Can ServiceNow really achieve its visionary ESG goals through career-connected learning in K-12?

ServiceNow is a global frontrunner in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, dedicated to empowering large-scale organizations, particularly within the IT and business sectors, to elevate their operational efficiency through the automation of routine workflows. With over 2,100 partners, including IBM, DELL and EY, ServiceNow uses the strength of their platform and their large network of business partners to help organizations with digital transformation. Integral to ServiceNow’s success and core values is its commitment to ESG, an acronym representing environmental, social, and governance factors.This metric, assessing a company’s responsible operational conduct, is becoming an increasingly critical consideration for investors and shareholders.¹ 

Edua Dickerson, a visionary tech leader and financial expert, is at the helm of ServiceNow’s ESG strategy. In a recent Forbes interview, Edua underscored the substantial impact of effective ESG initiatives within a company, stating, “Doing good is good business, and ESG impacts everything from talent retention to perception in the market to, in extreme cases, a business’s license to operate.”²  Her ESG strategies leverage the power of technology and take a holistic approach toward operating a Fortune 500 company responsibly. A key innovation that Edua has recently implemented is to use K-12 career-connected learning to achieve ESG and broader corporate objectives, notably, the ambitious goal of nurturing one million proficient coders by 2024, equipped to leverage and apply ServiceNow’s technology suite. 

To help make this goal a reality, ServiceNow used the power of Scoutlier and put our career-connected learning framework into action in collaboration with the US Navy for the 2023 Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) Rapid Innovation Design Challenge. Under the stewardship of Edua and Kevin Brooks, Chief of Staff, Global Public Sector, a series of challenges were crafted on the Scoutlier platform for high school students in Central California, inspired by critical problems in climate change being pursued by leaders in this field at NPS. In pursuit of solutions, students developed coding skills relevant to ServiceNow, directly used ServiceNow technology, and engaged and built bonds with ServiceNow employees. The quality and thoughtfulness of the students’ work on this urgent issue led Representative Panetta to declare, “Future leaders in STEM represent the future of this country and these challenges give every student opportunities to explore these types of career paths, and put in the work to move us forward.” She continued by thanking the students for their involvement, stating, “I want to let you know how proud we are of your willingness to get involved and to play your part when it comes to some of the most pressing problems that we deal with as a nation right now.”

Representative Panetta’s sentiments encapsulate everyone’s appreciation for the students’ efforts and emphasizes the importance of youth engagement in tackling climate change, as well as the significance of partnerships between educational institutions and industry leaders like ServiceNow in fostering innovation and solutions for pressing global issues. 

In a previous blog post, we delved into the three key components—or three As—(agency, awareness and access) that are substantially enhanced when a company invests in career-connected learning. In our next blog, we will be getting tactical and breaking down the details of Career ConnectED. We will take you through our checklist to evaluate your current investment strategy in K-12 education, and share our playbook that ensures our partners get the most impact out of their investments in career-connected learning.

Sources:

1. Kenton, W. (2023, April 30). Triple Bottom Line. Investopedia. 
2. Paul, M. (2022, December 22). The Future of ESG. Forbes.