The Medtronic Foundation partners to improve health for underserved populations, as well as supports communities where Medtronic employees live and give. We strive to address different needs in different parts of the world by improving health outcomes for underserved populations, especially cardiovascular disease and diabetes; supporting health workers and strengthening health systems to scale and sustain health improvements; empowering Medtronic employees to positively impact local communities by leveraging their skills, time and resources.
What we do
The Medtronic Foundation focuses on improving health outcomes for underserved populations worldwide, as well as supporting communities where Medtronic employees live and give.
How we do it
We work at three strategic levels as strong partners with organisations striving to improve health outcomes, as volunteers serving as integral members of the community, and as global citizens engaged on issues affecting underserved populations.
Why
With roots in the world’s largest medical technology company, the Medtronic Foundation has an opportunity and a responsibility to be a leader on global issues impacting health.
Driving Impact Through Strategic Financing and Partnerships
We strive to be more than a charitable entity but rather an impact organisation, where we measure our success in terms of the amount of impact that we make, as opposed to just the money that we give. One such impactful initiative was our STEM Partnerships for Underserved and Underrepresented Students. We developed initiatives in three locations: Southern California, Colorado and Ireland.
Ireland Partners
Kinia is grounded in the belief that education is a key driver to increased equality and opportunity for children and young people. They work in formal (schools) and non-formal (youth sector) settings to bridge gaps in achievement and aspiration to STEAM careers. Kinia’s programs focus on working primarily with people who are marginalized by socioeconomic disadvantage, Traveller, Roma, and migrant communities, rurally isolated young people, girls, and young people marginalized by language and cultural barriers. They hope to build a strong, collaborative and innovative partnership that allows underrepresented and marginalized young people across Ireland to explore creative technology and STEAM activities, so they see STEAM as an exciting education and career opportunity, as well as an engaging creative outlet. This program, funded by the Medtronic Foundation, will focus on upskilling, equipping and supporting educators, youth workers and volunteers to reduce unequal achievement and progression in education so that they can support all young people to achieve their full potential.
Midlands Science provides free curated STEM outreach through school outreach, informal outreach and public engagement activities. It has a strong commitment to the promotion of innovation and best practice, with a particular focus on those least likely to engage with STEM. It is keen to share its knowledge and best practice with others in the STEM outreach community in Ireland and works with partners to drive systems change, so that inclusion, impact and innovation can be at the heart of STEM outreach in Ireland, providing better outcomes for everyone. The partnership with Medtronic Foundation will allow Midlands Science to reach another 3,200 participants over the next two years. In addition, it will provide capability to track the impact of this work and share knowledge with others. Support from the Medtronic Foundation will help reach more underserved populations who are less likely to engage.
The SciFest STEM fair program is a celebration of STEM in which young people have an opportunity to work together to solve real-world problems. SciFest’s aim is to ensure that every second level student, irrespective of their ability, gender, background or circumstance, has the opportunity to explore the STEM disciplines in an investigative way and to present their findings to a wider audience. The program is implemented locally, regionally, and nationally and is free to enter at all levels. A core principle of the SciFest program is its accessibility and inclusiveness. Addressing inequality in access to STEM has been central to SciFest’s vision since its foundation in 2006.
The partnership with the Medtronic Foundation will enable SciFest to increase the number of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) participating in the program and to provide more support to STEM teachers. The program will impact on students from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them to continue their study in STEM to Leaving Certificate and on into third level and beyond. Participation in SciFest builds confidence, fosters innovation and enables students to develop key skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills. These are essential lifeskills necessary to address the many challenges in today’s fast changing world and serve to open up a range of opportunities for underserved students.