need our help.  How do we help?  Financial contributions are the best way.  This insures that the right supplies get to the right places.  And charities that buy these supplies typically get wholesale prices. 

The Sun online drive benefits organizations that help disaster victims, and makes giving so easy.  Try it.

The estimate of the number of casualties from the Myanmar disaster is increasing by the day.  Disease, lack of supplies and food will only compound this number.  Estimates of victims range from 40,000 to over 60,000. 

Unfortunately, there is conflicting news about the relief efforts.  The UN is having difficulty assessing the situation but the International Federation of Red Cross, one of the charities included in our online giving drive, is reportedly on the ground in Myanmar, delivering needed aid.

If you want to help, consider participating in Sun's online disaster relief drive.  Your donation can go to one of a handful of agencies providing relief to the Myanmar disaster.

It's not everyday that Sun volunteers make an appearance on TV.  But yesterday was a day for them to shine!  Volunteer Barbara Moran spearheaded the effort to get employees to Eldora Mountain to showcase the Eldora Special Recreation Program.  This program works with special needs people to give them the ability to participate in snow sports.  Al Roker gave away oodles to the program to help them continue to meet this community need.  You can also check out the video.

Amazed might not be the right word.  Humbled?  Awestruck?  Sun volunteers continue to amaze and humble me.  Team Managers around the world are leading volunteer projects, giving back to the local community and engaging Sun volunteers:

Scott in the California Bay Area is leading a team at the Humane Society on April 29.  Sprucing up the facility for all the homeless pets that need adopting.

In New Jersey, Diane is leading volunteers for a mentoring program.  Mentors will work with girls between the ages of 12 and 18.

In New York City, volunteers, including myself, will help at Baby Buggy, an organization that provides baby supplies for low income families.

 

And there's more.  In a couple of weeks, we will share pictures from all of these great projects.  Then you will get to see the impact that Worldwide Volunteer Week has on so many people around the globe.

Boston Area Sun Women supported Women's History month with a toiletry drive.  Over 1000 donated items went to Bridges, a nonprofit organization supporting victims of domestic and sexual violence.  Kudos to all participants.  Read more here.

Sun is on fire!  We have so many great projects taking place during Worldwide Volunteer Week. (Did I mention it is April 26-May 4?)  We are still a few weeks away but we have at least 60 volunteer projects listed in our internal volunteer tool.  (Did I mention sixty?!)  Here's a sampling of projects that could use more volunteers:

 In the Bay Area, volunteers will be helping a bike race on May 3.

On April 30, volunteers from MA will be doing a spring clean up for a local school.

Virtually, Sun employees will meet on April 30 to discuss creating a chess program for kids.

Don't you get those warm fuzzy feelings?

Last night, I went to a reception for the new President of The Hunger Project, a nonprofit organization that was a participant in Sun's Global Giving Drive.  At the end of last year, Sun employees helped to support this important cause.  No words can express the scope and depth of their work but the video may give you an idea.

http://www.thp.org/video/

What a whirlwind week!

A week ago, Jonathan Schwartz sent out a global email announcing Sun's Worldwide Volunteer Week (April 26-May 4).  That generated a lot of buzz.  We are helping Team Managers create cool volunteer opportunities throughout the world.  Projects range from a virtual exchange program to a sorting donated food.  It is amazing to see the projects coming forward from some fantastic volunteers.

Then on Tuesday we had our SMI Friends of the Foundation meeting.  Our featured guest was Gilda, a super volunteer out of California.  Talking about her Worldwide Volunteer Week project has already inspired a colleague to try to create a similar project in NY.  What an inspiration!

Now we are busily planning our next meeting on March 18 for employees interested in leading projects for Worldwide Volunteer Week (WWVW).  Dare I say it?  I think this year's WWVW is going to be even bigger and better than last year!  Here's a taste of one project:

Christina Carrier in the Bay Area is heading a group of volunteers on April 26 at Sacred Heart Community Services.  Volunteers will  help by sorting food donations, packing family and homeless food bags, distributing groceries and produce, or sorting and hanging clothing donations, all while providing service to the customers with dignity, compassion and respect.  Sun volunteers can sign up at our internal volunteer tool.  Those outside of Sun can learn about what Sacred Heart does in the community.

