Read about the company’s commitment to the communities we live in.

Corporate Responsibility 

Community

Last year, more than 67% of our team members participated in our volunteering and giving programs, logging 8,300 hours globally for the causes that matter to them. This showcases just how much Team Gen values giving in our communities. As we challenge ourselves to expand our programs, we listened to employee feedback to make community service easier and more personal to local needs. &nbsp;We’re excited to introduce Passion to Purpose, the newest addition to our suite of volunteering and giving opportunities. This program allows employees all over the world to apply for Gen grants, which go to a nonprofit of their choice, and organize volunteer projects using the company’s reach and resources. &nbsp;&nbsp;Together with our ongoing mentorship programs, which help employees put their skills and expertise to use in service to others; Passion to Purpose helps employees lead with heart, take bold action and drive lasting impact. &nbsp;Passion to purpose drives global impact&nbsp;In its first few weeks, Passion to Purpose has inspired employees to organize projects based on local needs. At our office in Chennai, India, our team members partnered with <a href="https://giftabled.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GiftAbled</a> to host a workshop on creating an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. More than 30 employees attended the session, which also included an Indian Sign Language training.&nbsp;&nbsp;Additionally, our MoneyLion office in Kuala Lumpur planned a hands-on volunteer experience to support indigenous communities and other community members in Peninsular Malaysia. The team partnered with local organization <a href="https://epic.my/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">EPIC</a> (Extraordinary People Impacting Communities), bringing together 70 employees for a two-day interactive workshop called The Good Builder. &nbsp;Guided by experts, the MoneyLion team were trained to use various hand and power tools. This training enabled them to assemble 32 chairs, 32 tables, and six bookshelves for students at the Subang Bestari 2 National School, fulfilling a critical need for safe, sturdy classroom furniture. The training also certifies MoneyLion volunteers for future builds with EPIC Homes, a program that provides indigenous communities in Malaysia with safe homes that can be built in just three days. &nbsp;Gen supported both events through grant funding and paid time off for team members to volunteer.&nbsp;

Cyber skills for the next generation&nbsp;Through Passion to Purpose, Gen team members are also taking advantage of multiple opportunities to use their skills to volunteer, often in the form of mentorship programs to support students and emerging tech professionals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Through our partnership with <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/hbcu-heroes-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">HBCU Heroes</a>, Gen volunteers meet quarterly with students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that are about to enter the workforce. The most recent session focused on mapping out students’ desired career journeys, and the final session will include mock interviews and prep for job hunting as students embark on their professional lives. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, we hosted a reverse mentoring session with GirlBoss New Zealand. Gen provided full scholarships to 31 students, allowing them to attend the organization’s 10-day school holiday program. Through the program, young women were provided with a mentor and growth opportunities to build their confidence and leadership skills. We have also teamed up with <a href="https://latinageeks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">#LatinaGeeks</a> for workshops during National Hispanic Heritage Month to help Latinas build confidence and sharpen their professional communication and public speaking skills.&nbsp;These efforts complement our signature partnerships with <a href="https://women4cyber.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Women4Cyber</a> and <a href="https://www.czechitas.cz/kurzy/digitalni-akademie-data" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Czechitas</a> to close the cybersecurity talent gap. Through a year-round mentorship program with Women4Cyber and a six-month studying and mentorship intensive with Czechitas, Gen employees work directly with women in Europe, providing them with the tools needed to enter the IT industry. &nbsp;For more on how Gen team members make a difference in their communities, visit our <a href="https://s201.q4cdn.com/771113172/files/doc_downloads/2025/06/Gen-Social-Impact-Report-2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Social Impact Report</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.&nbsp;

Our newest program lets employees take the lead on making a difference in their communities

Team Gen turns their passions into purpose

Digital citizenship programs help students all over the world become the leaders of tomorrow through building their skills to safely and effectively leverage technology in our digital-first world. Recent studies from <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/digital-citizenship-curriculum-impact-report_june-2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Common Sense Media</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40688-023-00465-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Contemporary School Psychology</a> documented benefits not just to students’ digital know-how but also their critical thinking and social skills. The more we depend on technology, the better we need to serve our students by giving them the tools to thrive in the digital world.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s why we’re proud to celebrate two years of impact through our partnership with <a href="https://www.discoveryeducation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Discovery Education</a>, the creator of essential PreK-12 learning solutions used in classrooms around the world. Together with the <a href="https://naaweb.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Afterschool Association</a>, we created <a href="https://mydigitallife.discoveryeducation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">My Digital Life</a>, a free platform that provides grade 3-8 educators with lesson plans, videos and interactive tools meant to address common issues young people face online, from cyberbullying and privacy risks to misinformation and scams.&nbsp;&nbsp;This fall, we’re also excited to launch new curricula focused on AI and join Discovery Education’s <a href="https://digitalcitizenship.discoveryeducation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Digital Citizenship</a> initiative, a nationwide effort to put resources about media literacy and digital safety into the hands of teachers, administrators, parents, families, caregivers and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;Building Students’ Digital Safety Skills&nbsp;In the 2024-2025 school year alone, My Digital Life reached more than 180,000 students in 652school districts across 46 states. Roughly 59% of these students were from Title I schools, which are districts allocated federal funds for education programs and schools that close achievement gaps.&nbsp;&nbsp;The program also launched internationally, expanding into schools across the United Kingdom and offering content in Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, French and German. These combined efforts bring the total number of students reached to nearly 415,000 in just two years. &nbsp;Keeping Pace with New Technologies&nbsp;Norton, one of our trusted Cyber Safety brands, not only offers technical support for My Digital Life but also consults on curriculum development as new digital trends and technologies emerge, including artificial intelligence (AI). Discovery Ed’s new video series introduces students to “Artie Fischal,” the character who will help illustrate how to use AI responsibly and safely. Lessons will cover the benefits of AI—such as how it can help with productivity and efficiency—as well as what today’s students need to be aware of, including algorithm bias, inaccurate responses and privacy/safety concerns.&nbsp;&nbsp;Supporting Nonprofits and Community Organizations&nbsp;In addition to our signature digital education and training partnerships, we also support education organizations in communities all over the world through volunteering, giving and product donations. Recently, we donated <a href="https://www.avast.com/en-us/business/products/essential#mac" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avast Essential Business Security</a> to <a href="https://www.srec.education/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shree Raj Education Centre</a>, which provides schooling in a remote, rural region of Maharashtra, India. This free antivirus software, in the words of the school’s administrator, helped expand the students’ digital freedom and allowed them to explore the internet safely.&nbsp;For more on how we provide digital education and training, check out our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Social Impact Report</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate-advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. &nbsp;

