About Us - Wipro Foundation

Spirit of Wipro

Welfare Volunteers

Committed To Providing The Best

About Us

At Wipro, we think it is critical to engage with the social and ecological challenges facing humanity. We believe that engagement with social issues must be deep, meaningful, and formed on the bedrock of long-term commitment — this is the only way real change can happen on the ground.

We run our social programs on a strong foundation of ethical principles, good governance, and sound management. Our foundational values are embodied in the ‘Spirit of Wipro’ that emphasizes unyielding integrity in every aspect of our work, treating people everywhere fairly and with respect – at the workplace and in communities outside, and demonstrating ecological sensitivity in thought and action.

Welfare Volunteers

Committed To Providing The Best

Our Journey

2000 - 2005

In 2000, we had a significant internal debate on our worldview outside of making profits. We felt that businesses were blinded to several social and ecological issues outside the business world and that we must engage and contribute to society beyond making profits. Unanimously, we invested our efforts in ‘Education’, given that it is a powerful force multiplier that has cascading impacts on almost all other development areas. We focused on building and nurturing an ecosystem of social organizations working in education reform and help existing organizations build capacity to influence the larger system. To start with, we partnered with over 30 education organizations with specific projects around access to education and quality education on the ground involving over 1000 schools across 17 states.

Our focus on initiatives across Education, Health, Ecology, and Disaster Response developed over time, however, a common approach underlying all our social initiatives was that they must be deep and meaningful and create an enduring impact for our communities.

2006 - 2010

We launched Mission10X in 2007, a not-for-profit trust initiated to enhance the employability skills of fresh engineering graduates in India. The program significantly expanded its reach, covering 5700 faculty across 485 colleges in 18 states.

On the Ecology front, we felt the need to add a comprehensive initiative on ecological sustainability, sharpening our focus on the triple-bottom-line in our core business. Our view is that fundamental ecological and social change does not happen overnight, nor can it happen merely through policy changes. One of our most significant initiatives in 2008-09 was taking this message across the organization by launching location-based eco eye chapters that focused on enhancing business sustainability.

2011 - 2015

Our Sustainability work won considerable recognition globally and in India, among which are successive inclusions in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, and recognition as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. The other important initiative in Sustainability was earthian, our program on Sustainability Education. More than 12000 schools and colleges from all parts of India participated in the program during this period.

In 2013, we established Wipro Cares, an employee-led community initiative arm of the Wipro Foundation. Through Wipro Cares, we deepened our engagement with underserved communities close to Wipro locations in Education, Primary Healthcare, Community Ecology, and Disaster Response. A key initiative during this period was undertaking livelihood regeneration programs for survivors of Uttarakhand floods (2013), cyclone Phailin (2013), and Tamil Nadu floods (2015).

2016 - 2020

In 2017, we started the ‘Wipro Education Fellowship Program,’ which supports and encourages youth to engage and contribute to school education by setting up energetic not-for-profit organizations. The program has scaled to a vibrant and active network of more than 60 fellows working in some of the most disadvantaged and underprivileged communities. There are clear early signs that this initiative’s multiplier effect will be significant over a 5 to 10 year period.

The period between 2016-2020 was marked by several natural disasters, including the humanitarian crisis following COVID-19 lockdowns. Through Wipro Cares, we worked with natural disaster survivors affected by Kerala floods (2018), cyclone Fani (2019) in Odisha, and cyclone Amphan (2020) in West Bengal. We initiated several livelihoods projects for disaster survivors in this region.

In April 2020, we initiated an integrated response to COVID-19 leveraging the vast network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) supported by the Azim Premji Foundation, Wipro Limited, and Wipro Enterprises Limited. Over a year, we delivered humanitarian aid to over 90 lakh people in partnership with 500 CSOs.