Changing the Game through Corporate Social Responsibility Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The Buzz 1: “Be a global citizen. Act with passion and compassion. Help us make this world safer and more sustainable today and for the generations that will follow us. That is our moral responsibility.” [UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon on the UN’s adoption of a new set of global Sustainable Development Goals for 2016-2030] The Buzz 2: “There is no ‘Plan B’ because we do not have a ‘Planet B.’ We have to work and galvanize our action.” What if every Autonomous Digital Enterprise (ADE) recognized corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an organizational imperative with the power to reshape the business landscape – instead of a “nice to have maybe one day”? Investing in and establishing CSR and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives through purpose-driven programs can help companies like yours do more than just become better global citizens. By aligning with stakeholders’ key values, they also become businesses that customers want to buy from and organizations that employees want to work for. Reality check: CSR is neither a department nor a function. It’s a collective purpose shared by a committed team that includes employees, customers, partners, and the communities where they work and live. One path to that purpose is aligning business planning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which support the UN’s vision of improving lives through the promotion of social progress and sustainable development. The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Cascading CSR and ESG initiatives across your organization—from product and service development to the employee experience—can be a game-changer for your business. We’ll ask experts Wendy Rentschler and Nathaniel Comer for their insights on Changing the Game through Corporate Social Responsibility.