We partner with Discovery Education to bring digital citizenship and AI readiness into the classroom

Preparing students to excel in a technology-driven world

Head of Corporate Responsibility and Public Policy

<a href="https://www.moneylion.com/learn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financial wellness</a> is a holistic approach to managing money and spending. It isn’t based solely on the size or makeup of a person’s bank account but focuses on managing the stress of finances and helping people find stability they can build on.&nbsp;&nbsp;Financial wellness also goes hand in hand with digital wellness. Safeguarding your identity and protecting banking apps from cybersecurity threats is a vital piece. Identity theft, scams, and cybercrime are not just security issues. They can be major financial disruptors that can derail household stability, delay life milestones, and disproportionately impact vulnerable communities.&nbsp;Gen recently acquired <a href="https://www.moneylion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MoneyLion</a>, a financial wellness company with a mission to give everyone the power to make their best money decisions—including women, who are often disproportionately displaced from conversations about financial literacy. In fact, MoneyLion’s <a href="https://moneylion.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/pdf/HIW_WhitePaper_Combined_PDF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Health is Wealth</a> report found that women are more likely to report increased stress and anxiety, and delay or skip mental health care due to inflation than men.&nbsp;&nbsp;To that end, MoneyLion has introduced several tools and channels for women to learn, share strategies and take charge of their financial futures. <a href="https://www.moneylion.com/learn/women-who-roar/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Women Who Roar</a> is a dedicated MoneyLion blog where women can find career tips, discuss financial topics and connect on new job opportunities. The blog features success stories from women entrepreneurs, suggestions for how to negotiate better salaries, interactive capabilities that allow women to start conversations and learn from one another’s expertise, and more. <a href="https://www.moneylion.com/learn/introducing-no-stupid-questions-season-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">No Stupid Questions</a>, a similar project, is a video series MoneyLion spearheaded on TikTok with influencer Lea Landaverde. The series answers finance-related questions from real people in under 2 minutes, avoiding jargon and crafting clear, actionable advice.&nbsp;&nbsp;We’re shining a spotlight on these initiatives for Women’s Equality Day to showcase our commitment to empowering women. This annual day of awareness commemorates the passage of women’s suffrage in the United States and aims to uplift and celebrate women, focusing on past achievements and what is needed to make strides in the future. Part of the focus is on the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X22000515" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wealth gap</a> between men and women, which has been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7758/rsf.2016.2.6.01?seq=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">getting wider</a> in the United States. With MoneyLion, we’re working to equip girls and young women with a roadmap to financial wellness and even more importantly, financial equality.&nbsp;To further mark the occasion, Gen has organized volunteer events across the company this fall to support women in our communities. These include a reverse mentoring session with <a href="https://www.girlboss.nz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GirlBoss New Zealand</a> to engage Gen Z leaders to co-create bold, practical solutions for real-world challenges, and a women-focused public speaking workshop with <a href="https://latinageeks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">#LatinaGeeks</a> for National Hispanic Heritage Month in October. In addition, our longstanding partners <a href="https://sites.google.com/czechitas.cz/informace-pro-partnery-da/zapojen%C3%AD-partnersk%C3%A9-firmy?authuser=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Czechitas</a> and <a href="https://women4cyber.eu/mentorship-programme-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Women4Cyber</a> will launch their mentorship programs’ new cohorts in the coming months, continuing to connect new generations of women with the training they need to succeed in the cybersecurity industry.&nbsp;Gen also continues to carry out our Pledge to the European Commission Digital Skills and Jobs Platform to train more women for success in cybersecurity and continues to build a pipeline of cybersecurity talent through women-focused partnerships with Women4Cyber, Czechitas, Nasscom, and more. For other examples of how we empower women at Gen and in our communities, please read our <a href="https://s201.q4cdn.com/771113172/files/doc_downloads/ESG/2025/06/Gen-Social-Impact_Report_2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Social Impact Report.</a>&nbsp;

How we empower girls and young women to take control of their financial and digital lives

