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The Hilti Foundation: Looking Back on 2023

We are grateful for what we have achieved together.

Produced by the Hilti Foundation | December 15, 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.

Empowering young people to develop skills and learn important life lessons for a self-determined future. 

Through music, we aim to encourage children and young people and empower them to overcome the obstacles life has set for them. We currently work with nine programs that reach more than 15,000 people worldwide. However, the impact goes far beyond this, as it also reaches their families and communities.

A good example of a systemic change initiative is AIM, the Academy for Impact through Music. With AIM's teacher training programs, “Firebird Fellowship” and “FireUp!,” we are fundamentally changing the way teachers are trained, and music programs are run to create a greater and sustainable impact for children and young people.

“I am grateful that through our work in music for social change, we can support young people on their path to self-determined adulthood. It is touching for me to see the children from the music programs grow into young adults and find their personal path in life – in or outside of music.”

Christine Rhomberg
Director of Community Arts & Culture, Hilti Foundation

Changing how low-income families build and live.

A house is much more than just shelter. We believe that it serves as a strong foundation for families to start their journey to a better life: improved health, a place for kids to do their homework and invite friends, a place to recover and gain strength after a long workday, an asset that helps access loans for the next steps in life. 

As one important element of our housing work, we have continued to develop the BASE Bahay Foundation into a leading competence center for bamboo construction. Green, resilient and available in abundant amounts, we aim to make bamboo a standard building material, focused on the construction needs of low-income families in developing countries and emerging economies of the global south. More than 25 research projects with leading universities and research centers around the world are just one indicator that progress is accelerating.

“Having a place to call home means more than just a roof over one's head. It is a promise to families for safety and well-being. A place for their kids to grow in a healthy environment. A place of freedom and personal growth. By making construction better, we have the opportunity to help these families build a more prosperous future.”

Johann Baar
Director Affordable Housing & Technology, Hilti Foundation

Enabling people in need to become economically independent.

Enabling people to escape poverty by their own efforts is what we want to achieve with our initiatives in Economic Empowerment. In the past five years, we have helped over 32,000 small businesses to become established by rural families. This creates additional income and forms a sustainable basis for them to become members of the emerging middle class.

For the young, unemployed generation in East African cities, we started a dual vocational training program initially focusing on construction-related jobs. Currently, 40 leading companies are investing in the training of 250 young Kenyans in two state-of-the-art schools. The goal is to expand capacity and add different trades to ultimately provide young people with excellent skills and the opportunity to earn a decent living. 

“The dual system of vocational education only works if the private sector is committed to investing in training of young people. I am very proud that we have managed to convince leading companies and the government to invest in this model. Together, we are completely transforming the education system to create real opportunities for the young generation.”

Werner Wallner
Managing Director of the Hilti Foundation

Overcoming global challenges requires sustainable and long-term engagement. Alongside the Hilti Group, we aim to bring about systemic change that offers people encouraging prospects for a self-determined future. We would like to thank all of you, customers, partners and Hilti team members, for your commitment which makes an important contribution every single day.

We are encouraged by this year of progress and look forward to going even further together in 2024!