What connects a software company with a feminist foundation? In the case of Adobe Hamburg and filia, there seem to be points of common things. In April, a donation campaign initiated by the company’s Hamburg employees brought in 3,404 euros for women’s projects. Here’s the story behind it:

At the beginning of 2021, Adobe’s Hamburg team approached filia with the idea of a fundraising campaign. A pool of employees* at Adobe’s Hamburg location organized a fundraising campaign around International Women’s Day on March 8, and in the process – this speaks well for filia – they had come across filia.die frauenstiftung. “We regularly donate to local initiatives, for example to the “Tafel” or to a homeless magazine. We found filia to be a good and fitting fit for the topic of women: The foundation is committed to women* in a variety of ways and, like us, is based in Hamburg, but operates internationally,” explains Gesine Grewoldt, a designer at Adobe and volunteer campaign initiator on the Hamburg team.

These employee-initiated fundraising campaigns work like this: Employees at the Hamburg site decide how much they would like to donate individually – Adobe matches this amount, which means the company doubles the sum. The donation recipients receive the sum as a free donation without earmarking. For filia, free donations are always a blessing because they allow us to act flexibly and respond quickly and unbureaucratically to the support needs of our partners*. In times when many women’s organizations are struggling with the covid 19 pandemic, quick assistance is extremely important.

At Adobe, the issue of gender equality is not only reflected in our commitment to donations, but also in our internal structures. As in most software companies, Adobe employs far more men than women – even in the executive ranks – but empowering women is enshrined in the company’s CSR report. In 2019, for example, the company reports that there is no gender pay gap at Adobe.

“There was an initiative at Adobe a few years ago that all women* salaries were checked against men’s salaries for inequality and adjusted. Internal women* networks empower women and Adobe is committed to increasing the percentage of women and making all teams more diverse. Currently, we have a Corona day off every month. In March, it’s announced to be Women’s Day on March 8,” says Gesine Grewoldt, explaining the internal structures. That sounds good and shows that companies today (have to) think about these issues. Thanks to the women’s movement! And filia would like to thank the Hamburg team at Adobe for their commitment and the unexpected donation.