Celebrating the Power of Financial Literacy

Technology is an integral part of the modern classroom. Kids of all ages use new devices to enhance their learning, and these days, that includes artificial intelligence. In 2024, a Harvard University study <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/09/students-are-using-ai-already-heres-what-they-think-adults-should-know" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found</a> that 51% of young people surveyed have used generative AI, most often to get information or help brainstorm ideas, and 31% use it for its creative potential, like making music or images. While AI has its risks, like scams or inappropriate content, using it responsibly can have significant benefits.&nbsp;That’s why Norton, one of our trusted Cyber Safety brands, partners with the <a href="https://www.wagggs.org/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts</a> (WAGGGS) and has released a new version of the Surf Smart 2.0 curriculum, updated to include information on AI literacy and how to get the most out of AI tools. WAGGGS estimates that the new curriculum and its associated programs has the potential to reach more than 90,000 girls and young women around the world, equipping them with the skills they need to get the most out of their digital lives in an ever-evolving tech landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;Empowering Girls to Surf Smart&nbsp;Norton has worked with WAGGGS on digital education and training projects for more than a decade. Following the initial Surf Smart program, <a href="https://www.wagggs.org/en/what-we-do/surf-smart-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Surf Smart 2.0</a> launched in 2021 as a badge-earning course designed to empower girls and young women with digital safety skills.&nbsp;&nbsp;The program has impacted an estimated 880,000 young people to date, and from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, WAGGGS directly reached more than 219,000 girls and young women with Surf Smart 2.0 digital education programming globally.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Norton continues to provide technical support and curriculum consultations for Surf Smart 2.0, which is available free to all on <a href="https://campfire.wagggs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Campfire</a>, WAGGGS’ online hub. The latest version, which includes the AI education modules, can be accessed here.&nbsp;&nbsp;As the program continues, it will also expand advocacy opportunities to more girls and young women globally. Through the launch of a new advocacy toolkit and curriculum, Surf Smart will help them design and implement action campaigns and community-led projects designed to make the internet a safer place for girls, addressing issues such as online harassment, digital privacy and gender-based discrimination. Surf Smart has also been shortlisted in the Big Impact category for this year’s <a href="https://www.thirdsectorawards.com/shortlist-2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Third Sector Awards</a>, the winners of which will be announced in September. &nbsp;Providing Tools for Digital Safety&nbsp;Our partnership with WAGGGS is a key component of our broader efforts to equip individuals, families and vulnerable and under-resourced communities with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate the digital world securely and responsibly.&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition to our work with nonprofits, we also carry out our purpose to Power Digital Freedom through products like <a href="https://us.norton.com/promo/paid-search/products-norton-360-deluxe-refresh?promocode=BPSOFFER?nortoncountry=us&amp;om_sem_cid=hho_sem_sy:~en-us_nor_n36_sch_brn_exc_nfr_adw_dtp_low:n360_top~c_kw0000000559&amp;cq_src=google_ads&amp;cq_cmp=176037316&amp;cq_net=g&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=176037316&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAD4v9n1TgYhnm-6BSr67OAD7KbvZU&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwprjDBhBTEiwA1m1d0u4DiZuVswRC6EwKQJhT0K8DataykElY-f3V3l0HBfhVCcLqH7llwBoCEUsQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Norton 360</a>, which provides real-time protection against scams, viruses, malware and ransomware. This now includes <a href="https://us.norton.com/blog/online-scams/norton-genie" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Genie Scam Protection</a>, an AI-powered defense against scams, as well as a VPN, <a href="https://us.norton.com/feature/parental-control" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Parental Control</a> and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For more digital safety resources as kids head back to school, check out Norton’s recent <a href="https://us.norton.com/blog/family-safety/norton-report-connected-kids" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.&nbsp;

We partner with World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to kick off the school year digitally safe

Making AI Education Part of Back-to-School Prep

Today, we released our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Social Impact Report</a>, sharing all of the ways we’re powering Digital Freedom for our business, our people and our world. &nbsp;&nbsp;Over the past year, our leaders, teams and partners have come together to deliver real results for communities across the globe. Our education and training programs, as well as our product donation efforts, have meaningfully expanded access to digital tools. And our employees continue to embody the culture of giving that lies at the heart of everything we do.&nbsp;&nbsp;We have refined our report content this year in response to the evolving legal and regulatory environment in the U.S. with respect to sustainability disclosure best practices. Many of our key stakeholders, including our employees, customers, investors and regulators around the world, consider information on our sustainability and social impact programs useful and important to their decision-making processes. This annual public reporting effort is a critical tool to foster trust with these stakeholders and aligns with our core company values.&nbsp;As our industry and our society evolve, our social impact programs continue to add value to our organization in new and unexpected ways. To illustrate this, we’re excited to share just a few highlights from our social impact programs, which you can read more about in our report.&nbsp;&nbsp;Powering Digital Freedom&nbsp;We empower nearly 500 million users with our award-winning technology solutions that help protect their personal information, finances and more so they can live their digital lives confidently.&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition to blocking more than 14.5 billion attacks in the last year and devoting 8% of our revenue to research and development, we reached 8,780 nonprofits with free or significantly discounted products, extending cutting-edge protections to organizations serving critical community functions around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We also demonstrated dedication to strong governance structures and ethical leadership, which foster accountability, transparency and long-term sustainability across our operations. 80% of our Board of Directors are independent, and 100% of active employees completed our annual Code of Conduct training, and we expanded our approach to and tools for responsible artificial intelligence.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Powering passion and purpose&nbsp;Everything at Gen starts with our people. We come to work every day with a sense of shared passion and purpose that encourages collaboration, enables growth and drives outcomes.&nbsp;&nbsp;This year, we expanded Learn@Gen, our Learning and Development strategy, which combines regular coaching and performance feedback with flexible, self-guided eLearning opportunities. We also launched Leading@Gen, a new program providing regular on-site learning experiences for our People Leaders.&nbsp;&nbsp;Efforts like these continue to result in high engagement. More than 97%1 of team members participated in our global Engage surveys, conducted periodically throughout the year, and they gave the company a +28 eNPS score for how likely they are to recommend Gen as a place of work for family and friends.&nbsp;Powering protection at scale&nbsp;As a leader in consumer Cyber Safety and Trust-Based Solutions, we equip individuals, families and vulnerable communities with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate the digital world securely and responsibly.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In partnership with leading nonprofits like Discovery Education, National PTA and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, we reached more than 5.4 million children, young people, teachers, parents and family members with our digital education and training efforts in 2025. And nearly 67% of our global employee population participated in our volunteering and giving programs, our highest participation rate on record.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Protecting our world also means helping protect the planet. We’ve successfully reduced our Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 12% in the last year alone, and we completed more than 2,000 projects as part of our Sustainable Home Improvement Program for employees.&nbsp;&nbsp;We believe technology and the internet, when used safely, are some of our world’s most powerful tools for progress. To learn more about how we turn this belief into action, we invite you to read more in our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Social Impact Report</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Powering Digital Freedom for our teams, communities and world 

