- Volunteers are now taking part in Work for Humankind, a bold initiative in partnership with Lenovo, Island Conservation, and the Robinson Crusoe community that allows them to work their own jobs remotely from one of the world’s most far-flung offices.
- The group of volunteers will use Lenovo’s technology and donate their professional skills spanning design, technology, sustainability, and biodiversity to support vital conservation efforts.
April 6, 2022 – Following its launch late last year, a select group of volunteers from around the globe will travel to one of the most remote offices in the world to Work for Humankind, a bold program born out of a landmark partnership between Lenovo, Island Conservation, and the Robinson Crusoe Island community. Underpinning this initiative is research from Lenovo that reveals the growing significance of remote and hybrid work for Gen Z and Millennials. This is leading to an increased desire for workplace flexibility due to the benefits for individuals and society overall. The study found that four in five people aged 18-40 think working from anywhere is beneficial to society, communities, employers, and employees, while 61% deem giving back and making a positive impact on the local community as ‘very important’.
Thousands of hopeful individuals applied to take remote and hybrid work to the extreme while volunteering their skills to support conservation on Robinson Crusoe Island. After a thorough selection process, nine volunteers from across Europe, North and South America, and Asia were invited to use their skillset and relevant experience first-hand to make a long-lasting positive impact within a remote community.
This group of volunteers was chosen by Island Conservation and the Robinson Crusoe community to participate in Work for Humankind through April 2022.
Participants include:
- Brazil: Ligia Santos, a sustainability analyst
- France: Cynthia Mayer, a product manager and communications specialist
- Italy: Simone Canova, a digital copywriter
- Germany: Simon Wehner, a sustainability and future energy strategist
- Mexico: Vivian Garcia, an animal welfare lecturer
- United Kingdom: Kay Bromley, an IT specialist and solutions architect
- United States: Clinton Harmon, a medical writing consultant and research scientist
During their time on the island, volunteers will work their own current day jobs and studies from Lenovo’s tech-enabled workspace, which features a range of the company’s powerful devices and solutions, including laptops, desktop computers, mobile workstations and servers spanning the company’s portfolio, including ThinkPad, Yoga, Legion, ThinkBook and IdeaCentre PCs; ThinkSmart devices for virtual meetings; Lenovo tablets, monitors and accessories; ThinkReality A3 augmented reality smart glasses and Lenovo Mirage VR S3 virtual reality headsets; ThinkEdge SE450 servers for AI at the edge; motorola edge smartphones; LanSchool education software; smart home devices and more.
Work for Humankind will also take advantage of Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Service. Available on all ThinkPad, Yoga, and Lenovo Legion devices, the CO2 Offset Service lets consumers and businesses alike offset carbon emissions and help the environment by supporting one of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s projects – the Clean Development Mechanism. This means the program will not only support the local community through volunteerism and technology, but also aid an environmental project dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else in the world.
Lenovo’s technology workspace also includes significantly upgraded internet connectivity, from 1Mbps to up to 200 Mbps, which has brought high-speed internet to Robinson Crusoe Island for the first time. This boosted connectivity, alongside a wealth of Lenovo’s intelligent devices, solutions and services is advancing Island Conservation’s restoration projects on Robinson Crusoe Island and transforming the island’s educational programs for years to come.
David Will, Head of Innovation at Island Conservation, comments: “Our volunteers are helping us to achieve a new era of community-driven conservation. Lenovo’s technology, Island Conservation’s ecosystem restoration expertise, and our volunteers’ skills will allow us to respond to the needs of this small island community with a clear vision for a sustainable future.”
Lenovo is committed to leaving a lasting legacy on the island to help maintain the project’s goals, ensuring the program’s benefits are felt long after the volunteers have left Robinson Crusoe. This legacy includes donating its technology used in the workspace directly to the community. The goal is to significantly improve the scope and quality of education available on the island, through tech-enabled learning.
Emily Ketchen, Vice President and CMO of Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo, comments: “When Lenovo started Work for Humankind over a year ago, we knew that its success hinged on finding talented, committed individuals who will demonstrate what is possible when harnessing smarter technology, connectivity and a simple desire to use tech for good. These ambitious volunteers will also be donating their professional skills, which span across digital marketing, social media, and data science, to help future-proof this remote island community. The impact of these efforts will make a positive difference and help maximize the potential of Lenovo’s technology being donated in our legacy.”
Pablo Manríquez Angulo, Mayor of Robinson Crusoe, adds: “As a remote island community we are incredibly excited to live alongside volunteers from all over the world, learn new skills from them and work with them to see our conservation projects come to life. We are truly thrilled about this partnership with Lenovo and Island Conservation.”
About Work for Humankind Research Report
This new global research study surveyed more than 15,000 people in eight languages across 10 global markets: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the UK, and the US. The research builds on Lenovo’s journey toward understanding the powerful connection between technology and humanity, which began with the “This is Life” project, “New Realities” campaign and the “Kind City” project. They uncovered that people believe smarter technology can make us feel more empowered, empathetic, and giving, while allowing humankind to continue to grow personally and professionally.
About Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island or Isla Robinson Crusoe, formerly known as Más a Tierra (meaning ‘Closer to Land’) is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago. It is located to the west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is one of the more populous of the archipelago’s inhabited islands, with the majority living in the town of San Juan Bautista at Cumberland Bay on the Island’s north coast. The Chilean government re.named the location as Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966, in reference to its literary legacy – acting as the inspiration behind novelist Daniel Defoe’s fictional Robinson Crusoe
About the Juan Fernandez Community
Roughly 900 people live in San Juan Bautista, Robinson Crusoe Island a rural community in one of the most remote locations in Latin America. The local economy relies heavily on a sustainably managed artisanal fishery of a lobster that occurs nowhere else in the world. The community has led efforts to protect its natural heritage with support of local institutions by establishing a National Park in 1995, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1977, and the Juan Fernandez Sea Marine Park which covers 286,000 km2 of protected area. Local tourism includes the many natural beauties of the island, its culture, diving, horseback riding, bird watching, fishing and of course the stories and places of the famous novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe.
About Island Conservation
Island Conservation is a global, not-for-profit conservation organization that prevents extinctions and restores islands. We work where the concentration of both biodiversity and species extinction is the greatest – islands. Removing a primary threat – introduced invasive vertebrates – is one of the most critical interventions for saving threatened plants and animals. Native island species and ecosystems often recover with little additional intervention, and when animals have gone locally extinct, we reintroduce them. Island Conservation assists land managers and local communities to implement their visions. To date, we have successfully restored 65 islands worldwide, benefiting 1,218 populations of 504 species and subspecies. Learn more at https://www.islandconservation.org/
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$60 billion revenue Fortune Global 500 company serving customers in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that power (through devices and infrastructure) and empower (through solutions, services, and software) millions of customers every day and together create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.
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