Guest Post: International Justice Mission

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

“We are somewhere between obliviousness and the paralysis of despair. We know nothing of the millions of people who are in slavery because we are carrying on our normal, everyday lives. And then, all of the sudden, we see something on CNN or some news outlet that says there are millions of people in slavery, and then we go from obliviousness to then total despair like ‘Oh my gosh, there are millions of people in slavery, what could I ever possibly do to about that?’ and now we are in paralysis.” – Gary Haugen, CEO and President of International Justice Mission

Typically when I tell people what I do, I get surprised reactions – ‘You work to help end modern day slavery? I thought slavery was eradicated years ago.’

The truth is there are 27 million slaves in the world today, trapped in forced labor slavery or sex trafficking. More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade. And it’s a $32billion dollar business – the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, behind drug trafficking (US Department of Justice).

When I start sharing the statistics, I see people’s eyes glaze over. I realize it’s one of the challenges of our movement – the information becomes overwhelming for their heart and mind.

But the good news is: there is hope. For the past 15 years, International Justice Mission (IJM) has been working to help rescue those children, women and men from slavery. We have teams of lawyers, investigators and social workers that are there to care for the abused and oppressed and restore them to a life of freedom and fullness. We work with local governments to prosecute the perpetrators of violent crimes and transform the system so the laws effectively protect the poor.

When you start reading IJM’s stories of success, when you see the photos of the children freed from slavery in rice mills and brick kilns, when you see a young woman realize that she is valued and loved as a person, not someone’s property, you realize change is
possible.

Awareness is just the beginning.

-Read more amazing stories of rescue and restoration for survivors of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression at www.IJM.org.

-Learn how IJM’s collaborative casework model succeeded in Cebu, the Philippines, where there were 79% fewer minor girls available for commercial sexual exploitation after just four years. Funded by the Gates Foundation, the game-changing project proved that when laws are enforced, the poor are protected: www.ijm.org/projectlantern.

-Read how groups like Google.org are getting involved and enabling IJM to lead a
coalition of anti-trafficking organizations to launch historic anti-slavery
initiatives www.ijm.org/press-center.

The first step is awareness – with the hope that once you understand, you are compelled to act. Learn more ways to get involved at www.IJM.org.   Join IJM in our vision to rescue thousands, protect millions and prove that justice for the poor is possible

Amy Nyquist
Senior Marketing Manager
International Justice Mission
anyquist@ijm.com

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Nominate your Company for BCLC’s 2012 Corporate Citizenship Awards, the “Citizens”

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

Nominations for BCLC’s 2012 Corporate Citizenship Awards, the “Citizens,” open May 1 and we want you to get credit for all that you do. Whether you are an association, nonprofit, business, or chamber of commerce, tell BCLC who you think is America’s top corporate citizens.

The “Citizens” showcase businesses and their collaborations that demonstrate ethical leadership and make a positive difference in society. The “Citizens” Awards recognize companies in four categories:

 Best Business Neighbor – “The Citizen” award for this category is dedicated to specific U.S.-focused social, community and/or environmental initiatives.

 Best International Ambassador – “The Citizen” award for this category is dedicated to a specific social, community, and/or environmental initiative that takes place within one or more developing nations around the world.

 Best Partnership – The Citizen” award for this category is dedicated to a business-nonprofit collaboration whose goal is to achieve high impact and sustainable results on a single social, community, or environmental issue. This is a publicly judged “people’s choice” award and finalists will receive the opportunity and tools to involve their stakeholders in the judging process.

 Best Corporate Steward – “The Citizen” for this category goes to companies that are responsive and responsible members of society, whose overall values, operational practices, and stakeholder strategies exemplify “shared value.”

Winners of the 2012 Corporate Citizenship Awards will be announced at our annual reception on December 6, 2012. Learn more about eligibility, criteria, and the nomination process at http://bclc.uschamber.com/program/citizens-awards.

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Symantec Makes Green a Priority

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Lisa Sloan

Members of Symantec's Green Team

Environmental responsibility is not only good for our planet, it’s good for business as well. In FY12, 20 percent of Symantec customer requests for proposals required information about their sustainability and corporate responsibility strategies, and they expect this number to grow in FY13. Clearly, their customers are demanding greater rigor in measuring and analyzing their environmental footprint. Employees also care deeply about this issue, as indicated by growing involvement in local-level Green Teams.