Our 2025 social impact report is available now

At Gen, we’re committed to creating an environment where each person can be heard and valued. Embracing a variety of perspectives fuels our innovation and strengthens us as a team, allowing everyone to continue to learn from each other. June marks LGBTQ+ Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and progress made in the struggle for equal rights while reflecting on the work still needed to achieve full inclusion.&nbsp;&nbsp;Since its founding in 2011, the <a href="https://www.pridebusinessforum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pride Business Forum</a> (PBF) has collaborated with businesses across Czechia to make their workplaces more supportive for LGBTQ+ people. The organization provides workshops, toolkits and other resources to help companies foster positive corporate cultures as well as policies and programs that work for everyone.&nbsp;&nbsp;Avast, one of our Cyber Safety brands, has been a member of the Pride Business Forum since 2020. Our support, which includes donations to the PBF Fund, enhances the organization’s work to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ professionals throughout Czechia, where acceptance of queer individuals remains a challenge. &nbsp;&nbsp;“Many of us still have to hide in workplaces,” Czeslaw Walek, Chairman of PBF’s Board of Trustees, said at a recent <a href="https://www.pridebusinessforum.com/en/novinky/pride-business-forum-cocktail-a-powerful-night-for-lgbtq-support/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">event</a>. “And in small towns, there isn’t always support. We need businesses and communities to stand by us.”&nbsp;Through our partnership, PBF provides our teams with training sessions led by their in-house experts, consulting hours for Gen HR professionals to ask specific questions and the opportunity to join multiple knowledge-sharing events, including the annual <a href="https://www.pridebusinessforum.com/en/events/past-present-pride-the-annual-pride-business-forum-conference-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pride Business Forum Conference</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Our contributions also support PBF’s efforts to elevate LGBTQ+ experiences in Czechia, such as the organization’s live <a href="https://www.pridebusinessforum.com/en/voices-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voices</a> series. This series features stories from professionals across industries who have come out at work and awards for companies leading the charge for LGBTQ+ workplace equality.&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition to these efforts, we support <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Trevor Project</a> and <a href="https://www.trevorspace.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TrevorSpace</a>, the organization’s affirming online community for LGBTQ+ young people. TrevorSpace has welcomed 37,500 new users over the past year, bringing its total number of lifetime users to more than 690,000 in more than 200 countries.&nbsp;&nbsp;For more on how we help all of our employees thrive at work, check out our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/inclusion-and-belonging/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Belonging strategy</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Our work with Pride Business Forum supports LGBTQ+ employees in Czechia

Fostering positive corporate cultures

For the second year in a row, Gen team members from around the world came together for our annual Global Volunteer Week, seven full days of service that support the communities where we work and live.&nbsp;&nbsp;Through a combination of in-person and virtual events, more than 600 employees logged roughly 1,800 volunteer hours in support of 37 nonprofits. These figures represent an 11% increase over 2024 in terms of the number of people participating and a 35% increase in the total number of volunteer hours, making May 18-24, 2025, seven of the most impactful days in Gen’s history.&nbsp;&nbsp;Highlights from these events, which spanned 13 Gen sites across three continents, are included below. They demonstrate the strength of our company-wide culture of giving, which remains at the heart of everything we do, and partly comprise the consistent yearly increase in Gen employees’ annual volunteer hours, which are up 35% since 2024 and 75% since 2023.&nbsp;

<h2>Supporting Vulnerable Populations&nbsp;</h2>Teams all over the world rallied their collective efforts in service of our communities’ most vulnerable members, from survivors of domestic violence to adults with disabilities and many more. Examples of these activities include:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>Through collaborations with <a href="https://nnedv.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Network to End Domestic Violence</a> and <a href="https://projecthelping.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Project Helping</a>, team members across every single one of our U.S. sites, as well as our remote U.S. employees, packed 500 backpacks filled with essential items and uplifting notes for survivors of domestic violence.</li><li>Our team members in Brno, Czechia, spent a day cleaning and conducting site maintenance at <a href="https://www.dumprojulii.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">House for Juliet</a>, Czechia’s hospice care center for children. After the staff mentioned a shortage of equipment, Brno staff subsequently donated multiple laptops and monitors. &nbsp;</li><li>Teams in Tempe, Arizona, and Plano, Texas, respectively packed nearly 42,000 meals for <a href="https://www.fmsc.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Feed My Starving Children</a> and sorted more than 15,500 meals for <a href="https://ntfb.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">North Texas Food Bank</a>. Mountain View, California, employees cooked and served 150 dinner plates for families at <a href="https://rmhcbayarea.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ronald McDonald House Charities Bay Area</a>. &nbsp;</li><li>More than 50 team members supported people with disabilities through in-person and virtual sessions led by <a href="https://www.accel.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ACCEL</a>. In-person volunteers visited ACCEL’s adult education services, and remote volunteers led a virtual round of Jeopardy to help boost the players’ confidence. &nbsp;</li><li>To care for elder populations, volunteers at the NAM Sales kickoff wrote 100 cards to seniors facing isolation, and in Chennai, India, volunteers visited an elder care home and spent the day with the patients there.&nbsp;</li></ul>“The shelter was filled with laughter, music and connection,” said Dinesh Bhalaji who volunteered in Chennai. “We played Tambola, danced together and most importantly, we made some wonderful new friends. It was a reminder that somethings, the simplest gestures can bring immense joy to someone else.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>&nbsp;</h2>

