HuffPost Live: Cognizant’s Vice President of Sustainability and Educational Affairs Talks About the Company’s Support to STEM Education and Mentorship in the U.S.

“We have a huge need for qualified technologists to join our company today and in the future. So we want to do all we can to build a pipeline of STEM-literate workers for the future. We need a much broader STEM-literate workforce in general,” says Mark Greenlaw when asked about Cognizant’s partnership with the US2020 initiative to advance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and mentoring in the U.S.

“We think that our employees as STEM mentors can help provide young people with some relevance and expose them to hands-on project-based learning opportunities that will really spark their interest in the STEM fields because it is our belief that interest, and not so much proficiency, is the leading indicator of why kids don’t choose the STEM disciplines,” he says.

“We are working with US2020 and providing funds to help it get off the ground. We have a huge workforce of highly skilled technology workers who can be effective mentors,” says Greenlaw. “It is also important that we have a good view into what skills are needed for the workforce of today and at least for the next 4-5 years. We can provide best practices on employee volunteerism and IT services to the initiative.”

He adds, “Our employees also feel a tremendous responsibility to give back to the communities in which they live and work. As professionals of a knowledge-based company, our employees feel that education is a gift they’ve received that they can give back to others. It is not just about our future competitiveness as a company or a country, but also about a sense of purpose for our employees in making sure they can give back to the community.”