The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs) are an urgent call to action to ensure a sustainable future. Adopted in 2015 via a cooperative effort from all U.N. member states, they provide a blueprint for peace and prosperity for humanity and nature alike. We all have a considerable impact on the world around us. As such, Avnet proudly continues to show strong commitment to move humanity forward in the right direction and applies the U.N. SDGs in our business practices whenever possible. See the highlighted stories below that showcase our commitments to these goals in FY24.
Developing talent opportunities through EMEA’s apprenticeship programs
Attracting and developing the best talent is integral to Avnet’s continued growth and success. To spur continued growth and interest in Avnet and our industry, several of our offices across EMEA offer apprenticeship programs that provide professional development and on-the-job training opportunities. The apprenticeship also serves as a reliable talent pipeline for Avnet. Over the past 10 years, more than 90% of EMEA apprentices moved into permanent positions following successful completion of their respective programs. During FY24, more than 100 professionals participated in these programs.
Supporting unhoused families in transition to sustainable housing
During FY24, two crews of 30 Avnet volunteers supported the 31st annual Serve-A-Thon at House of Refuge, a nonprofit organization in Mesa, Arizona that provides transitional housing in a neighborhood setting for families experiencing homelessness. Our volunteers completed numerous projects, including painting, weeding, bench refinishing and general cleanup around the campus. Additionally, volunteers assembled multiple activity kits for the children and updated gardens with protected raised garden beds. Supporting communities in crisis is a top priority for Avnet Cares, and our ongoing support of House of Refuge through both grants and volunteers is a key piece of this work.
Embracing the future of resilient cities
We believe that the future of resilient cities prioritizes preparedness, proactive planning and the implementation of innovative strategies to build and maintain strong foundations that can withstand and recover quickly from disruptions. As such Microchip and Avnet’s Hackster.io partnered to launch the Future of Resilience contest during FY24 to encourage and support technology innovation that improves climate resilience globally. Winners were awarded funding to support continued innovation. Winning projects included a remote camera device to predict required maintenance of roads, improving public safety; smart trash pickup optimization routes for more efficient waste management; and water pipe freeze prediction alerts to minimize infrastructure risk in urban environments.
Expanding our services to support a circular economy
During FY24, Avnet’s Integrated Solutions team expanded the scale of its end-to-end services through more refurbishing and recycling programs for servers, computers and other technology. We view refurbishment and repair as a key component of supporting deployed hardware at our customer sites throughout the full life cycle, as part of a larger service supply chain offering. After deploying the program on a small scale, Avnet Integrated Solutions received a successful reception and growing interest from customers who want to lower support costs and meet waste reduction goals.
Farnell receives Greener Path Landfill Diversion Award
Farnell, an Avnet company, received the Greener Path Landfill Diversion Award in recognition of its exceptional environmental performance within our waste and recycling operation. Farnell has received the award from ACM Environmental for the second consecutive year in recognition of successfully implementing zero- waste-to-landfill in the U.K. In addition, Avnet’s headquarters and distribution center in Leeds have recently introduced EV charging points, providing carbon-free charging for up to 80 cars per day, while the primary energy source at these sites is electrical and 100% from renewable sources.
Supporting innovation to combat climate change
Avnet aims to develop partnerships that advance the development and application of efforts to combat climate change. Avnet Cares provided a grant to Ribbit Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using technology to help the environment and planet. In FY 23 and FY24 Ribbit Network expanded its open-source project, ensuring hardware, software, community and learning are accessible to all. Ribbit Network’s global network of sensory technology utilizes low-cost, open-source carbon dioxide sensors to create a world map that shows GHG concentrations in real time so they can be more effectively addressed.
