Verizon India is committed to enabling and equipping young minds across various socio- economic backgrounds to solve complex challenges through technology. Reports from industry bodies suggest that Global Capability Centers (GCCs) like Verizon are becoming one of the most preferred employment avenues for the top STEM talent in India.

One of Verizon India’s CSR strategy pillars is “Digital Inclusion in the field of Education” subject to schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. With the motto of “giving back to the society”, Verizon India undertook the following initiatives/programs.

Community Immersion Program (CIP):

Guided by SDG 4- which is access to high quality education, Verizon India was one of the pioneers in its space to host a STEM Boot Camp for the students of Govt. schools across Chennai-Hyderabad-Bengaluru.  Approx. 116 students joined the program this year to learn about  concepts that are usually not a part of their regular curriculum - AI, Cybersecurity, Autonomous Vehicles, Tech saves lives through our own subject matter experts. Verizon also  partnered with one of the elite institutions in India: IIT-Madras, to deliver exciting sessions on Robotics & Green Energy. The project showcase on the last day of the event stood as a testament to their interest in STEM and showed that our efforts have truly ignited a new passion amongst the young adults!

School Transformation Program: Furthermore, Verizon has sanctioned a sizable grant to enhance the quality of education through the “School Transformation Program” in India to build SMART classrooms and STEM Labs, bridging the digital divide in the education sector. Over 115 schools in the semi rural regions around Chennai-Hyderabad-Bengaluru benefit from this program. Close to 62000+ school students and teachers from the Govt. schools were the beneficiaries of this initiative.

VPROPEL - (V Provide Right Opportunity to Power Enabled Learning): Through this Merit-cum-Means scholarship program for meritorious students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, Verizon is encouraging students to pursue BSc. in Programming and Data Science from IIT-Madras. Over 90 students across the country were selected, and special preference was given to people with disabilities & women students to encourage STEM among the communities.

In addition to the above stated CSR initiatives, Verizon India contributed to the cause through the following programs;

1. Citizen Verizon: Through Citizen Verizon  (Verizon India’s Volunteering Community), 31400+ hours were contributed with the support of 5200+ unique volunteers end of Q3 of 2024
2. Unique events focused on the theme of Back-to-School conducted through the year were:

1. National Science Day - STEM Models creation - Feb: VTeamers assembled the STEM models for schools. The completed models were donated to Govt. schools to help enable the students to understand various concepts.
2. STEM Stationery collection drive in May and June - To promote STEM education among the underserved communities, Verizon conducted a stationery collection drive in May 2024 securing more than 1000+ kits worth INR 1.5 million! These kits were distributed to underprivileged students from 15 government schools in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

“With probably the largest young demographic audience globally, India holds tremendous potential for growth and adoption of next-generation technologies. Reaching the beneficiariesnot only requires creating constant awareness about the technologies but also encouraging them to take up these courses and preparing them with the necessary infrastructure in schools and academic institutions. By bridging the gap between children and digital/ STEM sciences, Verizon aims to create a solid talent pipeline that will help it innovate better and move forward together with the local communities it operates in.We hope our efforts sparks enthusiasm in the young minds and helps us bridge the gaps in the current education approach, at these schools, to the extent possible by us.”, says Prasad  Annadanam, Sr. Director, Finance, who is also an active CSR champion at Verizon India.