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.

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.

In case you missed it, here's replay info for the last Friends of the Foundation meeting.

Dial-in: 877.471.6587 or 402.970.2667

Enter program ID 513478848026.


 

The Sun-Women Boston employee network concluded it's 2007 Holiday Gift Drives in Burlington and Nashua.
The enthusiasm and support of the entire local Sun community provided gifts valued ~$10,000 across the region!

Burlington Results - This was Sun's first drive for the Lowell Wish Project and was successfully managed by Michele Walker and Tricia Teixeira.

Sun employees shopped for and donated over 100 gifts for 30 families across the Merrimack Valley.  Thanks to everyone
who helped out with the sorting and packing so that the delivery could take place before the big snowstorm last Thursday!
Special thanks to Brenda Wells & Amanda Young & the LABBS students for helping to pack up & store the gifts on a daily basis. We are estimating that the value of the gifts donated to be ~$5000!

Nashua Results - This was Sun's 7th consecutive year of providing gifts for all of the residents of Nashua's Children's Home and was successfully managed by Sandy Belknap and Terri McClellan.

Gift bags with clothes, shoes and presents were provided to every one of the 44 residents of the NCH.  We also delivered bags filled with great games, videos, etc. for all of the kids to share! Thanks to everyone who pitched in to pack, sort, deliver and make sure that gifts from BUR found their way to NH last week.  Special thanks to Cindy Tello for her tireless efforts to help distribute tags and to store gifts throughout the  drive. We are estimating the value of the gifts donated to be over $5000!

VOLUNTEERS: Please Log your hours in the new Sun Volunteer tool.  You can log in the time you took to shop for your gifts, as well as the time you donated to help sort, pack and deliver.   Both drives are registered in the online tool.  Your volunteer hours are tracked for Sun's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report.

Both drives are still accepting monetary donations and qualify for Sun Gift Match Funds.
Donate to the Lowell Wish Project.(Paypal)
Donate to Nashua's Children's Home. (select 'Donate Now' from the left Navbar)
Submit an Gift Match from the the Sun Foundation. (Link Goes Directly to Online Form)
Reminder: Sun Microsystems Global Giving Drive is open thru the end of the month.

Thanks for your support and generosity & Happy Holidays!
-The Women@Sun-Boston Network

Pictures from Delivery Days Last Week:

Michele Walker and Queida Davis in Burlington

 

 

Santa Larry Grant, Terri McClellan & Cindy Tello in Nashua
 

Do you know how much Sun employees donated in the 2006 Annual Global Giving drive? 

Take the quiz and make your guess on SunWeb.  Once you're shocked by the answer - go to Global Giving Drive and make your donation today...it's not too late!

Ten worthy organizations were chosen as beneficiaries of the Drive with the help of Sun volunteers and members of the Friends of the Sun Foundation community in Facebook, which we welcome you to join. 

The beneficiary organizations fill a specific need in the community, on a large scale.  Here are examples of some of the work these organizations are doing:

• The Hunger Project is working in India to promote health, education, nutrition and family income.
• Mercy Corps is educating orphans in China.
• Engineers Without Borders is working in Ghana to provide affordable access to the Internet.
• Direct Relief International provides medical assistance to countries like Peru, particularly as a result of disasters.
• Architecture for Humanity's Open Architecture Network is building sports facilities at African schools to bring together the positive aspects of sports with an innovative HIV/AIDS health outreach program. 

Your contribution can easily be matched by the Sun Microsystems Foundation on the check out page. 

The last day of the Drive is December 24. 

The Friends of the Sun Foundation community in Facebook is an open forum at the epicenter of the work that we do in our organization. To keep a finger on the pulse of this work, please join us there.

For questions, contact volunteersupport@sun.com.

 

 

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

We have two positions open in our group:

I had originally posted pointers to these reqs. As they have since closed, I'm removing the pointers.

Please submit your resume via the path outlined in the links above if you're you are interested in being considered for the positions we have open.

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

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 

 

There are many words to describe them
………..dedicated….tireless….committed…selfless…inspirational

These are our volunteers, the heart and soul of the Nation!  We at Sun have been recognizing their work, but now we want you to share your stories about your special volunteers with the us and the Point of Light Organization. Not only will the volunteers be considered for the prestigious Daily Point of Light Award, which recognizes the Nation’s Volunteer of the Day, they will also have the opportunity to be featured on the President’s Volunteer Service Award website.

So please take 5-10 minutes and think about what is special about a volunteer you know and what impact they’ve had on the community.  Then draft one or two paragraphs about their story of service and send it to us at volunteersupport@sun.com so we can honor their service and inspire others to create community change.  

Please send your volunteer’s story to volunteersupport@sun.com no later than Friday, October 26th.  Please put “Story of Service-Volunteer's Name” in the subject field and be sure to include your name, organizational affiliation, if applicable and your contact information.

(feel free to tell us about more than one volunteer, but please put them in separate emails)

 

 

The numbers are in, and the proof is in the pudding...Sun Volunteers are remarkable!

This year, Sun's Back to School Campaign in the bay area provided 177 backpacks, 17 volunteers, $1,222.16 in monetary donations and $1,681.36 from online donations.  For every $50 donation Family Giving Tree received from our employees, they added 1 backpack to our total to calculate awards.

Congratulations to team leaders and volunteers.
Your accomplishments are outstanding and you should be proud!

   

  

    

 

 

Big time congrats to the Sun Labs team for mobilizing an amazing turn-out from organizations across the company in support of Silicon Valley Heart Walk 2007 yesterday.

Sun walkers, donors and supporters were about 200 all together. They turned out (in comfortable walking shoes and/or in spirit) to participate in the Silicon Valley Heart Walk 2007 by the American Heart Association. The Heart Walk was held yesterday held this Sunday morning, 16 September at De Anza in Cupertino

CTO Greg Papadopoulos was a key leader in making this happen as was Sun Labs hot-shot Katy Dickinson. I found out about it from my Facebook friend (and Sun colleague) Geetha Vallabhaneni.

The Sun team raised $9,957.  This total does not include Sun's matching funds.

Every gift made by a Sun employee is eligible to receive a dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the Sun Foundation up to $1,000 per employee per year.

Great job team! You make me proud to work here.

Mary

Images Copyright 2007 by Sheri Kaneshiro and John Plocher

We're on Facebook!

Check out the Friends of the Foundation community on Facebook.

It's an open community. We welcome anyone who's interested in getting looped into the work that we're doing to join.

The Friends of the Sun Microsystem Foundaiton.

On Facebook.

Well, doesn't that make you feel all young and techno-trendy.

:-)

Mary