Giving Tuesday is an independent non-profit organization focused on unleashing the power of radical generosity around the world. The movement invites people and organizations of all sizes to transform and support their communities year-round by inspiring kindness and care for one another.
During a time of such uncertainty, a movement like this is more important than ever. This is why some of our employees at General Assembly came together to launch their own virtual giving campaign — GA Gives, an internal campaign for Giving Tuesday.
What is GA Gives?
Inspired by the Giving Tuesday movement, the GA Gives virtual campaign was a collection of our employees and our employee resource groups (ERGs); AsianERG, BlackERG, Disability Impacted ERG, Latinx ERG, LGBTQQIA+ERG, Parent/Caregiver ERG, Womxn ERG — coming together to launch this internal giving campaign.
2022 has been a challenging year. We’re facing a global economic downturn in the labor market and have seen many layoffs across different industries. During this season of giving, we wanted to help non-profit organizations and charities feel supported. We also wanted to encourage collaboration and togetherness within our own employee communities.
At GA, we have given back in many ways, including offering free learning resources to organizations and partners to help amplify the shared mission of helping more underprivileged people break into tech.
This year, we wanted to show our gratitude differently with a philanthropic approach to give back to charities and non-profits, paving the way for equal rights and justice, mental health advocacy, refugee families/asylum-seekers, addressing the homelessness crisis, and many more noble causes.
Non-profits GA Gives support to this year
As part of this year’s GA Gives internal campaign, our employees and ERGs nominated non-profit organizations of their choice that are making a difference in their communities today.
Each non-profit received a distribution of the monetary donations submitted by GA employees, their friends and family members, plus GA matched the funds received. Here’s a comprehensive list of the non-profits nominated and how they inspire kindness in their communities year-round.
- Heart of Dinner is a non-profit founded at the onset of the Coviid-19 pandemic. Heart of Dinner works to nourish NYC’s Asian elders with love and food every week by delivering weekly care packages that are filled with culturally thoughtful meals.
- BEAM: Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective – BEAM is a national training, movement-building, and grant-making institution dedicated to the healing, wellness, and liberation of Black and marginalized communities. BEAM’s mission is to remove the barriers that Black people experience in accessing health care, education, training, and much more.
- National Organization on Disability – the NOD works to increase employment opportunities for Americans with disabilities. NOD’s programs and services encourage companies to realize the competitive advantages of hiring people with disabilities.
- Facing History and Ourselves – is a non-profit that provides educators with professional development opportunities to aid in their own understanding and teaching of genocide, racism, and civic agency. Their primary mission is to challenge teachers and students to stand up to bigotry and hate.
- UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency is a global organization working to save lives, protect rights and build a better future for refugees, LGBTQ+, asylum-seekers, and stateless and internally displaced people. UNHCR’s mission is to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find refuge from violence or persecution.
- The International Rescue Committee – is a non-profit organization helping those whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster, including the climate crisis, to survive, recover and gain control over their future. The Committee supports refugee families and children globally.
- SeekHer Foundation – aims to bridge the gender gap in mental health through advocacy, research, and support of community leaders who help women through critical transitions and vulnerable life stages along their womanhood journey. SeekHer works with advocates and allies to help ignite conversations and uplift local community voices that better support women’s mental health.
Together we raised $5,000.
Other ways we got involved in Giving Tuesday
So far in 2022, we have seen over 90,000 workers laid off in the U.S. tech sector alone. If you are working in tech or plan to break into tech, you probably know someone who has been affected by these mass layoffs as a result of the recession.
This is why we want to do everything we can to help career changers or people looking for a new tech opportunity to have access to the resources they need to continue pursuing their dream job.
Our free On Demand content gives you hands-on opportunities to learn from some of the best and brightest in the industry. The On Demand allows you to pick up the skills you need at your own pace and is completely free.
With On Demand, you can choose from the following four courses.
The On Demand content will enable you to get started with the essential tools and strategies to pick up key data analysis skills and tools. Apart from being able to dive into industry fundamentals, you also have access to 1:1 sessions with your mentor to keep you motivated with guidance and feedback.
The Digital Marketing On Deamnd is an exciting learning path opportunity that gives you a robust introduction to digital marketing fundamentals. Allowing you to hone in on key marketing techniques like customer segmentation, customer insights, CRM, and much more.
The UX Design On Demand allows you to hone in on your creativity while developing customer-centric design skills to get you job-ready. With this fully flexible On Demand you can practice key hard skills like prototyping, persona building, affinity mapping, wireframing and much more.
Dash is a free online course that teaches you the basics of web development. The course is designed to help you understand the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. With Dash you can learn key coding skills like building websites, with step-by-step guidance and interactive project work.
Applying to one of our free On Demand courses is simple. Just visit our website and navigate to “On Demand Learning” from there you will see the list of courses you can take. Fill out the form for the topic you’re interested in and we will get back to you shortly.
You can also find more information on each of the courses and how to apply here.
A simple act of giving
A considerable part of our mission here at GA is about redefining education and the future of work and driving social change in various communities. We are proud of the work we poured into this year’s Giving Tuesday and we hope you also find it inspiring.
But, most importantly, as part of Giving Tuesday, we encourage you to share these free resources with your friends and family who may have been affected by the recent layoffs or are looking to break into a career in tech.