Recently, nine Symantec sites participated in Earth Hour, a global initiative calling for electrical equipment to be shut off for one hour. On 31 March, local facilities teams in Mountain View, Herndon, Pune, Chennai, Chengdu, Dublin, and Greenpark powered down all non-essential lighting and other electrical equipment between the hours of 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time. In Mountain View alone, the local security teams found 98 percent of lights were switched off, increasing the site’s energy efficiency by one percent. If 100 percent of non-emergency lighting could be switched off in Mountain View alone, the savings to Symantec would be over $6,300 USD a year – multiply that figure by the large number of Symantec sites globally, and the savings could really add up.

“Earth Hour is an effective way to raise awareness about the way small actions can have a profound impact on the environment and on our business,” said Kelly Shea, Global Sustainability Program Manager. “Every employee can make changes today that will save money and decrease carbon footprints, both at work and at home.”

At home, there are several actions you can take: increase the insulation in your attic, turn down the thermostat, use Energy Star appliances, and consider installing low-flow sinks and toilets. There are many small steps you can take to decrease your carbon footprint.

For more information about Symantec’s environmental responsibility strategy, visit the Environmental Performance section of their Corporate Responsibility website, or download the 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report.

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World’s Most Ethical Companies

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Dyanne Compton

Congratulations to the World’s Most Ethical (WME) Companies Honorees!

We are thrilled to see many companies in EF’s network have received well deserved recognition for their ethical business practices. And we’re especially pleased and proud to pay tribute to the six stellar EF companies who received this prestigious award:

• Adobe Systems
• Cisco Systems
• eBay Inc.
• Microsoft
• Salesforce.com
• Symantec Corporation

The WME Companies award honorees were announced last month in Ethisphere Magazine, a publication of Ethisphere Institute, a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement, and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

Ethisphere explains that the (WME) Companies designation recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business “ethically” and translate those words into action. WME honorees not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices today.

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Earth Day and the Environment

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Lisa Sloan

Earth Day is officially on April 22, but environmental responsibility assumes a year-round priority for many companies as they evaluate their sustainability as part of their overall CSR strategy and as they engage employees who are passionate about the environment.

To support these efforts, EF released our Environment Initiative earlier this month, and you can read about it here. Additionally, we compiled a list of global activities you can participate in to celebrate Earth Day. Those are here.

One popular organization for Bay Area volunteer groups is Save the Bay, and information about how the types of projects available and how to sign up can be found here. Another volunteer opportunity is with BayBio Institute’s BioGENEius Challenge on April 19 where they are welcoming judges and career panelists.

Please take some photos and share a recap of your activities with us so we can share them with others on this blog. It is always inspiring to see what companies are doing in the community.

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Boston College Corporate Citizenship Conference proved to be an opportunity to network, learn and share.

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

We had the privilege of attending Boston College’s Corporate Citizenship Conference in Phoenix, AZ a few short weeks ago. Gathered alongside 500+ CSR professionals, thought leaders and experts in the space it was an exciting opportunity to be amongst peers exchanging ideas, best practices and lessons learned in the field of corporate citizenship over the course of almost three days.

One of my favorite keynote’s included: Brad Smith, General Counsel & EVP at Microsoft. He shared valuable lessons in his address including:

- Be open to self criticism. Organizations should not only accept criticism they should assess mistakes and learn from them. By assessing your organization you constantly can grow and develop. This assessment should be done not under the lens what worked years ago, but rather what is necessary for your business today. This assessment will help take an innovative approach to your programs.
- Companies should be ethically responsible, while also enhancing the business mission.
- Leadership has a huge opportunity in contributing to the overall success of the CSR movement within the Company. Their influence can come from asking the right questions. CSR helps the business community, our country and the planet. It is a must do.
- Communicating your program is critical as it allows you to connect in new ways to your stakeholders. There are a variety of tools in which you can you can communicate, some of the most important tools come from the utilization of social media, whether it be your blog, twitter or Facebook. The most important thing to do when communicating is to engage with your stakeholders in a thoughtful way. Stakeholder engagement is critical.
- When building and leading CSR programs you need to understand how CSR can serve as an inspiration across the business. As a leader you must stay in touch and completely understand your business.

