Corporate Citizenship Conference Morning Recap Day 2: Investing Today for a Stronger Tomorrow
The morning started bright and early with the Idea Exchange Breakfast, hosted by Travelers. During the meal, attendees were given the opportunity to participate in CSR discussions ranging from managing global growth to engaging hard-to-reach employees, all of which were facilitated by experts in the field. During her welcome remarks, Katherine V. Smith, executive director of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, invited attendees to participate in creating the Center鈥檚 first zero-impact event. Through generous investments by the 2018 Carbon Offset Sponsor, State Street, and Zero Waste Sponsor, Subaru of America, the Center has been able to create an environmentally conscious event with carbon offsets doubled to that of impact, and water offsets tripled. In addition to recycling and composting all possible materials, the Center is donating all untouched food to Food Finders, a multi-regional food bank and food rescue program in LA. During her remarks, Smith also shared the attributes that lead to strong and resilient corporate citizenship professionals. 鈥淩esilient professionals cultivate four common behaviors, they scan, analyze, adapt, and learn to anticipate," she said. 鈥淩esilient leaders possess a few more鈥攖hey鈥檙e realists, they鈥檙e master connectors, and they have the ability to improvise.鈥� By sharing inspiring examples from some of history鈥檚 greatest figures鈥擥eorge Washington Carver, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mahammad Ali鈥擲mith illustrated how CSR leaders can achieve sustainable progress by maintaining resilience in the face of obstacles. 鈥淎s resilient CSR professionals, you are able to connect negative events to bigger ideas and greater purposes,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e connecting purpose not only in your communities but also with all of the people you鈥檙e working with鈥攃reating good in the world and also鈥攁s First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said鈥攃reating good in our homes and those places too small to be seen.鈥� For the day鈥檚 first general session鈥�Taking the long view to advance corporate citizenship鈥攖he audience was treated to a candid and informative talk from Marlene Ibsen, chief executive officer and president of Travelers Foundation and vice president of community relations for The Travelers Companies, Inc. Ibsen shared the mindset Travelers adopts to ensure responsibility, resilience, and results. 鈥淎t Travelers, we know that by creating a stronger fabric in our community, we build a better business,鈥� said Ibsen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always thinking about the impacts, outcomes, and results of our work, and that extends to our community efforts as well.鈥� Ibsen discussed how Travelers assesses different types of risk, and highlighted some of the projects that work to mitigate them. She expanded on partnerships with organizations such as Team Rubicon, and efforts such as its Small Business Risk Education program. This signature initiative works to provide safety risk management education for minority and women-owned small businesses. 鈥淎ccording to our research, only 30 percent of small businesses have a business continuity plan. This makes them incredibly vulnerable in the wake of natural disasters, a breakdown in their supply chains, or some kind of cyber-attack,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith women and minority-owned small businesses on the rise, we wanted to ensure we were helping them be positioned for long-term success.鈥� Ibsen also touched on Travelers' work to advance a healthy discourse about civil society, which led the company to serve as the National Presenting Sponsor of the Normal Rockwell Museum鈥檚 Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms exhibition. This is the first comprehensive traveling exhibition devoted to Norman Rockwell鈥檚 iconic depictions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt鈥檚 Four Freedoms: Freedom of Speech, Freedom from Want, Freedom of Worship, and Freedom from Fear. She noted that the exhibition illustrated the importance of communicating ideas and inspiring change during tense times. 鈥淲e have to risk being uncomfortable to get to authenticity,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard and we all make mistakes. The hope is that you鈥檝e established yourself as someone who is worth correcting鈥攁nd that you have trusted allies who will let you know when you鈥檝e hit a sour note or said or did something with unintended consequences. I think the lesson for all of us is that we have to have the difficult civil conversations to advance our organizations and society.鈥� In closing, Ibsen returned to the importance of maintaining an agile approach when engaging with corporate citizenship issues, and urged the audience to do the preparative work to set their companies up for success. 鈥淭he key to resilience is adaptation,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you are anticipating risks and monitoring trends and, in our case, the needs of stakeholders in the community, you will necessarily be preparing yourself for any number of eventualities. Some you can influence or even directly control; most you can鈥檛. But if you are preparing鈥攖hrough a lens of responsibility and results鈥攜ou will be able to leverage opportunities and have a deep, positive impact. And then you be asked to do more鈥攚hich is where your ability to draw on your personal resilience will pay dividends.