Corporate Social Responsibility in 2021: How Did We Progress?

Our 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report highlights the strides we’ve made in becoming a more inclusive, conscious and receptive organization.

Our people, our communities, and our world—three things that have made Progress who we are today, and that will continue to contribute to our growth in the future.

These three entities are also the pillars of our corporate social responsibility program, Progress for Tomorrow. Last year marked our 40th anniversary as a software company, and while innovative products have certainly played a part in our longevity, our people have really been the key to enduring success.

“At Progress, our North Star is people, because people power Progress and we strive to build and fortify an inclusive and diverse culture,” said Yogesh Gupta, CEO, Progress.

“As an organization and as individuals, we encourage and promote contributions to the community and to social and environmental causes,” he added. “I am enormously proud of our accomplishments in 2021—from the way our people continued to meet and overcome the challenges of COVID-19, to our global recognitions as a best place to work, and to our recognized leadership in inclusion, diversity and social justice efforts.” 

Our people, our communities, and our world were top of mind in 2021—and we did our best to serve each of these groups. Read some highlights from our CSR report below or download the full report to see all that we were able to accomplish in 2021.

Read the full report

Supporting Our People

Our employees and our culture are the heart and soul of Progress. So, how did we help our employees and culture flourish in 2021?

First, we did a lot of work to define who we are as an employer and trusted software provider. Our new brand values, ProgressPROUD, demonstrate the value we place on the people who make Progress and represent the fundamental principles that guide our actions.

Throughout the ongoing pandemic, we also took steps to ensure all Progress employees had the resources they needed to stay productive and physically well.

To improve employees’ mental health during this time, the Progress Global Well-Being Program launched a series of initiatives and approaches that focused on physical, mental, and financial wellness. From regional and departmental team-building activities, to care packages and corporate-sponsored gift deliveries to employees throughout the year, this program helped our people feel and stay connected.

On the inclusion and diversity side, we made strides in enhancing the employee experience and embedding inclusion and diversity in our company practices.

With the addition of Dr. Shirley Knowles, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, and Courtney Gagne, Diversity Program Manager, our Inclusion and Diversity Committee, leadership and employee resource groups (ERGs) can more fully support an equitable workplace and a global workforce.

Last year also saw the creation of two new ERGs: ASPIRE (Asian-Pacific Islander community) and Unidos en Progress (Hispanic and Latinx community). They join our four existing ERGs—Progress for Her, Blacks@Progress, Plus, and Veterans@Progress.

All these efforts didn’t go unrecognized: We’re proud to have been named to The Boston Globe’s annual Top Places to Work list for 2021 and certified as a Best Employer by Kincentric in both Bulgaria and the Netherlands for 2021. We also won a Best Employer Award from the Boston Business Journal, and for the first time, we’ve been certified as a Great Place to Work in India by Great Place to Work.

Serving Our Communities

In 2021, Progress donated $400,000 in funds, equipment, supplies and time to 74 charities around the world focused on STEM education, children in need, healthcare advancement and natural disaster relief.

Some of the most hopeful examples include Bulgarian employees who quickly responded to a hate-fueled attack by contributing funds and donating their time to renovate Rainbow Hub, an LGBTQ+ community center. And around the world, employees sponsored the Worthy Web Hackathon, where developers from 83 countries came together to build apps for good.

We also saw the expansion of our Women in STEM Scholarship Series in 2021.

Made up of three geographically dispersed scholarships, this series includes the Mary Székely Scholarship to Women in STEM, awarded to Gavriela Tejedor Meyers; the Women in Tech Scholarship at American University in Bulgaria, awarded to Nadezhda Traykova and Diana Radkova; and the newly established Akanksha Scholarship for Women in STEM in India, awarded to our very first recipient Akhila Karanam.

We also established two scholarships in memory of our valued employees Preslav Kozovski and Peter Raykov, awarded to Ivan Ivanov and Slavi Bozhilov.

Impacting Our World

Progress is committed to improving our office spaces and reducing the company’s carbon footprint to a minimum. We’re doing better than we were in FY 2020, and we’re tracking to beat our target of an 8% energy consumption reduction.

In May 2021, we formed the Earth Team—a group dedicated to promoting sustainable behavior at Progress.

So far, the Earth Team has participated in World Cleanup Day, adopted beehives in the Netherlands and Bulgaria and collaborated on sustainability initiatives with green organizations and government agencies.

Read more about our sustainability plans and strategies in the full CSR report.

Progress for Tomorrow and for the Future

As a global, trusted company, Progress has the responsibility to be transparent to everyone it serves. We will continue to support our people, our communities, and our world with these and other initiatives, all while leaning on our corporate values.

To learn more about how Progress is doing its part, download our full CSR report.

Read the full report