Avnet supports self-driving car research for sustainable urban environments
In December 2022, Avnet’s Farnell and element14 community proudly announced support as platinum sponsors for the University of Toronto's student-led self-driving car research team aUToronto, who will be participating in the SAE/GM AutoDrive Challenge II. This challenge advances the possibilities of autonomous vehicle technology, empowering the next generation of engineers to excel and innovate in this promising field. This sponsorship allows the students access to cutting-edge technology and resources crucial for their project's success. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to increase road safety, decrease traffic and pollution, and provide better accessibility to transportation for those who are unable to drive themselves. This challenge ultimately requires the student’s vehicle to pass a complex urban driving course set by SAE. Avnet recognizes the potential significance in autonomous vehicle technology, and the importance of empowering our communities and investing in both education and the future. Learn more on the element14 website.element14 launches Summer of Green Tech Design Challenge for Earth Day
The next generation of engineers hold the key to a sustainable future and are equipped with the abilities to make a positive impact on our planet. To celebrate Earth Day 2023, Avnet’s element14 community once again challenged its members to put their mind to the test and opened a challenge to create an innovative device with earth in mind. Using Seed Studios’ Xiao microcontroller and a range of sensors, the mission is clear: create a project that can aid in the battle against climate change. Anything from an efficient trash-cleaning river bot to an atmospheric CO2 monitor is welcome. Twenty sponsored challengers must document their progress through at least five blog posts, showcasing how they are using their kit and what progress has been made. Now is the time to embrace this challenge, as collective engineering ingenuity paves the way for a thriving, sustainable future. Read more here on the element14 website. For even more initiatives and impacts see the FY23 sustainability reportAvnet presenting partner of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee volunteer program
Avnet was the presenting partner of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee Volunteer Program during the activities surrounding the 2023 game, including special projects maximizing positive impact on the Arizona community.
A team from Avnet’s human resources department volunteered at a Super Bowl Youth Clinic conducted in partnership with the Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation. The children at the clinic enjoyed games and activities such as bubble soccer, human hamster wheel, an inflatable football station and inflatable tires.
In addition, a team of Avnet employees also volunteered to help clean up the lower Salt River. The event kicked off Green Week for the NFL, an initiative that started in 1993 and works to mitigate the environmental impact of the NFL’s major events and create a “green” legacy in each community that hosts a Super Bowl. The event involved over 300 volunteers who picked up trash along the entire lower section of the Salt River. Avnet plans to continue supporting this clean-up project.
Avnet and Nha Trang University award student innovation
Nha Trang University in cooperation with Avnet launched an MCU (microcontroller) Creative Design Contest to provide students the opportunity to turn classroom lessons into real world solutions. The winners of the contest were recently announced. The Grand Prize was awarded to 3rd year Electrical Engineering student Tran Tuan Khiem who devised an automatic egg incubator. Second prize winner Vo Quynh Thong, a fellow Electrical Engineering of the same year, developed a QR code powered parking management system. The students’ inventions are all developed using the latest technology and components from Avnet and Microchip, thereby giving them access to the latest products available on the market.
Grand Prize winner Khiem said: “When I design, I try to incorporate ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles into my design to create the most complete product possible, with the hope that the agricultural industry is able to use these designs and creations to develop sustainably, especially in the poultry industry.”
The partnership between Avnet and the University dates back to a cooperation agreement signed in March 2022, offering students of Nha Trang University access to the company’s products and solutions to help bridge the gaps between lecture theaters and the theater of life. The agreement saw Avnet establish an innovation laboratory at the university’s campus to foster young Vietnamese innovation and talent in the technology industry and its verticals.
Merging technology and the environment
There's a serious gap between conservation landscapes and technological applications. Most of the time open-source technologists, global maker communities, and field experts (scientists, environmentalists, conservationists) work in silos. Because of this, the world is seriously lacking applicable, scalable, plug-and-play, and easy-to-deploy AIoT solutions that might be helpful for solving challenges in the wild.
To bridge the gap, Seeed Studio and Hackster.io, an Avnet company, organized the "IoT Into the Wild Contest for Sustainable Planet 2022.” The contest was supported by Project 15 from Microsoft, Zambezi Partners, Edge Impulse, Fab City Foundation, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), the Paradise International Foundation, Nova Labs, and Helium.
