Stories
Transforming Lives: Join Our Journey
Zambia’s Acute Healthcare Staff Shortage
The Zambian healthcare system faces a severe shortage of personnel. To address this, the Hilti Foundation and SolidarMed established vocational training for nurses and midwives. Adequate housing for students and healthcare workers is crucial to retaining skilled staff, making it a key part of the initiative.
Overcoming Peru’s Housing Crisis with Innovation
In Peru, a safe home is a distant dream for many families facing the dual threats of environmental risks and a severe lack of skilled labor. An alarming 80% of constructions are informally built, leaving half of them vulnerable to earthquakes. This shocking reality demands urgent action.
Building Safe and Secure Homes in Peru
After her visits to Peru as part of the Viviendas Progresivas (VIPRO) project, Melinda Sasfi, Project Manager at Hilti Foundation, observed that houses are built haphazardly, and quality is not a focus. As a result, people build without professional supervision and much of what is built is simply poor construction. At the same time, the government has no plan to solve the problem. In addition to the poor quality of construction, there is another challenge: cost.
Making Bamboo Mainstream
For over a decade, the Hilti Foundation investigates and promotes innovative bamboo construction technologies for affordable housing in Southeast Asia. Together with the BASE Bahay Foundation, located in Manila, and implementing partners, more than 1,500 houses have been built in the Philippines and Nepal.
Job Opportunities through Vocational Training
Inspired by the Swiss vocational training system and developed for the market needs in Kenya, the Hilti Foundation, together with Swisscontact and local Kenyan experts, launched PropelA, a dual education system for the electrical and plumbing trades. Focusing on underprivileged young adults and driven by more than 40 local leading firms, we provide theoretical and practical education for the skills required in the industry.
Enriching Teaching in Social Music Programs
In 2020, the Hilti Foundation initiated the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM) based on the experience of more than 15 years of engagement in the field of Music for Social Change. The establishment of AIM is a response to the great potential of the field to enable transformational learning. With the Firebird Fellowship, AIM offers pioneering training for teachers from social music programs around the world, recognizing their vital role in the empowerment of young people.
Hilti Group 2023 Company Report
Discover the full scope of our impact and the background of our initiatives by diving into our comprehensive company report. Explore how together, we're making a meaningful difference in the world!
Transforming Lives in Nepal: Safe Homes and Empowered Communities
Where would you sleep, live, and raise your kids without a safe place to call home? Adequate housing is recognized as a human right. Yet, in Nepal, nearly half of the population lives in substandard housing conditions, hindering their opportunities for social and economic advancement. Like many in her country, 29-year-old Pramila, a devoted mother of two, intimately understands the impact of this challenge.
Dive into Franck Goddio's 2023 Maritime Archaeology Journey
In 2023, Franck Goddio and his team have succeeded in discovering amazing new artifacts at Thonis-Heracleion in Egypt. Some of the beautiful and ancient objects found below the sea are now part of the world’s largest archaeological collection in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Furthermore, we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the cooperation with the University of Oxford.
Webinar: Making Bamboo Mainstream
With its research and testing center, the Bamboo Academy and its own construction projects in the Philippines, Nepal and other Asian countries, the BASE Bahay Foundation, founded by the Hilti Foundation in 2014, aims to make bamboo a standard building material of the future – dedicated to the needs in construction of low-income families.
Hilti Foundation: looking back on 2023
Our ambition to contribute to a better society is stronger than ever, a dynamic force that continues to gain momentum. The great work of our more than 33,000 Hilti team members and the commitment of our customers and partners enables us to invest in large-scale initiatives globally.
20th Anniversary of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology (OCMA). The OCMA was established as a collaborative venture by the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM) under the direction of Franck Goddio, and the Hilti Foundation which has supported his archaeological expeditions since 1996. The aim was to create a center of expertise for Maritime Archaeology at the University.
Volunteer Experience: Building Houses in Srebrenica
Contributing to the communities in which we live and work are becoming more and more important in today’s world. Hilti recognizes this need and encourages its team members’ social commitment through the corporate volunteering program Engaged Beyond Business (EBB). One of our recent volunteers shares about his exciting experience about his EBB trip to Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Building Bridges through Music Education
Like in many other developing countries, children and young people from South African’s Townships lack opportunities to develop their full potential. Music can make a difference. By making music collectively young people develop competencies and key life skills that can open the way to a self-determined future.
Sunken Secrets: Franck Goddio’s Team Discovers New Artifacts at Thonis-Heracleion
The sunken temple of Thonis-Heracleion has unveiled its long-held treasures and secrets as an underwater archaeological team, led by Franck Goddio in collaboration with the Department of Underwater Archaeology of Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, made significant discoveries in the Bay of Aboukir off the Egyptian coast.
When Talent Meets Opportunity – the Story of Ruth Wairimu
Every year, about a million young people flood the Kenyan labor market. Most of them have little chance of finding a job because they lack the financial means to attend college or university. Adding to the problem, the current Kenyan vocational training system is largely disconnected from the needs of the private sector.
“supergut” Promoting Biodiversity in Liechtenstein
“supergut” is an initiative to promote biodiversity in Liechtenstein. Together with a network of experts, the Hilti Family Foundation Liechtenstein aims to make biological diversity a topic for everyone.
Tackling the Global Housing Crisis with Bamboo
By 2030, it is predicted that 3 billion people worldwide will be living in substandard housing. Affecting their education, health and livelihood, this is one of the reasons why underprivileged families remain in the so-called poverty trap. To help alleviate this situation, the Hilti Foundation, together with the BASE Bahay Foundation, collaborate for affordable technology solutions to improve housing and the lives of low-income families.
Systemic Change in Healthcare Delivery in Zambia
A game-changing approach of decentralized vocational education of nurses and midwifes, implemented by SolidarMed and funded by the Hilti Foundation, has proven effective in Zambia. Now, the Ministry of Health has decided to make it a national education standard to be implemented nationwide.
The Power of Music - the Story of Athzel Pino
Imagine knowing from a very young age that music is your life. You dream of becoming a professional musician and enchanting audiences on the world’s leading stages. But there’s a catch: You live in one of Lima’s poorest neighborhoods, where money is scarce, and opportunities are few. This is the story of Athzel, a young Peruvian,