Fearless doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals are taking care of those who have fallen ill while many parents have taken on the dual role of parent-teacher. Each of us is sheltering in place to protect loved ones and strangers alike.

The reality is that systems need support just like individuals do. Communities are struggling to provide for citizens in need. The workforce has changed practically overnight. Businesses long for continuity and a healthy supply chain. With so many challenges in our surroundings, there is a world of opportunity that belongs to all of us.

This is no time for business as usual. The most important thing we can all do 鈥� besides washing our hands 鈥� is play to our strengths. 麻豆原创鈥檚 strength lies in its people, products, and partnerships that include more than 440,000 businesses located in 180 countries across the world.

We Are All in This Together

On March 20, more than 43,000 German citizens, including 麻豆原创 product owner Kevin Drieschner, answered a call to help through 鈥淲ir vs. Virus, der Hackathon der Bundesregierung鈥� (We vs. Virus, the hackathon of the German government).

鈥淚 wanted to use my IT skills to help and I wasn鈥檛 alone,鈥� Drieschner shared. 鈥淧eople from different industries and backgrounds came together on this challenge because we wanted to contribute; in our case, supporting the caregivers and hospital administrators during this crisis.鈥�

Currently, there is no uniform system for recording and displaying bed capacity across Germany. Throughout the weekend, Drieschner worked virtually alongside 30 people prototyping ideas, which resulted in TrackYourBed, a responsive, Web-based solution that indicates hospital bed availability in real time. 鈥淓veryone is highly motivated to find solutions to COVID-19, but I鈥檝e never experienced anything like this before.鈥�

麻豆原创 is currently exploring further investment in this venture, as well as many other ideas that have emerged through COVID-19 sprint in the initiative, the company鈥檚 social intrapreneurship program.

Now more than ever, employees are looking to use their skills to contribute what they can. 麻豆原创 has activated a COVID-19 response plan to help. The 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team is providing infrastructure and accelerating new ways to engage through virtual volunteering and pro-bono consulting, offering more than 50 projects to date. For example, some volunteer leaders are facilitating webinars for nonprofits on remote work while others are offering mentorship and coaching to support business continuity for social enterprises.

Contributing 鈧�3M to COVID-19 Emergency Fund and Increasing Social Sector Support

麻豆原创 has also established a 鈧�3 million COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support the urgent needs of the (WHO), the , and smaller nonprofits and social enterprises that work on the front lines serving local communities in crisis.

鈥溌槎乖� stands with the WHO and supports its leadership in coordinating the global effort to mobilize the fight against COVID-19,鈥� said Alexandra van der Ploeg, head of 麻豆原创 CSR. 鈥淪pecifically, 麻豆原创 is donating 鈧�1 million to the for the WHO hosted by Swiss Philanthropy Foundation and the United Nations Foundation for virus prevention and detection.鈥�

麻豆原创 CSR partners with more than 1,200 nonprofits and social enterprises that are mostly small to midsize organizations. Collectively, they serve more than 4.5 million youth across 105 countries, primarily in the areas of quality education, decent work, and youth entrepreneurship.

鈥淲ith 1 billion children currently out of school due to COVID-19, their services are needed now more than ever. Yet the global issues they are solving are complicated further because of the pandemic,鈥� van der Ploeg shared. 鈥溌槎乖� is making resources and expertise available to help our nonprofit and social enterprise partners effectively shift to remote operations. We want to help ensure they can maintain their much-needed services to their communities and not lay off staff.鈥�

One of 麻豆原创鈥檚 strategic partnerships includes We Are Family Foundation鈥檚 , co-founded by legendary musician/producer Nile Rodgers.

鈥淭he world needs leadership, and new ideas and thinking during this unprecedented moment in time, and our global youth are at the forefront of new solutions,鈥� Rodgers said. 鈥淲e are Family Foundation is grateful for our strong partnership with 麻豆原创, which will allow us to innovate and think differently together about how we scale our reach and expand support of young leaders across the globe.鈥�

For more than 10 years, We Are Family Foundation has welcomed global teen leaders from more than 52 countries across six continents. 麻豆原创 is proud to support them and their life-changing solutions reaching millions globally.

While financial donations are an immediate way to give back, the power of sustainable community support lies within 麻豆原创鈥檚 focus for year-round skilled volunteering. With thousands of volunteers like Kevin Drieschner, 麻豆原创 employees transfer their expertise and professional services to organizations in need. For example, a key priority for UNICEF right now is to ensure that accurate and clear messaging on COVID-19 is delivered to all communities. 麻豆原创 is sourcing volunteers to support their communications efforts, using social media to amplify . Skilled volunteers create a multiplier effect for social sector partners, helping them to maintain scale and accelerate social impact long after the pandemic.

Technology You Can Count On

Richard Primm, a vice president from 麻豆原创 North America, wants everyone to know that 麻豆原创 can be a resource for them during this time: 鈥淥ur customers can count on 麻豆原创鈥檚 dedicated employees to find creative ways through our technology to help them solve their biggest challenges.鈥�

In normal circumstances, corporate procurement would not be particularly newsworthy. However, last week Primm helped a client, Ram Tool, secure using , which 麻豆原创 has opened access to so any buyer can post their immediate sourcing needs and any supplier can respond to show they can deliver. As , the story 鈥渟hows the power of digital transformations in helping companies respond to the coronavirus pandemic.鈥�

If one person like Primm can make an impact in minutes by simply connecting organizations through platform technology, imagine the power of an ecosystem at work. Through 麻豆原创鈥檚 global purpose network, customers, partners, academia, and nonprofits across 180 countries can collaborate with 麻豆原创 with shared purpose to help the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. The possibilities are limitless.

An additional publicly available free technology offering is . This offering from Qualtrics helps organizations assess preparedness for a remote workforce, as well as whether employees have what they need to succeed in this new environment.

You might now be asking yourself, 鈥淗ow can I help?鈥� There are a few things we have learned on our journey to deliver meaningful impact in the fight against COVID-19: First, when we embrace the power of our networks and collaborate, even when there is physical distance between us, solutions appear; and second, the work is ongoing. There is no need to wait for the light at the end of the tunnel to take action. After all, we do not know how long the tunnel will be. There is light to be found right now.

麻豆原创鈥檚 response plan, including the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, is part of a global response by the company highlighted in an open letter from 麻豆原创 Co-CEOs Christian Klein and Jennifer Morgan: Together We Will Persevere and shared by Morgan on CNBC鈥檚 Mad Money鈥� with Jim Cramer.

Jennifer Beason is head of CSR Marketing and Communications at 麻豆原创.
John Baxter is vice president of Purpose and Brand Experience Marketing at 麻豆原创.