SDL Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary of the SDL Foundation

Anniversary Honors SDL’s Support for Sustainable Development Projects Across 28 Countries

SDL (LSE: SDL) today announced the five-year anniversary of the SDL Foundation, which provides support for sustainable, structural development that improves the quality of life for disadvantaged communities around the globe. Honoring its five-years, SDL is recognizing the successful completion of 80 projects across 28 countries and the commitment of its employees across the globe in supporting SDL’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.

“We believe deeply in working to better communities across the globe and are very happy with what the SDL Foundation has accomplished in the five years since its inception,” said Mark Lancaster, Founder and CEO of SDL. “We have seen the rich rewards of helping to change lives across the globe and also the satisfaction our employees find from engaging in these projects. We look forward to the continued success of the Foundation.”

The mission of the SDL Foundation is to work with charities and projects across the globe to support disadvantaged communities. It provides sustainable aid through financial grants, educational and vocational training to help people become self-sufficient and encourages SDL employees to get involved with their local charities and give their time and support to those who need it most. SDL’s employees are granted five days holiday to participate in SDL Foundation efforts. Currently, Lancaster is taking holiday to participate in a charity cycle ride from his home in Buckinghamshire, UK to Barcelona, Spain in order to raise money for the SDL Foundation. You can follow his journey here.

Key milestones marking the SDL Foundation five-year anniversary include:

• Donated to 80 Global Projects – The SDL Foundation has donated to more than 80 projects across the world, including funding to help the MicroLoan Foundation establish thriving loan offices in rural Malawi and Zambia and provide entrepreneurial training to encourage impoverished women to run small and sustainable businesses. The Foundation also provided funding for a four-year teacher-training program, facilitated by Gua Africa, which has seen five young refugees from South Sudan undertake a degree level University course in Nairobi, Kenya.
• Supported 16,000 People Across 28 Countries – Through the Foundation’s efforts, SDL has touched more than 16,000 people in communities around the world.
• Volunteered 240 Days – Over the past five years, SDL employees have committed more than 240 days of their time to support with SDL Foundation projects.

Wherever possible, the SDL Foundation seeks to support projects where SDL employees are able to participate, as well as to organize fundraising events, to complement the funds provided by the Foundation. Recently, employees from 13 SDL offices took part in a Global Bead Sale in support of BeadforLife, selling handmade beads made out of colorful recycled paper, to support women in Uganda. In fall of 2014, SDL’s Romania office supported the Cluj Build Project for Habitat for Humanity in which 73 colleagues built a house in one week for a young working local family that could not afford to rent or buy a house.

Adrian Gocan, General Manager of SDL Cluj-Napoca commented on the Cluj Build Project in Romania: “Feeling that you can help and be part of that family’s dream and feeling that your contribution has a significant impact on the community created a positive atmosphere and energy all around. I noticed during the week that it wasn’t just volunteering work. It turned out to be a great team-building exercise where everybody acted as one team - being proud of themselves, each other, and especially of the company.”

Charities the SDL Foundation have touched say this about the Foundation’s efforts:

"SDL Foundation's support of the Ox Plow project in Northern Uganda has literally changed lives. Before having access to the plow, many families were farming less than an acre of land, and often times the whole family would go to sleep hungry. Now, because of the SDL plows, families have increased their farms to an average of three acres; families have increased their food production by seven times, and the income from selling some of their crops means children are in school,” said Devin Hibbard, Executive Director, BeadforLife. “Thank you SDL Foundation and all the SDL staff who have supported BeadforLife for helping transform lives."

“We are delighted to be working with the SDL Foundation and to celebrate five years of achieving significant change to disadvantaged communities around the world,” said Peter Ryan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, MicroLoan Foundation. “The Foundation’s support is very important to MicroLoan’s drive to change the lives of impoverished women in rural communities of Malawi and Zambia by enabling them to set up their own sustainable businesses. The income from their businesses enables them to save, feed their families, buy life-saving medicines and send their children to school. On behalf of everyone from MicroLoan and our clients and their families we would like to thank the Foundation and all of the SDL staff for your generosity and commitment – you are inspiring to work with.”

“Since 2010, SDL has shown its commitment not only through its generous donations but though the actions of its employees who have shown a tremendous amount of charity,” said Ruph Gebre-Mariam, Director at PRIDE Ethiopia. “Several members of SDL have given their invaluable time in helping us put together events, manage our online content and collect contributions through events like the Bolder Boulder, a local half-marathon held on Memorial Day. The villagers and children of the communities we support by providing basic health supplies are forever grateful. The positive impact and overall health the SDL Foundation influences is measurable not only through the improved class attendance but through the tangible physical improvements to their environment.”

More information about the SDL Foundation and its efforts can be found here and on its dedicated Facebook page here.

About SDL

SDL (LSE: SDL) is the leader in global customer experience. With a completely integrated cloud solution for content management, analytics, language and documentation, SDL solves the complexity of managing your brand’s digital footprint as it grows across multiple languages, cultures, websites, devices and channels. Seventy-nine of the top 100 global companies trust SDL to help them create authentic, in-context customer experiences that drive demand and loyalty. SDL brings your brand to the world, and the world to your brand. Learn more at SDL.com. Follow SDL on Facebook and Twitter.

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SDLJessica Hohn-Cabana, +1 [e-mail] CommunicationsEmily Held or Jenny Gardynski, +1 [e-mail]