<h2>Protecting Local Habitats&nbsp;</h2>We have a long history of supporting our plant and animal neighbors as part of our volunteer efforts, and this year was no different. Employes in Dublin, Tempe, Brno and Prague convened at animal shelters, zoos and equestrian centers to beautify the grounds and help make the physical environments as safe and comfortable as possible for both the animals and their visitors. Similar efforts include tree planting, beautification of a learning center in Bucharest to support children and families, sprucing up the outdoor space for <a href="https://palata.cz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Palata Home for the Visually Impaired</a> in Prague and more. &nbsp;

<h2>Empowering the Next Generation&nbsp;</h2>Teams in multiple countries used Global Volunteer Week as an opportunity to reach out to children and young people. They shared their enthusiasm for reading as well as their expertise in digital safety, and they prepared school supply kits for students starting or returning to school next year. Examples include:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<ul><li>Team members in Dublin participated in a CyberSafe Kids workshop, providing a fun, informative session to help protect youth in Ireland from online scams and cyber threats.</li><li>Chennai volunteers helped design educational games about financial literacy to help teach children about saving, spending and budgeting.</li><li>More than 100 Chennai volunteers assembled nearly 500 school supply kits, helping students have what they need to start the school year with confidence.</li><li>Through <a href="https://afft.org.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Food for Thought</a>, virtual volunteers created heartfelt, encouraging cards for school-age children in South Africa.</li><li>Team members took part in events encouraging students to read, including a virtual read-a-thon with <a href="https://www.ourkidsread.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Our Kids Read</a>.&nbsp;</li></ul>Additional events in Serbia, Romania and beyond saw Gen team members continue to work in support of the causes and organizations that they care about. For more information on our volunteering and giving programs, read our latest <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Social Impact Report</a>. &nbsp;

Team members supported 37 nonprofits with more than 1,800 volunteer hours

Gen expands impact during second global volunteer week

At Gen, we believe that everyone should feel safe and able to take full advantage of the digital world. The knowledge that our personal data and financial information are protected brings invaluable peace of mind, and we aim to provide that sense of confidence to individuals across the globe, including members of our most vulnerable communities.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s why we work with organizations like the <a href="https://nnedv.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Network to End Domestic Violence</a> (NNEDV), the leading voice in the United States for domestic violence survivors and their advocates. Together, we’ve joined the fight against technology abuse, a growing part of domestic violence that often includes online stalking, identity theft or financial abuse.&nbsp;&nbsp;Through product donations and volunteer initiatives, we’ve helped raise awareness of tech-facilitated abuse, created tools that make survivors’ lives online safer and more private, and continued to support our nonprofit partners serving these communities on the ground.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Providing Survivors with Tools to Help Stay Cyber Safe&nbsp;</h2>In 2024, we launched a <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/product-donations-domestic-violence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">targeted donation program</a> through our partnership with <a href="https://www.techsoup.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TechSoup</a> to provide more than 3,700 Norton product licenses to domestic violence survivors across the U.S. TechSoup helps facilitate the donations to the <a href="https://www.safesheltercollaborative.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Safe Shelter Collaborative</a>, which in turn delivers the products to survivors through its network of member organizations.&nbsp;&nbsp;The donated products include Norton 360 Deluxe, which can prevent activity or location tracking, information theft, installation of malicious programs and uninvited changes to devices, and Norton Secure VPN, which protects the user’s online privacy by hiding the computer’s address from websites visited from any device.&nbsp;&nbsp;NNEDV, which represents the 56 U.S. state and territorial domestic violence coalitions, who in turn represent more than 2,000 local programs and the millions of survivors they serve annually, also collaborates on the donation program.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Coming Together to Support Survivors&nbsp;</h2>Gen team members from across the company have volunteered their time and effort in service of survivors through a series of recent events. In April, our Head of Corporate Responsibility and our Director of AI &amp; Innovation spoke alongside NNEDV representatives on a <a href="https://events.techsoup.org/events/details/techsoup-techsoup-events-and-webinars-presents-increasing-privacy-online-supporting-survivors-of-domestic-violence-in-the-digital-age/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">virtual panel</a> about how to support domestic violence survivors in the digital age.&nbsp;&nbsp;The conversation covered the threats that survivors face online, how to identify tech-facilitated abuse when it happens and how advocates can help survivors increase their digital privacy. The event also shone a spotlight on some of the digital resources we’ve co-created with NNEDV, such as the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51dc541ce4b03ebab8c5c88c/t/662bd1d57985a514ed7e1765/1714147797437/Financial+Abuse+and+Technology_FINAL_Gen.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Financial Abuse and Technology Guide</a> and the <a href="https://www.techsafety.org/securingdevicesaccounts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Securing Devices and Accounts Guide</a>. These tools are in addition to our $100,000 annual grant to NNEDV, supporting the organization’s <a href="https://nnedv.org/content/technology-safety/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Safety Net</a> technology abuse response initiative as well as its <a href="https://nnedv.org/about-dv/dv-economic-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Economic Justice</a> program.&nbsp;Subsequently, Gen team members at every one of our U.S. locations, including our new MoneyLion offices in New York and New Jersey, as well as our remote U.S. employees, participated in events facilitated by <a href="https://www.visit.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visit.org</a> that benefited domestic violence survivors as part of our 2025 Global Volunteer Week. Together, Gen volunteers assembled nearly 500 backpacks for survivors that included food, hygiene items and physical copies of the resources we developed with NNEDV to help survivors stay safe online. This meaningful partnership with NNEDV helped enhance the impact of the events and further spread the word about the organization’s critical work.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I grew up in and used to work in shelters around New York, so I know how much this means," said one volunteer. "We wrote messages for survivors and packed kits with everyday essentials... And it was great to be able to do good alongside coworkers."&nbsp;These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Gen provides backpacks filled with essential items and encouraging messages to survivors

