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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.