Hackster believes that open tech can leverage more positive transformations for the ultimate pursuit: harmony of nature, humans, animals, and biodiversity. The organization hopes that open tech - defined by a set of principles for decentralized tech, transparency, collaboration, community-spirit, agile prototyping and scale-ups - can lay an important foundation for achieving the UN's 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The contest focused on five challenges:
- Climate Crisis Prevention/Mitigation
- Wildlife/Biodiversity Conservation
- Marine Conservation
- Open Science
- Sustainable Agriculture
For details on the winners check out the IoT Into the Wild Contest for Sustainable Planet 2022 page.
Avnet APAC reduces food waste and supports local farmers in Taiwan
Avnet APAC helps prevent local produce from going to waste. Ongoing export challenges in today’s global agriculture markets had caused local farmers in Taiwan not to be able to export any of their special “custard apple” fruits. As a result, farmers began to lose a lot of money as their hard-earned harvests started to spoil. Avnet took this opportunity to support the local agriculture community and bought some of their custard apple fruit and turned them into popsicles to gift to employees! This ensured that the food would not go to waste and the farmers would not be out of capital for the next growing seasons when things return to normal.Avnet China helps revitalize the tea economy of rural Fengqing county in Yunnan province
Avnet China helps to revitalize the local economy and support tea farmers in rural Fengqing County, Yunnan. Fengqing County has 520,000 acres of tea plantations and is home to the world’s oldest cultivated tea tree, which is over 3,000 years old. As such, tea has immense importance in this region, both culturally and economically. Local Dabaitian Tea Factory is one of the County’s major tea manufacturers, which employs hundreds of locals and specializes in producing gourmet Dian Hong tea. However, sales have slowed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Avnet China took this opportunity to support the local farmers and purchased some just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival, an annual celebration of the mid-autumn harvest full of tea and quality family time. This was a welcome gesture, as the industry is still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.Avnet extends sponsorship with Women in Electronics
Avnet is continuing with the ongoing sponsorship of Women in Electronics (WE). WE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the professional and personal development of women in the electronics industry. Avnet is showing continuous commitment towards advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals through organizational values guided by WE. This extended sponsorship directly helps WE operate and empower women at all stages of their careers to utilize resources such as leadership training programs, speakers, content, and networking opportunities.Avnet China’s community supports children with autism
Avnet China has continued their dedication in serving its communities in three consecutive years of the ongoing prosperous five-year partnership with Wuhan Linjie’s support center for autistic children. The partnership was sparked in 2020 during the pandemic when nearly 600 employees donated money and supplies to the support center. Since then, continual charity and community events have been a primary focus to ensure continuous support to children in need. This year’s focus was sponsoring a charity art exhibition with prizes donated by Avnet China. The event was a great success, receiving 385 paintings, and 45 art entries were shortlisted by the committee for virtual exhibition, with 19,161 online votes and 54,828 page view. The project owes its success to the outstanding work from the Avnet China management, HR team, countless employees, and their families.
