With our long and successful history in audio and technology innovation, HARMAN and our employees truly believe in the power of music to inspire each of us to realize our possibilities. However, too many people do not have access to the education, resources and opportunities they need to reach their fullest potential. Through our global cause initiative, HARMAN Inspired, our team members work with partner organizations across the globe to help support the next generation by fostering their creativity, helping them learn critical STE(A)M skills, and unlocking their potential through the power of music and technology.
As we set the tone for a brand-new year to nurture, inspire and celebrate tomorrow’s leaders, we’re taking a look back on some of our recent #HARMANInspired highlights and activities:
Supporting Tomorrow’s Musicians with Little Kids Rock
The benefits of music education in schools is widely known, but many public arts programs remain underfunded. Through our partnership with Little Kids Rock, HARMAN helps ensure hundreds of thousands of students receive the music education they deserve through activities including curriculum development support and instrument donations. This year’s program highlights included a video essay contest, songwriting exhibition, virtual modern band summit, and more. Together with Little Kids Rock, HARMAN has helped bring the joy and benefits of music education to more than half a million students across the United States.
Inspiring Young Women in STEM with 1,000 Dreams Fund
Despite recent progress, women remain underrepresented in STEM careers. For five years, HARMAN and our longtime partners at the 1,000 Dreams Fund have worked hard to spotlight, inspire, and provide funding for young women pursuing their dreams of a career in science, technology, engineering, and math through the New Face of Tech Scholarship. So far, over $16,000 have been granted out to young women in tech across the United States.
HARMAN is also a proud supporter of 1DF’s MentorHER Initiative, a new program created to jumpstart the national dialogue about the importance of mentorship and its positive impact on the professional advancement of women. Fifteen HARMAN mentors have volunteered to connect with college or graduate students for 1:1 virtual mentoring sessions; helping further reinforce the idea that even a small amount of time can make a big impact.
Spreading the Power of Music on Make Music Day
Every year during the month of June, HARMAN celebrates the impact music has on our lives by participating in Make Music Day, the international festival of music. Despite being held virtually in 2021, nine countries, 22 HARMAN sites, and thousands of music-loving employees banded together to organize musical trivia contests, exciting performances, and unique virtual volunteering events that connected people through meaningful, musical experiences.
This Make Music Day, HARMAN collaborated with our CSR partner Goodera to organize two global virtual volunteering events in June. More than 50 employees enrolled to the volunteering opportunities to create posters incorporating art and music to motivate sick kids and E-fact cards to promote the role of music for mental health. The e-posters were donated to Concern India Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charities while the E-fact cards were contributed to JM International and Lee Thompson Young Foundation.
HARMAN India employees received a perfect opportunity to express their emotions through music too. On June 30, our employees in India gathered virtually to participate in Music Mystic, an hour-long event where more than 50 employees performed their favorite genre of music to celebrate Make Music Day.
Many of our U.S. employees also joined us for “Window Serenades.” Through this special program created for Make Music Day, HARMAN employees gathered outside windows at nursing homes across the country to provide patients and caregivers with beautiful concerts in a safe, socially distanced way.
Impact-Driven Volunteerism Around the World
Supporting and giving back to the communities where we live and work is a foundational pillar of our #HARMANInspired program. Our offices across the globe address local needs by conducting hands-on service and supporting non-profits of all purposes and sizes.
- Impact-Driven Volunteerism in Brazil: Our teams in Brazil have focused on supporting children in need by collaborating with a variety of organizations and campaigns focused on providing them with access to resources and new opportunities. Most recently, our teams donated toys to children staying at the local Nascer Shelter through the “Adopt a Child” Christmas campaign as well as collected bottle cap deposits that went toward the purchase of musical instruments subsequently donated to children receiving therapy at the Kinder Institution.
Our teams also continued to support COVID relief efforts by manufacturing face shields at the Nova Santa Rita facility and donating the materials, along with other basic health and hygiene products to medical facilities in the area.
- Supporting COVID-care in India: To help distribute verified information regarding COVID-care, HARMAN created a 40-person team to help employees struggling to find accurate information and advice. Volunteers were trained by Caregiver Saathi, a local NGO focused on supporting caregivers and healthcare workers. Volunteers manned a 24/7 helpline number to provide answers and information about a wide-range of uncertainties, regarding hospital beds, plasma banks, oxygen providers, home quarantine facilities, testing, and more.
- Year-Round Activism in Northridge, CA: From participating in a 5K race for Fleas Silverlake Conservatory of Music to providing the audio, lighting, and donations to the Santa Clarita Relay for Life, our team in California participated in a variety of volunteer activities throughout the year.
This holiday season, our employees also donated their time to help the Valley Food Bank distribute meals to local food pantries and rescue missions, volunteered at a local animal shelter specializing in caring for exotic pets, and collected donations to support to local non-profit organizations: A Place Called Home and Watts Community Care.
From helping support music education in our schools to mentorships, donating necessary items, and more, our HARMAN Inspired teams have been busy over the last two years. We’re looking forward to another impactful year ahead; stay up to date on all our inspired activations by following #HARMANInspired on our corporate Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram channels.