Outdoor mural on the side of the Adobe Founders Tower at 333 West Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose.
SAN JOSE — Adobe has begun what the company is calling its hometown engagement, a wide-ranging campaign to strengthen the tech titan’s connections to the San Jose community and its nonprofits.
The four-building Adobe headquarters campus in downtown San Jose serves as a highly visible symbol of Adobe’s investment in the Bay Area’s largest city.
However, according to Amy White, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility & Social Impact Communications at Adobe, San Jose-based Adobe aims to do much more than just build a landmark.
The tech titan aims to weave strands of commitments and investments at its home base to provide downtown and city benefits.
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“Adobe has been a part of the San Jose community, and particularly the downtown community, for decades,” White said. “We have looked at direct grants, sponsorships and volunteering. Anticipating the opening of our new tower, we also looked for our hometown commitment.”
The company begins its efforts with significant support for several community organizations. The Adobe Foundation is providing $2 million to eight nonprofit organizations.
The organizations are:
- San Jose Downtown Association
- HomeFirst
- The Kelsey
- Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
- The Tech Interaction
- cinemaquest
- local color SJ
- Art Museum of San Jose
“The eight nonprofit organizations share Adobe’s commitment to San Jose through social impact, community revitalization, arts and culture,” said Gloria Chen, Adobe’s chief people officer and executive vice president of employee experience.
Adobe hopes its push can also help downtown San Jose make a comeback after the bleak two years that began with the coronavirus outbreak.
Matters were further complicated by government-mandated business lockdowns designed to stem the spread of the deadly bug – but which also launched a brutal nosedive for economic activity in downtown San Jose.
“In the last three years, downtown San Jose has been largely silent,” White said. “Many cultural connections are missing.”
Adobe wants to do whatever it takes to increase foot traffic in downtown San Jose, a rising tide that Adobe, city officials and business leaders hope will affect the collective fortunes of the restaurants, shops, clubs, nightclubs, theaters, art galleries, museums, Hotels and Venues.
“The spirit of the inner city community needs to be strengthened,” White said. “You need the activation that makes downtown feel like it’s thriving.”
The tech titan and the San Jose Downtown Association have a long-standing alliance aimed at supporting activities in the city’s urban core.
“The San Jose Downtown Association and Adobe have been great partners for many years, pursuing common goals to improve downtown vibrancy,” said Alex Stettinski, the association’s chief executive officer.
The tech titan has appointed active members to the association’s board, donated creative cloud-based apps to student artists and deployed volunteer workers downtown, Stettinski added.
“Adobe’s commitment to creativity and innovation has made them an invaluable partner to The Tech Interactive over the years,” said Katrina Stevens, chief executive officer at The Tech. “Their recent investment in the next generation shows how much they value inspiring young people to become inspiring problem solvers.”
The company is also making significant efforts to strengthen the ability of San Jose State University and the South Bay Institution to produce talented technical engineers who are the lifeblood of the future of the industry – and Adobe’s.
To date, Adobe has donated $2 million in grants to the State of San Jose. Adobe donations can be used at the university to fund scholarships, new campus facilities, social justice initiatives, professional development programs, and faculty research collaborations.
“The Adobe Foundation grant supports new forms of pedagogy that help students create a sense of belonging to the state of San Jose, establishes educational practices that continue to close the equity gaps for all of our students, and embeds lifelong digital and creative literacy into their education . said Vincent Del Casino, Jr., the university’s senior vice president of academic affairs.
In 2022, Adobe donated more than $2.4 million and over 4,200 volunteer hours to local organizations in San Jose, the company said.
The company’s new tower will feature works by downtown San Jose artists. Some local artworks are already on display. On the side of the new tower, Adobe has made room for a mural by a local artist.
Bay Area artist Leo Bersamina intended the mural to be inspired by the textiles and crafts of his ethnic and racial background. Bersamina claims Filipino, German, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Indigenous American roots.
“Adobe’s creative tools and the team’s keen sense of the creative process enabled a positive collaborative exchange throughout the wall design process,” said Bersamina. “I’ve used Adobe products since their humble beginnings to refine my creative vision and have done so throughout my creative career.”
Company executives believe Adobe can be a key factor in revitalizing downtown San Jose.
“We have a role to play in helping downtown come back even stronger from the pandemic,” White said. “We want to be part of the revitalization of downtown San Jose in a post-COVID environment.”