Countless other themes and programs were highlighted over the course of the Conference through breakout sessions, keynotes and networking with my fellow participants such as:

- The business case is critical to the success of a CSR program
- Having a sustainable model allows you to have better reach with your programs – Consumer engagement in your CSR programs is a must do.
- Employee input is critical not only to trust in your CSR programs but in your ability to move the needle with your initiatives
- Be willing to leverage outside experts
- Focusing on cost savings when considering sustainability programs is a critical component.
- Don’t assume everyone understand the language, metrics and landscape in which you are operating. Communicate clearly.
- Having each business unit responsible for the CSR initiatives can allow for greater returns. – Tracking and measurement of programs is critical.
- Engage in a dialogue when looking at change within the supply chain
- Meet your stakeholders where they are.
- Motivate and lead by example amongst peers, other industry leaders and within corporations as a whole.
- Emotion is critical when trying to drive change, data alone won’t do it.
- Be open to thinking outside the box, don’t be traditional in your efforts
- Corporate citizenship is critical to being competitive in the current global economy
- Sometimes CSR programs grow through acquisition
- There can be tension in making products that are focused on the bottom of the pyramid and also have social impact
- There can be tension in making products that are focused on the bottom of the pyramid and also have social impact
- Use the CSR department as a chance to pilot innovative ideas for the business – Always recognize and credit those responsible for some of your successes.
- CSR should constantly help the business and social issues.
- Consider competition when trying to increase utilization of programs
- Find connectors within your company to be the “informal leaders” of your programs
- Employees pushing up programs through grassroots efforts can allow for huge success of programs – Remember that your strategy must be unique to you and your own culture.
- Make CSR part of your business plan, your objectives and measure!
- Figure out what you manage and influence and measure that.
- Integrated reporting is becoming more and more important.
- Current trust won’t build future trust, engagement will. What it takes to get and maintain trust is constantly evolving. Trust starts internally.
- Employees are brand ambassadors, leverage them!
- Embed CSR in sales curriculum.

Companies and programs highlighted included:
- MasterCard’s deep partnership with Grameen Foundation
- US Airways linking of their core business values to their overall citizenship strategy – How Sunco and Petro Canada successfully merged their two citizenship programs after the companies became one.
- FedEx’s work around disaster response and preparedness
- Verizon’s efforts as they built their sustainability report
- CoinStar’s approach to shared value across their various business units – Abbot’s philanthropy is done where they have limited exposure as a business
- There can be tension in making products that are focused on the bottom of the pyramid and also have social impact

For more information on the conference or to explore attendance in 2013, visit http://www.bcccc.net/index.cfm?pageId=2292.

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US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership 2012 National Conference

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center 2012 National Conference -Forecast: Corporate Citizenship and America’s Future April 16-18, 2012

With a focus on the Role of Corporate Citizenship in America’s Future, the National Conference is an established convening for the foremost voices in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) continuum—from philanthropy to public-private partnerships to business solutions. Be part of rich, solutions-focused discussions about how to address the tough challenges facing America today and what we can do together for the future.

Many issues, including volunteerism, will take the spotlight. Register now to gain access to a plenary with Michelle Nunn, Chief Executive Officer of Points of Light, followed up with a BCLC/Billion + Change skills-based volunteering “speed dating” with Marsh and McLennon, and more.

Other sessions will include a Special Edition of Conversations with Stephen—a live webcast, in conjunction with tweetchat—where BCLC’s Stephen Jordan and Carol Cone, Global Practice Chair, of Edelman Business + Social Purpose, will discuss the results of the 2012 goodpurpose® study which explores consumer attitudes around social purpose and its implications for corporate citizenship.

To close the conference, leaders from Microsoft, FSG, and Intel will join BCLC’s Stephen Jordan in a vibrant debate about CSR: Is it philanthropy or a core business solution? What about social innovation? Does CSR drive business results?

The conference will consist of interviews with corporate leaders, enlightening plenary
discussion, active audience participation, best practice models, and breakout sessions. Click here to review the agenda.

In addition, the evening of April 17, BCLC and Siemens Corporation will present the 5th Annual Siemens Sustainable Community Award to a small, medium, and large size
community based on a sustainability initiative implemented by the community. Register today!

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Sustainable Value Chain Survey

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

Earlier this year, together with the American Society for Quality and the Institute for Supply Management and with help from Deloitte, the Corporate
Responsibility Officers Association launched what will become one of – if not the – largest, most comprehensive study into sustainable supply chain practices.  Entitled The Sustainable Value Chain the study seeks to identify which management practices deliver the greatest value both in sustainability outcomes and ROI.  The study includes an annual electronic survey and live interviews with supply chain executives from both the private and public sectors.