Domestic violence survivor support 

Our culture of giving is one of the defining aspects of life at Gen. All over the world, our team members find myriad ways to get involved with the causes they care about, from in-person volunteering to virtual skills sharing to targeted donation campaigns and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;This spirit of service was on full display over the past year of business. Between April 2024 and March 2025, more than 67% of our global workforce took part in our Giving@Gen program, our highest participation rate to date. Team members logged upwards of 8,300 volunteer hours and donated nearly $153,000 to 1,710 nonprofits.&nbsp;&nbsp;To celebrate these milestones, we’re taking a moment to recognize our employees for making such a positive impact. Thanks to their passion and dedication, we’re proud to see our culture of giving continue to grow and thrive.&nbsp;&nbsp;Coming Together to Make a Difference&nbsp;In-person volunteering is one of the ways our team members contribute to their local communities. In addition to organizing company-wide events such as our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/volunteer-week-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Volunteer Week</a> and <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/holiday-giving-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">holiday giving campaigns</a>, we empower our local sites to find opportunities that resonate with their employees.&nbsp;For example, volunteers at our Dublin office partnered with a <a href="https://www.stphilipsjns.ie/news/time-to-read-visits/?p=1&amp;" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">local elementary </a>school for <a href="https://bitc.ie/programmes/education-programmes/time-to-read/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Time to Read</a>, a nationwide literacy program that aims to address disparities in education. As part of the program, volunteers took a group of students to their local library and later welcomed them to the Gen office to learn Cyber Safety skills and more about what we do each day.&nbsp;&nbsp;“I volunteered with Time to Read not only because I love working with kids but also because encouraging them to engage with reading is such a great opportunity,” said Márcio Barros, a web producer at Gen Dublin. “I wish I had something like this when I was a kid.”Efforts at other sites include a “Girls in Tech” event in March at our Chennai, India office. There, team members welcomed students from nearby colleges for a day of in-depth cybersecurity training, with the aim of expanding the talent pool for the country’s <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/india-impact-women-2023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">growing tech industry</a>. This office has the highest giving program participation rate across the company and holds regular events to support nonprofits such as <a href="https://www.bhumi.ngo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bhumi</a> and <a href="https://www.teameverest.ngo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Team Everest</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;Additionally, nearly 100 team members at our U.S. sites in Mountain View, CA, Tempe, AZ, and Plano, TX, spent a March afternoon assembling and decorating “superhero boxes” of essential items, creative toys and art supplies designed to empower children in the foster care system in collaboration with <a href="https://fosterlove.com/about-us/?utm_source=google_ad_grant&amp;utm_medium=google&amp;utm_campaign=foster_love_branded_about_us&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_term=foster%20love&amp;utm_campaign=*ESP+-+Volunteer&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_kw=foster%20love&amp;hsa_mt=b&amp;hsa_acc=2425172426&amp;hsa_grp=154305710788&amp;hsa_ad=647099349302&amp;hsa_cam=13748299833&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-300220102697&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwktO_BhBrEiwAV70jXnXaRJ-cTrFwFFqMM2OAQgqvbPLDVGc--gxY0BbTi-68zl9Hvsq8JBoCmGQQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Foster Love</a>.&nbsp;

Making a Deeper Connection&nbsp;In addition to in-person volunteering and donations, our team members volunteer to serve on boards and put their day-to-day skills to use for causes they care about.&nbsp;Utam Reddy, our Head of Partnership Sales for North America, joined the board of the <a href="https://centerforchildprotection.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Center for Child Protection</a>, an organization based in Austin, Texas, that provides healing and prevention services for abused children.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Being on the board has been a great way to donate my time and skills to an important nonprofit in my community,” said Reddy. “I attend monthly board meetings and serve additional time on the finance/audit committee, and I appreciate Gen’s donation that I can give back to the Center.”&nbsp;Our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/hbcu-heroes-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work with HBCU Heroes</a> pairs Gen mentors from across the company with students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to offer career advice and skills development as they prepare to enter the professional world. This skills-based volunteering offering allows Gen team members to share their expertise both with the HBCU students and each other. Volunteers first undergo training from our People &amp; Culture team and Talent Acquisition partners to enhance their abilities to set the students up for professional success. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This practice of peer-to-peer skills volunteering has continued across the company. Bogomil Shopov, Program Management Director of Digital Trust Service, is currently leading a global community of remote volunteers through workshops on how to use <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenStreetMap</a>. Together, they participate in challenges such as mapping freshwater resources and underrepresented rural areas to enhance resource management, environmental conservation and data-driven decision-making.&nbsp;Employees also lend their expertise to our nonprofit partners. Iskander Sanchez-Rola, our Director of AI and Innovation, spoke on a <a href="https://events.techsoup.org/events/details/techsoup-techsoup-events-and-webinars-presents-increasing-privacy-online-supporting-survivors-of-domestic-violence-in-the-digital-age/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">webinar</a> hosted by <a href="https://www.techsoup.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TechSoup</a> supporting our <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/stalking-awareness-month-2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">targeted product donation campaign</a> to the <a href="https://nnedv.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Network to End Domestic Violence</a> (NNEDV), and team members across the company can volunteer through <a href="https://careerconnect.discoveryeducation.com/pages/15fe68f2-26af-4484-9325-385b1aa9d34c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Career Connect</a> from Discovery Education to give virtual presentations about their jobs to classrooms around the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;All of our Giving@Gen efforts are designed to empower our teams to use their skills, time and passions to make a positive impact. We’re grateful to our employees for an incredible year of service and are excited to continue to offer exciting giving opportunities in the years to come.These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.  &nbsp;

