Seizing the Opportunity to Make a Positive Difference

This article was originally published by Michael Dell on Linkedin on August 23, 2020.

Last year we unveiled new moonshot goals for Dell Technologies in our Social Impact Plan for 2030, and just a few weeks after I added my signature to an updated Statement of Purpose of a Corporation from the Business Roundtable (BRT).

We had no idea where we would be one year later.

COVID-19 has laid bare the fault lines of our society, and our aspirations and actions have never been more important. But, setting audacious goals for positive social impact is nothing new for us.

Neither is achieving them. We completed, or exceeded, over 70 percent of our preceding 2020 Legacy of Good goals, which we did a year ahead of the schedule we set for ourselves.

BRT’s Statement wasn’t a hard-right turn for Dell Technologies, but rather a recognition of our commitment to leading Dell for the benefit of all our stakeholders — customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders.

In July, we issued our inaugural Progress Made Real report focused on identifying key performance indicators for our new 2030 goals in four areas where we can have the greatest impact — advancing sustainability, cultivating inclusion, transforming lives, and upholding ethics and privacy.

Our blueprint for progress has already made an impact on the planet and our community of stakeholders:

• We have improved the energy intensity of our entire product portfolio by 69.9 percent since FY12 and continue to qualify a significant portion of our portfolio for ENERGY STAR®.
• We worked with our suppliers, Teleplan and Seagate, to recover rare-earth magnets from hard drives and reuse the material in new hard drives, fostering the circular economy across the industry.
• We have donated millions of dollars globally to help meet the greatest needs of our communities and front-line organizations working to treat and contain COVID-19 around the world. Our team members have also raised over $1.65M for non-profits supporting COVID-19 response.

And on a personal note, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation dedicated $100 million to support global initiatives related to COVID-19. The foundation funds programs and organizations that are focused on ensuring the children and families they serve continue to have opportunities to succeed.

These are the first of many steps towards achieving our goals and tackling some of the most pressing issues facing our communities. We don’t know exactly how we will achieve our goals, but we believe that they are achievable.

I am incredibly excited for the future and for the role that Dell Technologies can play in driving progress for our customers and the world at large. Today, by harnessing innovation from across the globe, we have more opportunities to make more of a positive difference than ever before.

A multistakeholder approach is not just what is right, it’s what we need to come out of crisis better, stronger and fairer by creating an economy that works for everyone.