Stories
Transforming Lives: Join Our Journey
Goddio’s Finds on Display: Colossal Statues from Thonis-Heracleion now in the Grand Egyptian Museum
Two colossal statues retrieved by Franck Goddio and his team from the ancient sunken city of Thonis-Heracleion (Aboukir Bay), are now on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, near Cairo. They are part of one of the world’s largest underwater archaeological research projects, supported by the Hilti Foundation.
Concert: Alban Berg Ensemble Vienna welcomes Iberacademy Medellín
Young musicians from Iberacademy Medellín understand excellence not only as a leitmotif in music, but as something that determines their entire work in and through music. This attitude corresponds almost ideally to the approach of the Alban Berg Ensemble Wien, which cultivates a highly innovative character in its concert programs and their presentation - always connected to the past and devoted to the new. Therefore, the ensemble has invited students from Iberacademy to participate in its new concert cycle at the Josephinum Vienna.
PropelA: Vocational Training for a Skilled Workforce in Kenya
According to projections, about one million young people flood the Kenyan labor market every year. However, most of them have hardly any chance of finding a job, as the current vocational training is largely disconnected from the needs of the private sector. That is why the Hilti Foundation, together with Swisscontact and Kenyan experts, has launched the dual vocational training initiative Propel A, which offers the younger generation excellent, dual education that meets the market's needs.
Reaching the Next Level in Bamboo Construction
To date, CBFT, has been primarily used in the Philippines and Nepal to build affordable homes for families in need. The Hilti Foundation's green and disaster resilient construction technology has now been further developed, showing high potential to be used in larger community buildings to provide livelihoods for families from disadvantaged backgrounds and their communities. The first facility has just opened.
Hilti 2022 Company Report
The Hilti Foundation focuses on sustainable social change in its projects by empowering people around the world to lead independent and self-determined lives. By adding value to society, the Hilti Foundation also contributes significantly to the Hilti Group's strategy.
Finding Economic Independence
Economic Empowerment is about enabling people in need to become economically independent so they can lead self-determined lives. Despite economic growth in Eastern Africa, poverty rates remain very high, with rural populations and the younger generation in major cities particularly affected. Our work in this focus area is based on two initiatives: enterprise development and vocational training.
Music as a Pathway for Personal Growth
The objective in our focus area, Music for Social Change, is to empower young people through music to make conscious choices for life. We are concentrating on three initiatives: supporting grassroot programs, building bridges between music programs and the established music world, and the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM).
Better Construction for Low-income Environments
The Affordable Housing & Technology focus area is about changing the way low-income families build and live. Here, our work is based on three initiatives: spreading bamboo construction, creating an inclusive housing industry, and building coalitions of impact.
Solidarity for Türkiye/ North Syria after Earthquake
In times of crises, rapid and stable support is of the utmost importance. Our long-standing partner organizations, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, @fire - Internationaler Katastrophenschutz, and Ärzte ohne Grenzen Schweiz / Médecins Sans Frontières Suisse, have been physically on the ground since day one.
World Habitat Award for Habitat's MicroBuild Fund
We are extremely proud to announce that the MicroBuild Fund has received the World Habitat Award by UN-Habitat. The MicroBuild Fund of Habitat for Humanity International focuses on helping low-income families access housing through microfinance institutions and has helped over one million people worldwide.
Musical Highlights: The Iberacademy Orchestra in Austria
Regular collaboration with international musicians and orchestras is a key element of the Iberacademy curriculum. At the end of January, the Iberacademy Orchestra Medellín embarked on its next concert tour to Europe. The young musicians will perform at the first music festival of the year, the renowned "Mozartwoche Salzburg”, before traveling on to Feldkirch.
Latest News from Ancient Egypt by Franck Goddio
Block your calendars already now on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. (GMT+1). Join us for a fascinating live-stream session and listen to Maritime Archaeologist Franck Goddio. He will update us on the latest developments of the ongoing excavations of Thonis-Heracleion in Egypt.
Hilti Foundation's 2022: The year in review
2022 has been another challenging year, and recent world events have caused a major setback in the effort to fight poverty. Therefore, an even stronger commitment by the Hilti Foundation is needed. Nevertheless, 2022 has also been a year of good progress: We stayed on track with our projects and were able to launch important new initiatives.
Solidarity Through Volunteering
As part of Hilti’s corporate volunteering program Engaged Beyond Business, our colleagues are involved in social and environmental initiatives that go beyond their daily work. Numerous local projects are running all over the world, led by the respective Hilti organization. In addition, the Hilti Foundation offers some international initiatives.
pepperMINT Experimentation Lab in Liechtenstein
Located on Vaduzer Landstrasse, the pepperMINT Experimentation Lab is a place where children learn to engage with STEM subjects—Mathematics, Informatics, Natural Sciences, and Technology—through playful exploration.
Project Announcement: Launching Dual Vocational Education PropelA in Kenya
After one year of intense preparations, the Hilti Foundation proudly announces its latest initiative in East Africa: For the first time, 120 young people will spend the next two years as an employed apprentice of one of 24 renown Kenyan companies and student of a specialized school, to be educated as a certified plumber or electrician. This dual training model is based on more than 100 years of experience in Switzerland and Central Europe.
Dreaming of a Safe Place to Live
Affordable Housing & Technology is one of the Hilti Foundation's focus areas. That involves more than the well-known Cement Bamboo Frame Technology, which provides safe and sustainable homes for families in need. The Foundation also supports the development and implementation of other solutions to improve the way families live and build.
Building Bridges: A Journey of Musical and Personal Growth
This was a dream coming true for the talented young musicians of the Sinfonía por el Perú Youth Orchestra when they crossed the ocean this late summer: Performing together with world-renowned tenor and founder of Sinfonía por el Perú, Juan Diego Flórez, at three of the most prestigious and important classical music venues.
Market innovations for affordable housing
To promote and expand affordable housing markets, Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter launched ShelterTech, the world’s leading platform for affordable housing innovation, which targets pioneering shelter entrepreneurs. The Hilti Foundation’s support for ShelterTech and the Terwilliger Center’s Shelter Venture Labs puts entrepreneurs at the center of a highly connected ecosystem of collaborative partners.
Preparing young people for life through music
In August 2022, the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM) gathered 40 students, the so called “Firebirds” for the immersive part of their Fellowship journey. Although the second cohort, this residency was the first of its kind, notably including 40 Firebird Young Leaders aged 13-17. This was no normal ‘orchestral music camp’ - teachers from music for social change programs came from Brazil, the Canary Islands, Colombia, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uganda and the USA, along with young musicians, music program leaders, expert faculty and staff in Lisbon for over 3 weeks to experiment with transformational teaching and learning approaches.