ON Semiconductor Integrates Philanthropy Into Their Corporate Culture

This month, our blog stories will focus on our commitment to corporate social responsibility and how we give back to local communities we serve by awarding quarterly grants to non-profits and schools as well as doubling the impact of employee donations by matching contributions. We also encourage employees to volunteer at organizations of their liking on company time and also regularly organize volunteer activities for them. Ultimately, the strong support and many opportunities we provide to our employees to donate resources, time, talent and effort demonstrate how philanthropy is a part of our corporate DNA.

With a $10,000 grant in 2018, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Arizona provided 400 students with 20 pilot kits to help improve education, with 40% of these kits going to Title 1 schools. The organization also then created six, content-based videos for elementary students. These videos promoted the arts, which helped students spark their sense of creativity. Because of these funds, the Foundation is now working to promote these STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) courses to students in Maricopa County within the Phoenix metropolitan area.

In early 2018, the Banner Health Foundation, on behalf of MD Anderson Cancer Center, was awarded $20,000 to help cancer patients in the Southwest region of the U.S. via Banner’s program, My Cancer Connection, a support network program for patients undergoing treatment. This program supported 500 patients with a 10% capacity increase for new patients to join the program.

In January 2018, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale in Arizona, was able to provide 60 students, ages 6-10, incorporated hands-on experiences into their current STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning program with our support. The core educational components for this program are only at a basic level at the Scottsdale Unified School District. These enhancements allowed children to actively learn and engage in experiences that enriched their understanding of STEM. The Club worked with teen club members to volunteer as mentors for the program, and these mentors meet with their assigned youth participants once a week via learning activities. These activities helped students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Additionally, this Club also has a partnership with FIRST LEGO League Jr. (which engages younger students and introduces them to STEM concepts using LEGO elements) so students were asked to develop a motorized LEGO operation to explain the path water takes from nature to the consumer, and the students presented their findings to family, friends and mentors. Retention of their STEM program remains high and enrollment increased, especially during the summer months. Lastly, their STEM program recently expanded to include new experiences with field trips to local attractions such as seeing endangered/threatened species at The Phoenix Zoo and learning more about renewable energy at the Arizona Science Center.

In 2018, “The World of Musical Journeys” began at the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona, in conjunction with a $15,000 grant we gave to the MIM to showcase “How Science Brings Music to Life” to over 400 students in the Balsz School District and 350 additional students from surrounding school districts. These funds helped to support field trip admission fees and covered expenses for 138 educators and chaperones.

We are also committed to educating, mitigating climate change and empowering the next generation with the knowledge and skills they need to tackle current and future environmental changes and challenges. In 2018, ON Semiconductor partnered with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)’s Smart Village initiative to provide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) training to teachers in Vietnam.

Smart Village is an initiative of the IEEE Foundation, which empowers off-grid communities through education and the creation of sustainable, affordable, locally-owned entrepreneurial energy businesses. With our support and over $100k in seed funding, curriculum was developed and training was provided to English teachers in STEM-related subjects in Vietnam. This project enhanced the competency and confidence of educators to teach STEM subjects pertinent to rural and urban resiliency, sustainable development, climate change, urbanization, industrialization and environmental care.

Learn more about ON Semiconductor’s Global Corporate Giving Program.