 

This month, Fortune Magazine released their 2008 Most Admired Companies, and Sun's true colors Shined. In the category of "Computer company" Sun ranked #5 on the most admired list! This is a great step forward in comparison to ranking only as a contender in 2007. The others on the list include:

1. Apple
2. IBM
3. Hewlett-Packard
4. Xerox
5. Sun Microsystems
6. Canon

There are other attributes that Fortune conducts rankings and Sun's scores improved in almost every one. The following are Sun's industry rankings:

Key Attributes	Rank
Innovation	2
People management	4
Use of corporate assets	5
Social responsibility	3
Quality of management	5
Financial soundness	8
Long-term investment	7
Quality of products/services	6

Complete listings in the Computers category can be found at: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/fortune/most_admired.jsp

Join us for the January Friends of the Sun Foundation Community Meeting

Tuesday,  January 8, 2008
8 a.m. US Pacific

Dial-in:
US: 866 651 9314
Non US: 865 525 0765
code: 143 1449

Dial-in Only. No physical location

Agenda:
Overivew (Larry Nelson, Director Global Citizenship)
Global Gift Giving Drive Recap (Julie Smith, Program Manager)
Sun employees in Korea Making a Difference (Larry Nelson)
What's on tap with the Volunteer program (Larry Nelson)
Global Matching Gifts Program Quarterly read-out (Joyce Murata, Program Manager)
Q&A

The call will be recorded and replay will be made available.

If you are on my calendar this week for me to interview you for a position that we have open in the Global Citizenship organization, this is a must-see.

:-)

Mary

November Friends of the Sun Microsystems Foundation Community Meeting Tomorrow

Tuesday, November 13
8 a.m. US Pacific

Dial-in:
866 651 9314 (US)
865 525 0765 (outside US)

code: 143 1449

The call will be recorded and replay will be made available

One of the best things about my job is that I get to work with an absolutely incredible board. 

Sun execs on the board of the Sun Foundation are:

Dave Douglas

David Harris

Joe Hartley

Karen Rohde

Jonathan Schwartz

Hal Stern

Ingrid Van Den Hoogen

They're all hot-shot execs around here.

So naturally, any time one of them call me, my blood pressure goes up.

(just kidding.)

(not really.)

:-) 

Here's what I love most... the way in which they actively invest in the success of the work that we're driving.

I'm in constant dialogue with most of these guys... I talk to most of them at least once a week, if not more. I've always got stuff going on with them... bouncing ideas back and forth... you get the idea.

It's AWESOME.

So we have board meetings about every couple of months or so, but there's this ongoing dialogue that happens outside of those. That's where the real work gets done.

Today, David Harris called me on my cell phone.

David is Senior Vice President of Global Business Services here at Sun.

He's also president of CoreNet Global's board of directors. (in his spare time :-)

CoreNet Global is the world's leading professional association for corporate real estate and workplace executives. More than 7,000 members manage over $1.2-trillion in real estate and workplace assets in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

And he's "in charge" over there for the next year. Call it his extra-curricular activity. Among many other boards and professional associations... you get the idea...

(They're all like that, you know... the demands on all of their time is so great... yet they still make time for me... and for the stuff we're trying to drive... )

Anyway, he just called me on my cell phone.

He had an idea.

(can't say. yet.)

I can tell you this: I think it's a really good idea.

I'm going to try to help flesh it out.

And that's all we'll say about that.

For now.

:-)

Mary

While the Rockies made it to the World Series for the first time ever, the game touched even closer to home for some Sun employees in Colorado. Roughly 1 year ago a friend of an employee at Sun's Broomfield office was diagnosed with a rare and highly aggressive form of brain cancer. After extensive surgery and treatment he was sent home - only to find out a few weeks ago that the cancer had returned.  This was his last chance to see a World Series game.

Throughout fighting this disease, life as he had known it had drastically changed, however one of the things remaining constant was his devotion to the sports memorabilia store he owned. His family recognized this and wished they could get him tickets to the World Series game in Denver, but needed help funding the ticket.

Sun employees were pooling their resources to make this wish a reality, when thanks to one of our Sun employees in Broomfield, 2 tickets to the Rockies First World Series Game were DONATED to this family!

...Another example of Sun's incredible employees giving back to the communities where they work

I just got a note from hot shot techno celeb and Sun employee volunteer extraordinaire Scott Mattoon. Scott has done a ton of work with Architecture for Humanity, an initative we have backed. 

Architecture for Humanity is a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need. The Open Architecture Network (which is Powered by Sun) is the online destination for architects and deisgners wishing to participate and contribute.

The news Scott just told me about is that Architecutre for Humanity's San Diego chapter is on the ground responding to the diaster we're seeing with the California fires this week.

It wasn't that long ago that Architecture for Humanity and the Open Architecture Network  was but a glint in eyes of Cameron and Kate.

It's incredible to see how far we've come.

(And to hear the other news I heard this week that the number of architects and designers participating in the community has now surpassed 8,000!)

Architecture for Humanity was the first organization nominated to be a benficiary for Sun's Global Giving Drive this year. That nomination came in as open process that we're hosting in our Friends of the Sun Microsystems Foundation community in Facebook.

(Deadline for submitting nominations is today.)

Mary