Gen team members make fiscal 2025 our most impactful yet

The Gen culture of giving continues to grow

Sr. Manager, CR and Environment

Every year, International Women’s Day serves as a powerful reminder of the progress women have made through the years—while also shining a light on the barriers that still prevent many women from reaching their full potential. In the tech industry, women still make up a small portion of the workforce. A McKinsey <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/women-in-tech-the-best-bet-to-solve-europes-talent-shortage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> found that women occupy only 22% of all tech roles across European companies, with even <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/industry/news/women-in-tech-india-diversity-growth-2027-data-science-cybersecurity-ai-124121700572_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fewer</a> women working similar jobs in India. &nbsp;At Gen, we’re doing our part to change that. <a href="https://studies/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Studies</a> show that the global cybersecurity workforce will need to grow by roughly 4 million more jobs to keep pace with industry expansion. We believe women can be an important part of addressing the talent shortage. Hiring qualified women in technical roles helps our company continue to make products and solutions that work for all the customers we serve. That’s why we partner with Czechitas, Women4Cyber and NASSCOM Foundation to deliver cybersecurity workforce training that increases access for women. &nbsp;Expanding Women’s Access to Valuable Tech Training&nbsp;One of our nonprofit partners is <a href="https://www.czechitas.cz/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Czechitas</a>, an organization in Czechia that operates several upskilling programs for women looking to embark on careers in IT. Its flagship program, the <a href="https://www.czechitas.cz/en-2/courses" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Czechitas Digital Academy</a>, is a three-month intensive in programming, web development and data analysis, with more than 50% of graduates starting IT jobs within six months. &nbsp;Gen donates to Czechitas’ Endowment Fund, which subsidizes women’s tuition costs, and our employees volunteer as teachers and mentors to program participants. The organization has reached more than 76,000 women through its training courses since its founding in 2014. In 2024 alone, our support helped Czechitas:&nbsp;<ul><li>Reach more than 4,200 students across Czechia,</li><li>Deliver more than 4,100 hours of instruction, and</li><li>Achieve a 94% satisfaction rate with Czechitas courses.&nbsp;</li></ul>We also partner with Nasscom<a href="https://%20foundation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> </a><a href="https://www.nasscomfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Foundation</a>, &nbsp;an organization that leverages technology to digitally empower the marginalized communities in India. We are currently working together for a year-round initiative to equip underserved women in Telangana with IT skills, aiming to create pathways for entry-level employment opportunities in the industry.&nbsp;We also partnered with <a href="https://women4cyber.eu/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Women4Cyber</a>, &nbsp;pledging to help close the gender gap in Europe’s tech sector and train more women for success in cybersecurity fields. In 2024 alone, the Foundation mentored more than 800 women. &nbsp;On March 4th, I had the pleasure of leading a panel for Women4Cyber in partnership with LinkedIn. I was joined by three women leaders from across Gen’s operations in France, Czechia and Romania. More than 100 Women4Cyber mentees and alumni attended the event, which focused on solutions to the unique challenges facing women in cybersecurity fields. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Helping Women in Our Communities&nbsp;Gen sites around the world are also celebrating International Women’s Day, rallying support and raising awareness for women in need in offices around the world.In Dublin, employees will welcome a speaker from the Rape Crisis Center and hear more about the organization’s work. Employees in Gen’s Chennai office will volunteer with Team Everest to inspire up to 60 college-aged women to explore careers in technology through mentoring.&nbsp;WONDER, our women-focused employee community, will also host several #IAmRemarkable workshops that aim to celebrate the strengths of women team members and provide valuable opportunities for our employees to network and knowledge share. WONDER is one of the many ways we support women at Gen. For this and other initiatives, Newsweek recently named Gen as one of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/rankings/americas-greatest-workplaces-women-2025" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women 2025</a>, based on metrics such as fair compensation, work-life balance and proactive management of workplace culture. &nbsp;These efforts are part of Gen’s broader purpose to Power Digital Freedom through social impact. For more on our Cyber Safety education and training efforts, visit our latest <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Social Impact Report</a>.&nbsp;These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Gen elevates women and girls in tech through mentoring, training, volunteering and more 

