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Earlier this week, Russia said it would scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital. Still, after nearly 40 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an estimated 6.5 million people have been displaced in the country, and companies with an Austin presence are looking for ways to help.
The local crypto scene offered donations after Ukrainian officials called for help on Twitter and now other tech companies in Austin have joined, with some even making adjustments to their platforms.
Razorhorse
This Austin-founded financial services company has two team members in Ukraine, so when the invasion happened, they felt called to action. “Our team members’ lives were turned upside down,” the company wrote in a post. “We’ve been supporting them as best we can, but we wanted to do more.”
Razorhorse donated $10,000 to Ukrainian causes and $1,500 through a 2-for-1-match Benevity, a charitable donation-management company, ran. Plus, funds given to the employees are being used to assist refugees, children, hospitals and volunteer soldiers.
Part of the contribution went to helping Ukrainians battle freezing temperatures through thermal underwear kits for territorial defense squads in Kyiv and elsewhere. Another share of the donation went toward acquiring wound therapy equipment for a military hospital in Vinnytsia.
Apple
At the start of the month, Apple said it would match employee donations at a rate of 2 to 1.
“This moment calls for unity, it calls for courage, and it reminds us that we must never lose sight of the humanity we all share,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in an email to staff. “In these difficult times, I take comfort in knowing that we are united in our commitment to each other, to our users, and to being a force for good in the world.”
The company has also paused product sales in Russia and stopped exports into their sales channel in the country. Services like Apple Pay are limited; outside of Russia, the App Store doesn’t make RT News or Sputnik News available for download. On the safety side for Ukrainians, the company disabled traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps.
SpaceX
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is based in the Rio Grande Valley and has an Austin presence, responded to the invasion by sending Starlink satellite kits to Ukraine. They come equipped with an antenna, mounting tripod and WiFi router.
But there’s been concern that the satellites could be targeted by Russia and China. Musk recently responded with confidence, saying it would be challenging to target the satellites.
“If you attempt to take out Starlink, this is not easy because there are 2,000 satellites,” Musk told Insider. Still, he warned users in Ukraine to turn to the system “only when needed.”
In early March, the tech giant announced it will use office space in Poland to offer humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees. One campus in Warsaw will serve as a space for refugees to receive legal and psychological support services from local non-government organizations.
The tech giant has also raised millions to help those affected by the war in Ukraine. “Our teams are working around the clock to support people in Ukraine through our products, defend against cybersecurity threats, and surface reliable information while taking extraordinary measures to stop the spread of misinformation and disrupt disinformation campaigns online,” Google wrote in a post.
Meta
The parent company of Instagram and Facebook has raised at least $20 million for humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
It has also added safety features. For example, their teams are working with non-governmental organizations to spread the word on tools like locking users’ Facebook profile. The company also temporarily removed the ability to view and search the friends' lists of Facebook accounts in Ukraine and Russia to prevent people from being targeted.
But Ukraine has requested more. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg to ban Facebook and Instagram within the country’s borders, which they denied.
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Popular
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Teachers are leaving this industry at an alarming rate and people keep asking why? It should all be really obvious. Lack of pay, lack of teachers and lack of respect.
This is why teachers rallied last Thursday for better pay. With 17 years of experience, I make up to $55,000 a year as an elementary school teacher. Some ask why I stay and it comes down to one thing, I love teaching—I am molding the future generations. I have stayed in this district because it hasn't always been this way.
Austin ISD employees and others gathered for higher pay at the district headquarters Thursday. (Education Austin/Twitter)
But one by one, teachers are leaving looking for better opportunities since the pandemic. Because for the past two years, teachers are being asked to do the most they ever have without a pay increase.
When a teacher is out, other teachers are asked to take those students into their classrooms and end up with 30+ students. How is that safe? The State education agency says pre-k through fourth grade should not exceed a class size of 22. But admin is not helping keep classrooms under the regulated class size.
At my school we have a bilingual classroom that was taught for nine weeks with only an English teacher, then they used another teacher that’s bilingual to just support. How is admin sitting in their office OK with this?
When test scores are adequate, our school’s higher-ups turn a blind eye. They don't show they care for the well-being of teachers or the students.
Additionally, teachers are on their own when it comes to parents, who have been more aggressively vocal since the pandemic. We have parents yelling at teachers, and admin ignoring both parent and teacher.
When my colleagues and I receive text messages after hours in all caps from angry parents, it's up to us to figure out what to do. And it happens in person too, where you can witness parents yelling at teachers directing traffic at morning drop off.
We have students bringing illegal items to school and not being reprimanded. I have seen students bring drugs, bullets and knives in an elementary school. These items are dangerous and could seriously hurt other students, and somehow parents are not informed of this information. There are no preventative measures being taken to make sure there is safety at school.
No one is benefitting from any of this—but getting the worst end of it is the students, and that’s who we are supposed to be trying and giving our best to.
Things need to change at AISD and it starts with respect and support of teachers.
Tell me if that is a job you would be willing to stay at for the pay we make.
Austonia reached out to an Austin ISD spokesperson for comment, receiving this response:
"I can understand a teacher would want to write this anonymously given the culture of reprisal that used to exist here. Now, however, we're all about fixing problems, not covering them up. I'm giving Austonia my personal mobile number and would hope that they would pass it on to the author in hopes that he or she calls me to tell me where this is going on. What is being described here is a campus with a messed-up culture, and there are a lot of people here where I work who would want to work with the campus administrators to get this fixed."
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