Salesforce awards $1M to not-for-profits focused on encouraging First Nations student outcomes

• Salesforce continues its commitment to education, with a series of unrestricted grants focused on closing the education gap
• DeadlyScience and Aurora Education Foundation will leverage funds to provide students with better educational resources and career pathways

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 28 February 2024 – Salesforce, the #1 AI CRM, has today announced an AUD$1 million contribution through the Salesforce Catalyst Fund and the Salesforce Foundation. The recipients are two Australian not-for-profit organisations, DeadlyScience and Aurora Education Foundation, who are each dedicated to forging pathways to education and career opportunities for First Nations students.

Launched in 2022 and in its third round of funding, the Salesforce Catalyst Fund is a global philanthropic fund dedicated to investing in organisations led by members of underrepresented minorities and serving underrepresented communities. Since its inception in 2000, the Salesforce Foundation has provided over $96 million in grants globally. Both funds aim to counter systemic racial inequities in philanthropic funding by redistributing the flow of money to traditionally underfunded groups including education and STEM programs and workforce development.

“Salesforce is committed to driving equality for all, and these grants are our way of furthering that commitment. We’re proud to support DeadlyScience and the Aurora Education Foundation in our shared vision to create a more equitable Australia,” Frank Fillmann, GM and Executive Vice President, Salesforce Australia and New Zealand

As one of Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisations providing STEM resources and programs to Indigenous students, DeadlyScience will use the funds to provide additional educational support to Indigenous learners in remote communities.

“Our programs aim to celebrate the knowledge of Australia’s First Scientists, developed over 65,000+ years ago, and share this with the next generation of Deadly Scientists. We work with over 800 schools and community organisations across Australia to give students access to vital STEM resources. With the reinvestment from Salesforce, we will be able to move closer to our goal of inspiring more Indigenous students to study and pursue STEM subjects,” said Corey Tutt, Founder and CEO of DeadlyScience.

2024 Aurora US Study Tour Group in Arizona last week.

The new grant from Salesforce will also help the Aurora Education Foundation support First Nations students as they navigate high school right through to the workforce, providing the necessary tools to help students achieve their goals.

“At Aurora, our programs use education as a lever to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be whatever it is that they want to be, from Year 7 through to PhDs at Oxford and everything in between. We create a structured pipeline of programs so that Indigenous success happens by design and not by chance, and we’re validating students who have high goals and big dreams.

“The grant from Salesforce will help us to continue doing this important work, through things like our mentoring, internship and post-graduate pathways into employment,” said Leila Smith, CEO, Aurora Education Foundation.

With these latest contributions, the Catalyst Fund will have awarded a cumulative total of $6 million to nonprofit partners since 2021.

More information:

• Learn more about the Salesforce Catalyst Fund and global grantees
• Learn more about Salesforce Philanthropy

About DeadlyScience

DeadlyScience is the leading science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) resource support charity for Indigenous children and communities in Australia. We provide resources and programs that aim to foster STEM equity by inspiring and empowering Indigenous learners.

About Aurora Education Foundation

The Aurora Education Foundation is an Indigenous organisation that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to realise their full education and employment potential – whether it is completing Year 12 or achieving a PhD from Cambridge. Through our interconnected pathways, we walk with students from high school through to university and the workplace, redefining Indigenous educational and employment success.

About Salesforce

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, empowering companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way through the power of CRM + AI + Data + Trust on one unified platform: Einstein 1. For more information visit: www.salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).