SanDisk Joins the US2020 STEM Education Initiative as a Founding Leadership Partner

Effort Supports SanDisk CEO’s 100 Percent Volunteerism Goal for Employees

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced that it has joined US2020 as a Founding Leadership Partner. US2020 is a new organization announced today through a partnership between educational non-profits, companies that are leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and the White House.

US2020 was formed to improve STEM education through skill-based mentorship. The initiative calls on CEOs of American companies to commit, by the year 2020, 20 percent of their workforce to volunteer at least 20 hours per year as an educational mentor in a STEM-related discipline. SanDisk will work with Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit organization at the heart of US2020, to bring select employees to middle schools in communities where SanDisk has a significant presence as part of its $1 million philanthropic commitment.

SanDisk’s president and CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, recently challenged the company’s entire global professional workforce to volunteer a portion of their time to charity, which will be matched by a cash grant of $45 for every hour donated, up to $2,000 per employee. Together, SanDisk’s participation in US2020 and its goal of broader employee volunteerism are elements in SanDisk’s twenty fifth-anniversary celebration taking place throughout 2013.

“SanDisk has a long history of volunteerism, which is a key part of our corporate culture,” said Mehrotra. “The experience our employees get as volunteers provides tremendous personal and developmental benefits to them, as well as positively impacts the lives of students with whom they interact. Initiatives like US2020 further our tradition as advocates for improved STEM education, and we are proud to support the White House and others in this noble endeavor.”

“The US2020 initiative provides scientists and technology experts with the opportunity to meaningfully engage with children and open their eyes to previously unfamiliar professions,” said Eric Schwarz Executive Chairman of US2020 and co-founder and CEO, Citizen Schools. “We are excited that SanDisk has partnered with this initiative to ensure that underserved students have access to life-changing moments of discovery with successful science and technology professionals.”

About US2020

US2020 is a new organization formed through a partnership of leading education non-profits and corporate leaders in the STEM field. The initiative emerged from a White House call to generate big, innovative solutions to our STEM education challenge, with a focus on increasing access to STEM careers for girls, underrepresented minorities in the sciences, and low-income children. US2020 will be incubated within Citizen Schools, a leading education non-profit and will become a standalone non-profit entity by the end of FY14 (June 2014). US2020 relies on a committed community of public, private, non-profit, and individual partners.

SanDisk’s support and participation in US 2020 is implemented through the SanDisk Foundation and community relations program.

About the SanDisk Foundation

SanDisk’s mission as a philanthropic company is to support programs and organizations that address the needs of communities where our company has a significant presence. SanDisk strives to be an exemplary corporate citizen within the global community. The SanDisk Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, helps carry out this vision by making donations to non-profit organizations and community groups within our key focus areas: K-12 education, promoting STEM-focused programs, and children’s health and welfare; and align with SanDisk's core values – innovation, focus on execution, adaptability and agility, teamwork and integrity. Since 2003, the SanDisk Foundation has awarded more than $16 million to 818 charitable organizations worldwide.

In 2012, SanDisk created the SanDisk Scholars Fund, a $1 million annual initiative that awards scholarships of up to $10,000 each to undergraduate students and graduate university research programs. The program supports the educational goals of women, Latino and African-American students pursuing careers in STEM fields.

Partnering with Citizen Schools and the White House enables SanDisk to deepen its existing philanthropic activities focused on enhancing academic performance, technology skills and the social development of students from underserved communities, and to support young people whose interest and abilities in STEM-related studies can have a positive impact on technology-sector innovation in the near- and long-term future.

About SanDisk

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, from research and development, product design and manufacturing to branding and distribution for commercial and retail channels. Since 1988, SanDisk's innovations in flash memory and storage system technologies have provided customers with new and transformational digital experiences. SanDisk's diverse product portfolio includes flash memory cards and embedded solutions used in smart phones, tablets, digital cameras, camcorders, digital media players and other consumer electronic devices, as well as USB flash drives and solid-state drives (SSD) for the computing market. SanDisk's products are used by consumers and enterprise customers around the world.

SanDisk holds more than 4,500 patents worldwide, and its patent portfolio is consistently recognized as one of the strongest in the technology industry.

SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the United States. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.

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