AMD’s Ward Tisdale on Community Programming and Products for Kids

I recently interviewed Ward Tisdale, Director of Global Community Affairs for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) about the company's community activities, how to work within a tight budget, and developing educational opportunities for youth.

BCLC: How does AMD invest in U.S. communities?

Ward Tisdale: We are heavily involved in community activities centered on 3 core principles: philanthropy, employee volunteerism, and youth education. We operate in 15 communities throughout North America and Asia where each office has its own community affairs liaison. Due to our lean charitable budget that is used to support the programs in the community, we are forced to be very diligent when it comes to the design of our programs. We set guidelines that each office allocate at least 70% of its resources to youth education (particular in STEM education), and are left with the remaining 30% to allocate to localized issue in their community.

Our programs are structured to provide our employees team building skills and increase collaboration and camaraderie among different departments within the company. This was amplified about a year and a half ago when AMD developed a program known as AMD Community Corps. The program, which builds on decades of AMD employee volunteerism, includes new elements, including:

• Skill-Based Volunteerism  -- AMD provide resources and tools to assist employees in identifying volunteer opportunities that can enhance or develop career skills and goals.
• AMD Volunteer Excellence Awards  -- This awards program recognizes employees globally who dedicate time to serve their community.
• Team Development Grants --  AMD Team Development Grants recognize teams of employees who volunteer with a local nonprofit, charity, or school to build and improve their local community.
• Micro campaigns --  These campaigns allow employees at AMD sites to raise funds for a local charity or disaster relief efforts. Once the campaign is completed, the company will match the employee contributions.
• Global Volunteer Month --  AMD Global Volunteer Month is an annual, month- long campaign that takes place in October and encourages AMD employees globally to directly engage in their community through company-sponsored volunteer activities

The impetus for launching AMD Community Corps was partially attributed to a corporate-wide initiative, driven by the CEO, to improve overall employee engagement. We are geared towards ramping up employee volunteerism because of the direct linkages to employee engagement to the corporation.

BCLC: How do you benchmark the success of your programs?

WT: We are currently in the process of laying out a long term strategic plan in order to identify the success of our programs. We are looking at data points such as the number of volunteer hours, the number of volunteers, the retention rate to volunteer programs, etc.  Today, we are seeing about a 15% employee volunteerism rate and we are looking to increase that to 40% in the next 5-7 years.

To an extent the success of our programs is not only reliant on the numbers but also, as mentioned, the employee collaboration. For example, the AMD Community Corps program helps to develop skills such as project management, communications, presentation/public speaking, and budgeting, among others. When an employee takes a lead on a volunteer program they use all these aforementioned skills and not only does it benefit the employee, but it benefits the company as well.

BCLC: What are some of the challenges you face?

WT: The first challenge is our lean budget. Even before the financial crisis our company was going through some challenging years due to global competition. This forced us to work smarter and leaner in all aspects of our business. So when the financial crisis occurred we had to deal with a double whammy.

Another challenge we deal with is getting our engineers to take part in some of the volunteer programs we offer. AMD is heavily focused on engineering and as an example, out Toronto office is made up of 90% engineers. We are searching for creative ideas to get more employees engaged in community activities which leads to the betterment of the community and camaraderie with their fellow employees.

BCLC: What are your thoughts on the assumption that video games are becoming more violent and how is AMD addressing this concern?

WT: I would begin by challenging the notion that today video games are becoming more violent and the parental perspective on this issue. The issue of violent video games peaked a few years ago and the simple solution is moderation when it comes to playing games. Similar to watching a movie, reading books, or riding a bike, parents and kids should look at video games as entertainment options.

At AMD we are going one step further when it comes to our products by successfully developing educational opportunities for youth to design and publish games. Through these products we are showing our stakeholders the types of learning opportunities and added value that can come with creating games. The program is known as AMD Changing the Game which teaches kids how to create their own video games on subjects such as energy and the environment and other important social issues. By creating games, students learn science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills as well as problem solving, critical thinking, language skills and teamwork.