Accelerating action this International Women’s Day 

On the second Tuesday of every February, more than 100 countries around the world come together to celebrate <a href="https://safer.connectsafely.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Safer Internet Day.</a> This global day of awareness aims to empower everyone to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively, especially children and young people.&nbsp;&nbsp;At Gen, Cyber Safety is our focus all year long. Over the past few years, we’ve developed new tools and platforms that address the most common issues that young people face online, from scams to cyberbullying to protecting personal information. We continue to partner with leading nonprofit organizations around the world to provide children, young people and their families with the resources they need to navigate life online with confidence and care.&nbsp;Empowering Kids and Families to Have The Smart Talk&nbsp;Norton, one of our trusted Cyber Safety brands, partners with National PTA to offer <a href="https://thesmarttalk.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Smart Talk</a>, a free resource that helps families have ongoing conversations about how to use the internet responsibly. The platform has grown to more than 12,000 users since launch, and Norton continues to provide technical support, keeping The Smart Talk up to date with the most current information about Cyber Safety best practices. In addition to offering this tool for free online, Norton <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/helping-families-have-a-cyber-safe-school-year" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">makes possible grants to local PTAs</a> to host live PTA Connected: The Smart Talk workshops with parents, children and educators.&nbsp;“The Smart Talk [helped bring] awareness to our families that healthily social media and internet safety is more than just a password,” said one grantee. “This program opened heartfelt, honest conversations and set plans in place to protect one another in an increasingly cyber world.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Helping Young People Build Digital Skills&nbsp;Norton also partners with Discovery Education, a global leader in education technology, on <a href="https://mydigitallife.discoveryeducation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">My Digital Life</a>, a multi-language platform dedicated to enhancing Cyber Safety for children in grades 3-8. The platform contains lesson plans, videos and interactive tools for teachers, students and parents that outline the best ways students can avoid viruses, detect misinformation, protect their privacy and more. My Digital Life expanded into schools across the U.K. in 2024, bringing its total reach to more than 264,000 students globally. The free website is now translated into Spanish and Arabic with French and German being added later this year. Learn more about this partnership <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/discovery-education-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.&nbsp;In India, Norton works with <a href="https://balrakshabharat.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bal Raksha Bharat</a> (BRB), also known as Save the Children – India, to train schoolteachers on how to instill strong digital habits in their students. Over the past year, the program reached more than <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/save-the-children-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10,000 students, parents and educators</a> across 40 schools in Pune, Maharashtra and Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, with tailored lessons for students aged 10-12 and 13-16. Since the program launched in 2021, more than 27,600 children have taken online safety classes, while 1,800 teachers and more than 4,600 parents have also received online safety orientation.&nbsp;Additionally, we recognize that not all young people experience the internet in the same way. For example, young women face a unique set of challenges when navigating life online, and we believe they should have resources that address these needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;That’s why we partner with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to offer <a href="https://www.wagggs.org/en/what-we-do/surf-smart-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Surf Smart 2.0</a>, a unique badge-earning program that gives girls and young women aged 5-25 the basics of Cyber Safety and responsible digital decision-making. Between April 2023 and April 2024, WAGGGS estimates that this partnership has reached more than <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/blog/impact/community/surf-smart-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">42,000 girls and young women</a>, including more than 17,800 who earned the Surf Smart 2.0 badge.&nbsp;In total, since its inception, Surf Smart has empowered over 850,000 young people in over 100 countries, providing them with vital tools to help protect themselves online.&nbsp;We also support The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, who have experienced an <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/transforming-the-trevor-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">increased need for the organization’s services</a> in recent months. We provide ongoing support to The Trevor Project’s affirming online community for LGBTQ+ young people. We also co-developed the organization’s <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/guide/online-safety-for-lgbtq-young-people/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Guide to Online Safety for LGBTQ+ Young People</a>, a free digital resource to help queer young people navigate the digital world. The guide was mentioned in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/national-strategy-suicide-prevention/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention</a> as an example of “What Success Looks Like” in specialty resources for particular communities. &nbsp;We hope this year’s Safer Internet Day continues to inspire a better internet for all. These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. For more on our Cyber Safety education and training efforts, visit our latest <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/social-impact-report/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Social Impact Report</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Gen celebrates Safer Internet Day 

Building a better internet for children and young people

Senior Legal Council at Gen

The theme of this year’s Data Privacy Week is: Take Control of Your Data. At Gen, we want to motivate you to do just that. As every aspect of our lives increasingly moves into the digital realm, understanding data privacy is becoming an essential life skill for all of us. Despite being asked to ‘accept all cookies’ or ‘share location’ daily, many of us are unsure about exactly what these actions do. Once something is posted online, it can remain there indefinitely, and its impact may resurface in unexpected ways. Taking proactive steps now can prevent future regrets.&nbsp;<h2>Push Your Understanding: What Does ‘Accepting all Cookies’ Really Mean?&nbsp;</h2>This action allows a site to track your browsing history, location and other personal data even across other websites. Companies can then use this information to create a profile for you and sell it to advertisers. While in most cases this data is used for legitimate purposes that don’t present any risk to you, in the worst-case scenario, this information could also end up in the hands of cybercriminals.&nbsp;<h2>Going Deeper: Have you Heard of the Privacy Paradox?&nbsp;</h2>There is growing discussion around the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585317302022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Paradox</a>–the discrepancy between our attitude about online privacy and our actual behavior. This manifests as you or I expressing significant privacy concerns but then taking little action to protect ourselves.&nbsp;Several recent surveys indicate that the vast majority of respondents have significant concerns about their online privacy and security. However, these concerns often fail to translate into meaningful action. As an example, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/10/18/how-americans-protect-their-online-data/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to a 2023 report from Pew Research</a>, only 49% of U.S. adults report stopping using a digital device, website or app over worries about how their personal information was being used and only 44% chose to use a browser or search engine that didn’t track activities.&nbsp;Ultimately, we often prioritize convenience while underestimating the risks, especially when the consequences of privacy breaches feel abstract or distant. These risks, however, are tangible and can have real-world implications. For instance, the financial and emotional toll of a ransomware attack is comparable to that of a burglary. Just as we secure our homes, we should approach our digital safety with the same level of seriousness and diligence.&nbsp;<h2>Take Action: Secure Your Data &nbsp;</h2>Data Privacy Week is a great time to take steps to secure your digital footprint. Here are two things you can do in just five minutes to take control of your data. &nbsp;<ol><li>Review and update your privacy settings. Review your privacy settings on major platforms that you use often (for example, social media apps and browsers). Disable unnecessary permissions such as location tracking, microphone access, sharing full photo libraries or sharing personal information.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Clear your cookies and cache. Regularly clearing your cookies and cache helps remove stored data that websites use to track behavior and reduces your digital footprint. Simply click on “Settings” in your browser and navigate over to privacy and security controls to make these changes.&nbsp;</li></ol>At Gen, we’re dedicated to privacy protection and the Cyber Safety of our nearly 500 million users every day. Learn more about our dedication to privacy protection <a href="https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/data-privacy-and-protection/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. And for more tips on how to protect yourself online, check out these posts from two of our trusted Cyber Safety brands <a href="https://www.avast.com/c-topic-privacy-tips" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avast</a> and <a href="https://us.norton.com/blog/privacy/protecting-privacy-social-media" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Norton</a>.&nbsp;