Avnet Silica partners with Dryad to combat forest fires
Avnet Silica is proud to announce details of cooperative work with a Berlin-based startup named Dryad to help tackle the pressing issue of forest fires across the globe. This innovative company uses IoT (Internet of Things) and specialty networking to identify forest fires and allow local authorities to stop them before they spread. A solar-powered sensor that can identify concentrations of various gases is used in conjunction with solar-powered network gateways, able to triangulate internet connection even deep into a dense and remote forest. Without these advanced and innovative technologies, remote sensing for forest fires would not be as affordable and viable as it is with the “Internet of Trees” networking solution. Dryad has worked closely with Avnet Silica to figure out how to accomplish and overcome the challenges present in such a task, serving as both a successful partner and ally.Farnell supports the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal
In March 2022, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to provide urgent aid to people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, where over 7 million people are now internally displaced and more than 6 million have fled across the border to become refugees. Avnet’s Farnell proudly donated £30,000 to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. This money goes directly to helping the needs of refugees and families displaced by the conflict. The DEC appropriates these funds as needed to provide food, water, medical assistance, and trauma care. This includes support in Ukraine as well as neighboring countries. The conflict has caused a surge in needs for the services of hospitals, primary health care facilities, and social support programs for those who find themselves in this difficult situation. DEC charities have worked in coordination with the Ukrainian authorities to ensure funds are efficiently and effectively allocated.Farnell supports epilepsy research with golf day charity event
On June 4th, 2022, Farnell hosted its 19th annual golf day at Leeds Golf Club in the United Kingdom in support of the group Epilepsy Research UK. Funds were raised via entry ticket purchase, course sponsors, and a final charity raffle including luxury electronic prizes. Participants of this year’s golf day included over 80 Farnell team members, suppliers, and customers from around the world. Some representatives included staff from Raspberry Pi, Sony, and Schneider Electric. The day was an outstanding success, raising £13,805 for vital research into epilepsy. To date, Avnet’s Farnell has raised nearly £190,000 to support epilepsy research.element14’s passion for better schools in India
Avnet’s element14 community endeavors reach the hearts of schoolchildren in India. element14’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions continue to improve the quality of life for countless elementary aged schoolchildren in various villages within the Vijayanagara District of Karnataka, central India. The volunteer team set forth to accomplish core mission values. These include asset and infrastructural improvements, safe drinking water, clean toilets, digital learning, and skill development. The CSR team involved in this project successfully accomplished these mission values by donating desks, installing reverse osmosis water purifiers, building and repairing bathrooms, and creating smart learning facilities.Avnet’s recent green revitalization of Farnell headquarters in Leeds, UK.
Avnet’s Farnell has recently revitalized Canal Road, the headquarters office in Leeds, UK. Throughout much of FY22, the site saw a complete transformation to a workplace to be proud of. We are proud to announce that this project invested in sustainable and green technology for better, safer, and comfortable modern working spaces. Some initiatives that went into the careful planning and design of the new Canal Road include improved security across the site, functional hubs, improved natural light, collaboration spaces, improved technology and sustainability enhancements. The building utilizes 100% renewable electricity, and zero waste going to landfill. There are also 20 on-site charging points for electric vehicles. There are also quality-of-life improvements, ranging from fresh air ventilation, sit/standing desk options, to zonal temperature control and increased Wi-Fi coverage to accommodate the hybrid and online workstyle.Hackster.io contest finds ways to prevent water waste and flooding in homes
Over 300 participants from around the globe entered the "Build AI for the IoT contest" with Hackster.io and Infineon. The competition launched in February 2022 and ran for five months. Participants were asked to re-invent the way we interact with everyday objects in our home. This provided participants a platform to design flexible, low-power, IoT solutions with capacitive touch capabilities like home security systems and modules that can identify possible health complications. The third-place winner created a device that could detect when a faucet was accidentally left running and sends SMS alerts to the recipient’s phone. It can accurately detect faucets left on which waste gallons of water per minute, and present flooding and other risks. It could also benefit those suffering from memory loss, those with young children, or simply the everyday person. Check out this project and other submissions on the contest page. Hackster.io inspires environmentalism with Sustainable Planet Contest
Seeed Studio and Hackster.io teamed up to launch the “IoT Into the Wild Contest for Sustainable Planet 2022” near the end of FY22. Supported by Microsoft's Project 15 and many other IoT and AI pioneers, this contest was designed to inspire and enable open-source technologists, global maker communities, and field experts to support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This contest aimed at bridging the gap between conservation landscapes and advanced technology solutions and provide applicable, scalable, plug-and-play, easy-to-deploy solutions for solving challenges in the wild. The winning submission created a prototype that can be deployed in bodies of water to detect dangerous algae blooms and notify relevant authorities. The device uses machine learning to identify when data has reached dangerous limits, then sends real time notifications via the Helium network. Explore this project and more on the contest page.No poverty – End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Avnet believes that providing good jobs with fair wages is an effective step to end poverty. We ensure that employees in low- and middle-income countries are paid above local minimum wages or industry standards. This includes employees in India, Malaysia, Mexico and Serbia.Good Health and Well-Being – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensuring healthy lives includes ensuring good mental health. In FY21, we expanded mental health support for employees as part of our Employee Assistance Program and THRIVE program. Our THRIVE program supports the whole person and offers employees resources, information, benefits and assistance in these interconnected areas to support overall health.
