By establishing the MIT Initiative in 1998, Henkel assumed a pioneer role among Germany's corporations. The success story of MIT over the last ten years provides a shining example of how employees, retirees and CSR-aware companies can benefit from each other and work together in order to make a globally significant contribution to social development.

Through MIT, we support the volunteer work of our employees and retirees with in-kind, product and financial donations, paid time off from work, and specialist advice from Henkel. Thanks to their voluntary initiatives, their dedication, their readiness to help, and their willingness to assume responsibility, concrete projects are supported and carried out. The main emphasis is on the extent of the volunteer engagement and the influence of the employee. The greater the involvement of the employee or retiree in the project, the greater the possible support by Henkel. In 1999, to intensify the mutual exchange of experience, our employees established the MIT network. This idea arose during the first MIT Round Table, which has been held annually since then.

The MIT projects are divided into two categories: MIT Community Projects and MIT Children's Projects.

The MIT Community Projects are selected by local juries and funded by the local Henkel companies. Since 2001, in addition to these, Henkel has been focusing on children and adolescents by the MIT Children’s Projects. Starting in 2007, Henkel has been supporting the MIT Community Projects by providing an additional amount of 500 thousend euros especially for economically underdeveloped regions.

MIT is rolled out worldwide. Up to now, 50 countries of the Henkel world have adopted this module to support their employees’ and retirees’ enthusiasm in making the lives of people worldwide a little better.

For ten years now, Henkel has been supporting its employees and retirees around the world in their socially important volunteering activities. The chosen vehicle is the MIT Initiative (Make an Impact on Tomorrow), and in order to celebrate its tenth anniversary (www.henkel-smile.com), Henkel intends to support a specially selected project with a grant of 100,000 euros. With the establishment of the MIT Initiative in 1998, Henkel was one of the first German companies to recognize the volunteering activities of its employees and retirees as an essential component of its corporate culture and social responsibility. In this anniversary year, the focus is on developing an international MIT network which effectively integrates the efforts of all these volunteers.

By establishing the MIT Initiative in 1998, Henkel assumed a pioneer role among Germany’s corporations. The success story of the MIT over the last ten years provides a shining example of how employees, retirees and CSR-aware companies can benefit from each other and work together in order to make a globally significant contribution to social development. After ten years, the proud MIT balance is that, to date, more than 4,000 employees and retirees from Henkel have been involved in around 6,000 projects covering over 100 different countries.

Their 'remit' was to paint a picture of their favorite festival. The 20 nurseries, schools and other children's organizations that submitted the winning paintings (www.henkel-smile.com) were all awarded a grant from the MIT Initiative. So the youngsters have a chance to really celebrate the next time their favorite festival - the one they painted with such imaginative talent - comes around!