In 2019 we announced the beginning of Rock.org and, with the help of Rita Lisboa (COO at Rock Content), Gabriela Crego (Social Impact Manager at Rock.org), and André Massahud (Social Impact Analyst at Rock.org) we managed to compile the results in our first Social Impact Report.
The purpose of the report was to systematize our actions and share with transparency what we achieved since May 2019, when we started our operation.
At the end of this text, you can download the report.
Driving Impact Together
Today, we are proud to share Rock.org’s first Social Impact Annual Report. The 2019 report represents the strides that Rock.org’s stakeholders — the board of directors, investors, local community, NGOs, and our Rockers — are making to improve the state of the world.
Rock.org was born to share the knowledge that accelerates social change and brings together the strengths of volunteering, education, and entrepreneurship.
We’re committed to developing new ways to enable impact together and inspired to listen and learn from our Rocker volunteers, our local community of students, NGOs, and our customers.
In our first year, we invested 141k USD and impacted 2300 students and Nonprofits. Here’s how we are doing it.
Working with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Rock.org integrated the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in our reports and projects, and we are still learning the best way to connect it into our daily projects. We have decided to focus and work with the following goals:
- Quality Education
- Job Quality and Economic Growth
- Reducing Inequality
Impact Measurement
For us, impact means we have contributed in a positive way for a student to enter the job market more qualified, or for an NGO to have leveraged its impact.
We’re on a long journey of learning how to measure impact, but the steps we have done so far include:
- Creating a yearly follow-up with all students who have received Rock University grants to see if they were hired or promoted;
- Establishing a yearly follow-up with the NGOs that participate in our programs to track their online visibility.
One year in, here’s what we’ve accomplished.
Community Engagement
Our community engagement efforts focus on empowering all Rockers and facilitating their civic engagement.
Moreover, we believe volunteering is a way to empower them as agents of change, develop leadership skills, and strengthen their involvement with the community.
We are working to ensure that giving back is an integral part of our culture, as it benefits both sides and increases employee satisfaction.
As we could see in our census results, 93.5% of Rock employees agree with Rock Content’s effort to create Rock.org, and 74% say that social impact initiatives create a greater bond with the company.
As a Pledge 1% member, we committed 1% of all Rockers’ time to be used for social impact initiatives. Thus far, we have organized 2 volunteer days with an average engagement rate of 70%.
Education
For every course we sell through Rock University, we commit to donate one to a student in a vulnerable situation at no cost. In addition, we organize local events to put students in contact with the job market.
We focus on:
- Reducing barriers to learning
- Youth training
- Academic and professional achievement
- Career opportunities
- Market-based learning and employability
Entrepreneurship
We develop consulting programs and products to improve the sales and marketing teams of our partner’s NGOs.
We focus on
- Multiplying internal knowledge
- Empowering entrepreneurs in marketing
- Providing training
- Financial sustainability of NGOs
A small but meaningful contribution:
In 2019, we had:
- 141k USD invested (through time, products and resources donated, and tax incentives)
- 2300+ NGOs and young professionals impacted
- 300+ Rockers engaged with volunteering
Greatness comes from passion & commitment:
I could not be prouder and thankful for the engagement levels and meaningful results we were able to achieve in such a small time frame.
It wouldn’t have been possible without the one #rocker that has accepted the challenge to lead and own this initiative: Gabriela Crego, our program lead. Gabi, I can not put into words how much I’m proud of you. Keep #rockingtheworld!
This is our first step, and we are looking forward to what the future holds for our social impact initiatives.
We welcome your comments, ideas, and feedback. Please share your thoughts at [email protected].