Looking to support healthy lives more broadly and globally, Avnet partnered with the U.N. Development Program, customers, and our extensive Hackster.io and element14 communities to leverage our design-to-supply chain capabilities and expertise to accelerate development, production and distribution of critical COVID-19 diagnostic, treatment and tracking applications.
The Hackster.io community partnered with the United Nations Development Program to launch the COVID-19 Detect & Protect Challenge. The initiative inspired nearly 2,500 engineers to build over 400 low-cost, easily replicable, open-source solutions to help fight the pandemic in the world’s most vulnerable communities. Hackster.io then connected with their ambassadors in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda to deliver hardware, tools and fabrication machines to build and test the contest’s winning solutions. Each ambassador hosted hackathons, local maker events or small-scale production hubs to empower local businesses, health centers, and universities in the fight.
In FY21, element14 finished the Fighting Germs design challenge, aimed at engaging designers and engineers within its 800,000+-member community to slow the spread of COVID-19. The challenge netted a range of projects to fight COVID-19 and protect vulnerable populations, including touchless virtual buttons, authorized entry using face mask detection and a contact-free temperature checker.
Kamrul Hussain from Dhaka, Bangladesh, created a handheld device that enables continuous vital monitoring for COVID-19 survivors. Using Co2 and temperature sensors, the device sends vital health data to the cloud to facilitate telemedicine monitoring. This innovation eases the post-recovery process and makes homecare more manageable.
Hackster.io launched and ran a contest with Micron in FY20-21 in which participants developed all-autonomous robots that use different types of UV light sanitation methods. Fifty-eight projects were submitted, advancing better sanitization in offices, grocery stores, homes and more – autonomously. Each project submission listed the ultraviolet radiation dose and threshold limit value calculations, UV-C dose calculations, full spec sheet, safety feature breakdowns and more.
Over 630 participants from more than 60 countries entered the NXP HoverGames Challenge 2: Help Drones, Help Others During Pandemics. Participants were asked to build drone projects focused on a handful of recommended themes like surface sanitation, medication delivery, temperature checks and more. Their projects were required to use NXP’s official HoverGames drone kit and each design was to be fully documented and open source. Announced at the end of FY20, the competition ran during the first quarter of FY21 and was hosted on the Hackster.io HoverGames Challenge 2 page.
The Advanced Wearables contest challenged participants to build open-source wearable devices using Nordic Semiconductor’s ultra-low power nRF5340 DK board. The goal was to create solutions around one of two categories: smart wearables that encourage an active lifestyle or medical remote patient monitoring devices. The grand prize winner developed an Affordable Remote Baby Vitals Alert System which will alert caregivers in real-time to changes in a baby’s vitals while sleeping such as body temperature, breath and heart rate. The first prize winner for wearables for active lifestyle developed a Posture Watchdog to inform the wearer when they are exhibiting poor posture or they have been inactive for too long, and the first prize winner for remote patient monitoring devices innovated the EHM: Electrocardiography Holter Monitor which uses dry electrodes to monitor a patient's vitals from the comfort of their own home.
Gender Equality – Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
We proudly celebrate and support women across all of Avnet’s regions and job functions since Avnet’s total workforce is 45% female. Employees around the world celebrated International Women’s Day by holding panel discussions and open conversations in the U.S., Mexico and Singapore.
The importance of gender equality in the electronics industry was discussed on an episode of Distributing Wisdom, a podcast series launched in conjunction with Avnet’s centennial celebration. The episode featured Avnet board member Brenda Freeman among other industry experts. Avnet is a company that recognizes the importance of diversity and the key role women play in business and society today.
Visit Avnet’s DEI programs page for more information.
Sustainable Cities and Communities – Make cities and human settlements, inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Through element14’s design challenges, many community members created projects to improve our built environment and cities.
