In 2018, employees in the tech department nominated and recognized internal technology playmakers — employees who had either been a role model or were active in driving diversity within the workplace. They also launched an internal mentorship program, focused on accelerating the development of women employees — developers, designers, data scientists and team leaders — in growing their technical and/or leadership career.

With more than 50% of the workforce comprised of women at Agoda, a grassroots women’s network was formed — bringing together women from all departments across the organization. Fireside chat panels are held featuring dynamic women leaders in the organization throughout the year. Agoda’s desire to improve support and recognition of women leaders also led to the launch of its inaugural Women’s Leadership Initiative. The intensive program was driven by a cohort of senior and emerging tech and non-tech leaders with a focus on cross-cultural leadership, unconscious bias and transformations. A second cohort will be launched in 2019.

There was no market for women-driven transportation services in India in 2008, when the company started. As part of the Women on Wheels program, delivered in collaboration with the Azad Foundation, Sakha employed women chauffeurs to provide safe transport to more than one million women across Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Indore over the years. To date, Sakha has provided remunerative employment with dignity in transport to more than 500 women.

Many women drivers trained through Women on Wheels have been able to find jobs as chauffeurs employed by organizations and individuals, bus drivers, valets at prestigious institutions and driving instructors for other women.

Sakha enables resource-poor women in urban India to reclaim their dignity, rebuild their identity and be self-reliant, both socially and financially. By providing safe transport to women, Sakha has also contributed to increased mobility and safety of women in the cities, including foreign female travelers.

Through this program, the company has supported Doctors Without Borders, donating $50,000 at the end of 2018. Other localized projects have taken place across Asia. In the Thailand office, more than 70 employees got together for the Give a Dam project, where employees built a check-dam in the Phetchaburi forest to help sustain wildlife in the forest.

In Myanmar, the Agoda team held an event in collaboration with Thant Myanmar to raise awareness on reducing plastic usage in the tourism sector. Employees provided training and toolkits and helped Agoda hotel partners set commitments to reduce single-use plastics in their properties. 71 hotels participated, and 73% set plastic reduction commitments.

In Singapore, the team participated in the AmCham Walk for Rice event, contributing one bowl of rice for every 100m walked.

There have also been numerous other local efforts in India, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, as Agoda continues to support issues that matter to the different markets in their own unique ways.

The company’s Mental Health First Aiders programs supports colleagues suffering from mental health issues by introducing them to practical steps they can take to maintain good mental health. In addition, the organization is equipping managers with the information they need to spot and handle employee mental health issues.

To reduce the stigma, Rentalcars.com has focused on raising consciousness of this often-misunderstood issue. During Mental Health Awareness Week, employees took advantage of onsite massage therapists and workshops on resilience, stress, anxiety, meditation, yoga and mindfulness. During that week, colleagues were encouraged to share their own stories. The positive reception to these stories modeled that it was OK to discuss mental health and that the company is there to offer support to ensure the good mental health and wellbeing of employees.

OpenTable sits at the center of a marketplace between diners and restaurants. With this in mind, the brand conceived of a campaign to allow diners to tap into the season of giving while leveraging OpenTable’s strong diner and restaurant networks. For two weeks, starting on Giving Tuesday, OpenTable diners were able to donate their OpenTable Dining Points to the Share the Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign.

The results of the 2018 campaign far exceeded expectations: At the campaign’s conclusion, 28,000+ people donated a total of 2,480,000 meals. When added with the 250,000-meal match by OpenTable, the campaign generated a total of 2,730,000 meals. With an initial goal for this campaign to generate 500,000 meals total, the campaign exceeded its goal.