鈥� At 10:30 a.m., attendees broke into smaller groups to attend one of the morning鈥檚 breakout sessions, which included panel discussions covering topics such as data philanthropy, the connection of CSR efforts to brand and reputation, the importance of communication, the opportunities presented by the circular economy, and a deep dive into the conference theme: Responsibility, Resilience, Results. Additional sessions included a case study presented by FedEx on the global disaster relief efforts, a workshop on advancing diversity and inclusion through corporate citizenship sponsored by Farmers Insurance, and vendor demonstrations that offered technology options to enhance or streamline CSR efforts. 鈥淓Y is about 74,000 people strong in the Americas. We are a deeply diverse group, but we share a range of strong core competencies,鈥� she said. 鈥淩egardless of job title, EY people are great coaches and mentors. We are strong business advisors and consultants. We are champions of entrepreneurs all over the world. And if there鈥檚 one thing we鈥檝e learned in our CR efforts, it鈥檚 this: When we bring those core competencies to our communities, we make the biggest impact鈥攂oth at the societal level, and for our people.鈥� Following her opening remarks, Holmes then held a conversation with her colleagues: The panel discussed how鈥攂y developing and implementing corporate citizenship programs strategically鈥擟SR professionals can offer value to their communities AND companies. The talk covered more easily implemented initiatives, mid-level programs, and those that require significant investment, and featured initiatives such as its College MAP mentoring project, which strives to demystify the college application and financial aid process for underserved high school students. Angulo and Mizuno鈥攚ho are both very involved in the program鈥攄iscussed their own personal experiences with College MAP, and shared their strategies for successful engagement. 鈥淲e would not have a successful program if we didn鈥檛 embody a group mentoring mentality,鈥� said Mizuno. 鈥淎t EY, our folks are dispersed all over the world, and many don鈥檛 have a schedule that allows for structured sessions, so flexibility is vital.鈥� The talk also highlighted the company鈥檚 2016 Olympic Games support. In addition to serving as an official supporter and the exclusive professional services provider to the Rio Games, EY tapped 24 volunteers from the Americas, Belgium, and the Netherlands to create a positive Olympic legacy. For three months prior to the Games, these volunteers advised and supported six Brazilian not-for-profit organizations that tackle issues ranging from education to women鈥檚 entrepreneurship. In their remarks, both Aguilar and Glater highlighted the varied impacts of the effort. 鈥淲ith our clients, it has helped create goodwill, and it demonstrates to them that we鈥檙e more than just a professional firm, we鈥檙e a collection of individuals that are eager to help our local communities," said Glater. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also supercharged employee engagement with the firm." The group also broke down the benefits of its EY Vantage Program, which sends some of EY鈥檚 top-performing managers and senior managers to work, full time but pro bono, with entrepreneurs in emerging markets around the world. During a talk with his supervisor鈥擬ayra Tolosa鈥擪uiper shared a recent pro bono project he led in Argentina. 鈥淚 went to Argentina to help a cyber-security firm,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey had grown rapidly, and they hadn鈥檛 had time to refine their processes. As part of this project, I interviewed stakeholders, identified gaps, and recommended solutions to help them operate more efficiently. This project obviously served to help this client; it also really helped me build confidence and improve my management skills.鈥� Throughout the full discussion, the panel reinforced the importance of engaged employees in delivering business and social value. 鈥淥ur employee surveys consistently show that EY professionals who participate in volunteer projects are more engaged with the company,鈥� said Holmes. 鈥淭hey have better relationships with their managers, they stay longer with EY, and they earn higher performance ratings. These greater levels of engagement benefits our business. With a more highly engaged workforce, EY runs a more effective business and provides better service to our clients."
Today, attendees of the 2018 International Corporate Citizenship Conference came together for dynamic keynotes, deep-diving breakout sessions, and collaborative networking opportunities to share how they leverage responsibility to strengthen resilience and achieve results. Highlights of the day include an on-site volunteer project benefiting children鈥檚 hospitals in the LA area, in-depth discussions on the importance of a long-term view, the employee engagement potential of strategic programs, and much more.Planning for Long-Term Success
The general session was followed by a networking break hosted by Arthur J. Gallagher, as well as an on-site volunteer project, sponsored by The Walt Disney Company. Many attendees took advantage of the opportunity to act as an honorary "Disney VoluntEAR" by joining The Walt Disney Company team of heroes to help assemble comfort kits for local children's hospitals. Participants networked with their colleagues while packing kits with coloring books, activity books, crayons, playing cards, a Mickey Mouse plush, a Mickey Mouse figurine, and custom Marvel comic books. Now, a total of 756 kits are on their way to comfort area children.The Benefits of Engagement
Following the breakout sessions, attendees were back in the International Ballroom for a networking lunch sponsored by EY, and the second general session of the day, titled Building blocks of corporate responsibility success: How programs strengthen communities and your workforce. During this session, EY鈥檚 Americas Director of Corporate Responsibility, Deborah K. Holmes, shared the importance of aligning CSR efforts with a company鈥檚 unique strengths.