Enrique Albertos from Fullcarga, Spain, created an IoT device that monitors gas density and controls windows to increase natural ventilation and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The device is a fine example of practical engineering and was designed to spark interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and to be easily implemented in any classroom by teachers and students. His project received the grand prize from the recent “Design for a Cause 21” challenge.
Community members were challenged to create a sustainable smart farm in just one square meter (around 10 sq ft) of space with the idea that it could be used in an urban area, during a disaster or even in space. The winner of the contest, Bruno Santos from Portugal, integrated Twitter, time-lapse videos, and the Raspberry Pi camera to create an effective hydroponic garden. View all challenge winners.
Climate Action – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact
Avnet announced its carbon emission reduction goals this year and seeks to further impact climate change by advancing technology. Avnet collaborates with select customers to advance emission-savings technology. We also engage our wider community in this global challenge and run competitions to accelerate technology development.
We combined our industry-leading design capabilities and distribution services with Infineon's advanced CoolSiC™ technology and launched a global demand creation growth program for Infineon Technologies' silicon carbide power products. CoolSic reduces energy losses by 50% in energy storage systems and reduces charging times for electric vehicles by 50%.
Hackster.io challenged community members to develop climate change solutions by creating a proof-of-concept of an intelligent IoT edge solution. The challenge required users to use the QuickLogic QuickFeather Development Kit & SensiML Analytics Toolkit in their proof of concept to create a smart, low-power design.
Winning contest projects were:
- Forest Guardian – A low-power solar-run device that detects illegal logging of wood using acoustic data.
- Protect Peatlands for people and planet with help of SensiML – A solar powered sensor built using SensiML, Ubidots and Helium helps conserve peatlands by predicting early signs of drying, drought or fire.
- Illegal Logging Detector – A sensor that can detect a chainsaw and human voice in the forest.
- Optimization of HVAC Performance – A tool that adjusts and monitors the performance of home HVAC systems to improve energy efficiency.
- Birdbuddy – A bird migration tracker that enables better allocation of conservation resources.
- Breeze – A battery and solar-powered smart environmental sensor hub with machine learning capabilities that supports a wide variety of sensors and communication modules.
Hackster.io launched its “Fight Fires with Flyers” competition at the end of FY20 with NXP. The contest ran in early FY21, with over 100 developers using an NXP HoverGrames drone kit to find creative ways to assist firefighting, either in forests or in cities.
Life on Land – Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Avnet recognizes the challenges of conserving life on land and the rich biodiversity of our planet. Together with our partners and communities, we support the development of smart technology to address U.N. SDG 15.
An elephant is killed by poachers every 15 minutes. At this rate, they face extinction within the next decade. Since 2019, Smart Parks has deployed high-tech, smart tracking collars on wildlife in parks around the globe. Trackers provide crucial data on movement patterns, migration patterns and location of the animals. This data helps park rangers keep animals from dangerous territories in addition to protecting the surrounding human populations. In FY21, Hackster.io and SmartParks further developed the program they launched in FY20 by encouraging developers to build advanced machine learning models using Edge Impulse Studio dashboards and Avnet’s IoTConnect Platform, powered by Microsoft Azure. These solutions could assist park rangers in analyzing the data coming from the elephant collars and determine if a course of action is needed.
With contributions from wildlife organizations, participants had free access to data sets, machine learning applications, and Avnet’s IoTConnect Platform that facilitates device communication and management, data storage, and app creation. In total, the contest had 31 well-documented, qualified projects. Projects are displayed on the ElephantEdge contest page, where community members can continue to admire winning projects, learn about the initiative, and share with their peers.
Partnerships for the Goals – Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
Avnet works in partnership with customers, suppliers and community members to advance solutions for the SDGs.
Projects ranged from an accessible bike for those with multiple sclerosis, remote telemedicine devices, robotic hands and an open source EMDR machine to help with stress and anxiety.
The challenge provided solutions ranging from smart farming and indoor hydroponics to robotic garbage collection. More than 230 trees were planted in honor of the challenge.
This challenge inspired projects that reduce waste by upcycling old products into something new.