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WHO WE ARE

Avast takes care of your safety and security on the internet, because you have better things to do. We protect hundreds of millions of people from threats with one of the most advanced threat detection networks in the world.

"Being socially responsible is crucially important to Avast. The Avast Foundation is our primary vehicle of giving back. It is a strong motivation for me and for many of our employees that, through its foundation, Avast directly reinvests a portion of its income to solve broader societal issues of our time."

Ondrej Vlcek, CEO, Avast

What we are about?

The Avast Foundation was established in 2010. With funds donated by Avast, as well as the time and talent of the Avast employees who volunteer, we work directly and indirectly to support communities around the world and promote the values of freedom and choice that create meaningful lives. The Foundation attests to Avast’s commitment to being a responsible leader in the world. Apart from involving employees from all walks of life, the foundation and Avast as the global leader in digital security products combine their potential whenever there is any opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals and communities who in turn strive to make the world a safer, better place. What we share is the courage to look at challenges from new and different perspectives, and seek innovative ways to address them. We aspire to be leaders who not only dare to risk and invest, but to remain humble in our pursuits, and contribute what we can to making lasting solutions and positive changes to the systems around us.

Our History

  • 1988

    The first antivirus

    Pavel Baudiš from the Prague Research Institute of Mathematical Machines encountered a sample of the Vienna virus and developed a program to remove it. When he showed it to his colleague, Eduard Kučera, they established a cooperative together under whose name they started to distribute the program as the first avast! antivirus. Due to the government regime, they could not establish a company yet.
  • 1991

    Establishing the company

    The programmer Pavel Baudiš wrote the first antivirus program in 1988. But he couldn’t establish a firm with his life-long friend Eduard Kučera until after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. And so, the firm ALWIL Software was created.
  • 2001

    Launch of free software

    Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš introduced an entirely new strategy supporting community growth. The strategy is based on the idea that every PC user has a right to protection against threats and computer security should not be a privilege affordable only to some. And so, on 1 June, they launched an antivirus solution offered to households (non-commercial use) for free.
  • 2010

    Avast Foundation

    In 2010, the owners of the company Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera initiated the establishment of the Avast Foundation and entrusted its administration to their spouses, Jarmila and Milada.
  • 2013

    Avast Foundation supports system change

    In our strategic programs, we focus on developing end-of-life care and support for families of disabled children. The fundamental value guiding our work is the quality of human life, self-sufficiency for all, and the right of each person to make decisions freely.
  • 2016

    The Foundation crosses borders, Avast acquires AVG

    As Avast expands, its Foundation is growing too. Through our global community of employees, we gain access to interesting projects directly in the countries where our employees are based. By joining with AVG, those countries now expanded to include the UK, the Netherlands, Serbia and Canada.
  • 2017

    Education for the 21st century

    We consider a quality and modern education to be the most important factor in preparing children to lead the world of tomorrow. The foundation and company work together to support Avast’s mission of cultivating the next generation of cybersecurity experts and educating people how to stay safe online. A great landmark of 2017 was the creation of a new program called Learn Together, focused on educational support.
  • 2018

    Centers of excellence and innovation in philanthropy

    As part of the fifth year of the program Together Until the End, support was provided to two organizations that will use their expertise to establish centers of excellence – cutting-edge workplaces with a strong superstructure in innovation, research and education. This development illustrates the progress made in this area since 2014. We also joined forces with other foundations in order to promote a system of education that will prepare children for the opportunities of the 21st century and so the Eduzměna Foundation (Educhange) was founded.
  • 2019

    30 years of freedom and the development of the scholarship program

    In 2019 we supported select projects that mapped out in various ways the events of the Velvet Revolution as well as projects reminding us of democratic values. The third year of the Avast Foundation Awards was devoted to this topic, too. We also announced the second year of the Avast Foundation Palliative Care Scholarship and welcomed 18 more senior experts into the program.

OUR MISSION

Personal letter from Jarmila Baudišová

Dear friends,
Many years ago Avast began developing the first antivirus programs in order to protect data and computer security and thus help protect almost half a billion users around the world. The Avast Foundation, which was created six years ago, builds on these values. It helps people facing various problems to achieve a better quality of life, to freely make decisions about their life, and to be part of a mutually supportive community.

“For us, the important word is TOGETHER. Together we are a community, we are stronger, we support each other, we achieve more. Together we want to make positive changes throughout society.”

Our programs primarily focus on systemically supporting care at end-of-life and on supporting families that have children with a disability. The beginning and end of life are two stages of life which we believe to be very important. We work together with selected specialists, we pay attention to actual needs and we trust those who have been professionally working in these specific areas for many years. We are also interested in areas such as scientific development, cultural heritage and art, support for sport for the disadvantaged and education.
Avast is now a global company with 99% of users outside the Czech Republic. The majority of its employees, however, work in the Czech Republic. That is why we keep our home in mind and primarily support Czech non-profits and projects.
A great landmark of 2017 was the creation of a new program called Learn Together, focused on educational support. We consider quality, modern, teaching to be the basis for preparing children in the best possible way for future life in the current, fast-developing world. Our first support was directed towards innovation in digital education and teachers.

We also have a home and staff in other countries on several continents where we all share the same opportunity to engage in supporting their communities through the program Together with Employees.. We are excited about all we have achieved during the relatively short existence of the Foundation. We enjoy the support of Avast management and staff, and are thrilled that their interest in our work continues to grow. Many are working with us and some volunteer on our projects or are themselves volunteers in areas and regions they know well and from which they come. They know that together we can simply do it better.

Jarmila Baudišová
Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees

Our Team

Do not hesitate to contact us. We are here for you. Contact the person responsible for a given area directly, use the form below or reach out to us at foundation@avast.com for general inquiries. Thank you for your interest!

Libuše Tomolová
Executive
Director

Irena Setikovská
PR
Manager

Kateřina Kotasová
Program
Manager

Přemysl Filip
Program
Manager

Board of Trustees



Jarmila Baudišová
Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees

Milada Kučerová
Member of the Board of Trustees

Libuše Tomolová
Member of the Board of Trustees

Let’s talk!

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