The study will look up- as well as down-stream from extraction to reuse/recycle/disposal.  It will also look longitudinally across multiple years.  Ultimately we will develop a series of “do this not that” recommendations that will guide decision-makers in how they structure, operate, and measure their sustainable value chains.

To read more about the study, click here.  To participate, click here.

Preliminary results from the first round of electronic surveys will be presented at the ASQ World Conference May 21-23.  Final results for 2012 will be presented at the COMMIT!Forum October 2-3.  I hope you will share your insights by participating in the study and join us for the results.

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International Corporate Philanthropy Day is on February 27th, 2012

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

Did you know that Monday, February 27, 2012 is International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD)? It’s a day for the international community to reflect upon the important role that corporate philanthropy plays around the world. ICPD shines a light on businesses at their best—when they promote both their core business strategy and the wellbeing of citizens and communities.

EF is proud to celebrate ICPD, which is led each year by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) to celebrate and recognize businesses for their achievements in corporate philanthropy, build awareness of the benefits of corporate community investment, and inspire companies around the world to engage further in giving initiatives.The entire corporate giving community is invited to participate. Business leaders, government officials, and nonprofit organizations alike celebrate International Corporate Philanthropy Day, honoring a year of leveraged corporate giving and community investment.

Corporate executives and corporate giving professionals around the country plan special programs celebrating community investment initiatives with their employees, nonprofit partners, local government agencies, and the general public. They host events at their own offices, award grants, send communications to their employees or the media, and conduct a variety of other programs.

EF is joining in the celebration through our Global Health Initaitive. More information on the initiative can be found at http://www.efbayarea.org/resources-tools/Initiatives.aspx.

Other participating organizations in the celebration of ICPD can be found at www.corporatephilanthropy.org/icpd].

Other ICPD events include:

• The Board of Boards CEO Conference of 100 global CEOs from the world’s largest companies discussing corporate philanthropy from an executive perspective.

• The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) event to discuss corporate philanthropy’s role in advancing the Millennium Development Goals.

• Landmark Lightings including The Empire State Building and the Con Ed building in New York, and the Wrigley Building in Chicago, which are lit in CECP’s blue and green colors.

• Representatives from CECP member companies ringing the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Visit CECP’s website to learn more about their member and partner initiatives and ICPD CorporatePhilanthropy.org/ICPD.

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Do Corporate Responsibility “best practices” really exist?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Dipti Pratt

By Richard J. Crespin, Executive Director of the CROA and Michelle Greene, VP & Head of Corporate Responsibility, NYSE Euronext

In short, no.Although there are a growing number of examples of “successful practices”.More often than not, companies are still sorting out what CR really means for them.  While companies have an important role to play in tackling some of our most pressing challenges, each company’s CR strategy has to make sense for their industry, their business model, and the identity of their individual organization.  So rarely does CR look the same at different companies.  Moreover, this remains a nascent field, making it a little early declare any practice “best”.

Each year Corporate Responsibility Magazine, the Corporate
Responsibility Officers Association (CROA), and NYSE Euronext conduct a survey on Corporate Responsibility Best Practices.   This year’s results bear witness to corporations’ continued investment in corporate responsibility, even in the worst economic times:

  • More respondents are committed to CR than last year
  • More CEOs and boards support CR than last year
  • A growing number of large and small companies continue to implement CR programs

The study also finds some holes that need filling:

  • Medium-sized companies seem stalled in their ability to take on CR programs and implement them effectively
  • A gap persists between companies’ desire and implementation abilities

Over the next few weeks we’d like your help to start discussions on several of the
study’s key findings and the implications for your organization:

If there’s a will is there always a way?  Survey respondents have high hopes for their sustainability programs, hopes that often outpace their resources.  Can CR programs and the CR field as a whole live up to all these expectations?

Rising commitment?  A lot of people said tough economic times would kill CR.  What do the data tell us about how companies are investing in their CR programs?

C-Suite support?  Real change takes support from the top.  How are boards and CEOs leading the CR charge?

The hole in the middle?  Big companies invest in CR.  Small companies invest in CR.  Mid-sized firms, not so much.  What’s holding them back?

Please share your thoughts and questions and we’ll do our best to respond in the
upcoming posts.

Agree with us?  Disagree with us?  Join us at the annual COMMIT!Forum October 2nd& 3rd
in New York City to take on these issues and more!  Register now to save 50% off by entering ID Code PSTWD50.

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