ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
As Marks & Spencer’s Plan A programme moves into a new phase — that of engagement — the company’s director of sustainable business, Mike Barry took to the stage Tuesday evening at SB ’14 London to offer his insights into how companies can build long-term, restorative models that are as much about inclusivity as they are profitability.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
For the NFL to rebuild trust with women in the wake of the ongoing domestic violence debacle, and repair its bruised brand image, Commissioner Roger Goodell will need to do more than apologize, beef up education programs and promise to do better. To truly overcome the damage that’s been done to the reputation of the NFL and its sponsors, Goodell will need to change the way the League thinks about marketing to women, take a zero tolerance stand regarding domestic violence, and ultimately redefine the brand’s purpose toward developing players who are real heroes and role models for kids and families. Here’s a game plan for the NFL and its sponsors:1. Think of women as more than a marketing opportunity
LEADERSHIP -
One organization taking the initiative to improve gender representation in its industry is Cognizant Technology Solutions — whose employee-led Women Empowered initiative attracts and retains female associates through active recruitment, talent development, communication and networking.
COLLABORATION -
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Tokyo and the Business Call to Action (BCtA) last week hosted the first BCtA event in Japan to encourage the Japanese private sector to participate in innovative business approaches that create development impact.The BCtA forum in Tokyo featured a number of innovative business practices, showcasing how companies can overcome market challenges that can benefit the poor and create social and economic impact in local communities. The event also highlighted the work that UNDP and the BCtA have initiated to promote public-private partnerships.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
A social enterprise called Jjangde is tackling two of the largest problems in West Africa — lack of access to education and employment — by connecting handmade goods from rural communities in Senegal to global markets, and using the profits to fund schools in the communities where the goods were made.With a test run of baskets, Jjangde says it was able to fund a summer program that gave 300 students extra support for the upcoming school year. The company also fully funded one year of school for 110 students and developed an exchange program to strengthen the relationship between high schools in Senegal and the United States.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Chid Liberty was born in Liberia, his father the nation’s ambassador to Germany — where Chid grew up before his family was exiled and moved to Silicon Valley. After 28 years abroad, Chid returned to Liberia in 2009 inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Liberian Women’s Peace Movement and founded Liberty & Justice with social entrepreneur Adam Butlein.
LEADERSHIP -
The number of women directors who now sit on the boards of the United Kingdom’s largest companies, the FTSE-100, has risen from 12.5 percent to 19 percent since 2011, according to a recent report by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.Former British Trade Minister Lord Davies founded Women on Boards in 2011 to track progress towards the UK’s goal of having 25 percent of board positions being held by women by 2015. According to the recent numbers, FTSE-100 companies must appoint 66 more female directors in the next two years to meet the target.The report also shows that the number of all-male boards on the FTSE-100 index has fallen to 6 companies, down from 21 companies in 2010.
Intel Corporation has announced She Will Connect, a new program that commits to expanding digital literacy skills to young women in developing countries. Intel will begin working with a diverse set of partners including global and local NGOs and governments to launch the initiative in Africa, where the gender gap is the greatest, aiming to reach five million women and reduce the gender gap by 50 percent.
Marriott has joined more than a dozen corporations and non-governmental organizations in a five-year commitment to expand its engagement with female-owned businesses outside the United States, especially in emerging economies.Working with WEConnect International and Vital Voices, two prominent NGOs that support and promote the economic potential of women, Marriott will be part of the pledge to train 15,000 female business owners and spend $1.5 billion with their companies by 2018.
WASTE NOT -
General Motors has made an additional donation of scrap sound-absorption material from its Chevy Malibu and Buick Verano models to a Detroit nonprofit for use as insulation in waterproof, self-heating coats that become sleeping bags for the homeless.
WASTE NOT -
Since 2006, Indianapolis-based RecycleForce has paid over $10 million in wages and employed 650 ex-felons to recycle over 20 million pounds of electronic waste. The non-profit social enterprise has a dual mission: to help people coming out of prison successfully transition back into civil society, and to keep as much electronic waste as possible out of Indiana’s landfills. RecycleForce deconstructs electronic waste and other recyclables provided by residents and corporate partners, separates the reusable materials, and disposes of the waste safely and cleanly.
Founded in 2010 in the UK, the Social Enterprise Mark Company (SEM) awards its “Social Enterprise Mark” to organisations that demonstrate their social, environmental and ethical values and behaviours, in particular with regards to profit distribution.As the only international certification scheme for “genuine” social enterprises, the Mark helps social enterprises gain competitive advantage by highlighting their social and environmental credentials and purpose to stakeholders (much like a B Corp certification).
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Marriott International recently released its 2013 Sustainability Report update, which claims the company reduced global water usage by 12 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 16.5 percent in 2012.The international hotel chain also says it is looking to move beyond its current global footprint of more than 3,800 hotels in over 70 countries and focus on providing sustainable economic activity and local employment. In coming years, more than half of its new hotels will be located in emerging markets, where tourism is a major driver of new jobs and economic development.
LEADERSHIP -
Four female executives at the top of their respective fields will come together next month for a “Presidents panel” at the Women’s Leadership Conference in Las Vegas.The panel will include Carol Evans, President of Working Mother Magazine; Kathleen (K.C.) Ciaramello, President of National Foodservice & On-Premise at Coca-Cola Refreshments; Cindy Kiser Murphey, President and COO of New York-New York Hotel & Casino; and Gail Becker, Chair of Canada, Latin America and U.S. Western Region, Edelman Communications.
BLOG -
The afternoon of day three at SB ’13 continued with more insightful discussions covering an array of timely topics.
COLLABORATION -
The United Nations Global Compact has announced it is redoubling its efforts to scale up corporate sustainability in Africa and emphasize the private sector’s role in contributing to the continent’s full economic and social renaissance.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Women, particularly in developing countries, face numerous challenges, including sexual violence, limited access to health resources, barriers to education and economic opportunities.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Four more companies now will make gender and race diversity part of the criteria for board nominees, thanks to a board diversity shareholder proposal filed by Trillium Asset Management.
CLEANTECH -
Reckitt Benckiser, the parent company of well-known consumer brands such as Clearasil and Lysol, announced a new sustainability strategy targeting water conservation, more sustainable health and hygiene innovations for women, and further decreases of its carbon footprint.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
The ice cream brand aims to help 5,000 female cocoa farmers in Côte D'Ivoire achieve financial stability and diversify their incomes, for greater prosperity in the cocoa-farming offseason, by 2025.