Last week, TWC held the Spring 2013 Roundtable on Civil Society and Social Responsibility. Spring interns had the opportunity to hear from a wonderful keynote speaker and 5 professionals who came from a diversity of backgrounds and represent a number of major corporations and foundations. This particular event is held each semester with the intent of familiarizing interns with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities.
Keynote Address- "Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategies for Success"
Dave Stangis, Vice President of Public Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility at the Campbell Soup Company [1] and the President of the Campbell Soup Foundation [2], gave the keynote address on "Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategies for Success." Stangis came to Campbell's Soup Company after spending 12 years at Intel, where he first worked to create the function of CSR. He shared that CSR was coined in the late 1960s and early 1970s to represent the interests of "stakeholders," or those on whom an organization's activities have an impact. According to Stangis, CSR is used to "describe the way a company builds ethics and values into its business model, which is the foundation of its strategies for partnerships with nonprofits and organizations." At the Campbell's Soup Foundation, there is a large focus on CSR and sustainability, which were built into the mission and "deliver meaningful, measurable and differentiated brand and societal value by optimizing and leveraging the power of Campbell people, culture, core competencies and innovation."
Stangis also discussed the various components that go into building a successful CSR model, which include:
- Risk Assessment and Management
- Giving Back and Corporate Philanthropy
- Employee Engagement and Volunteerism
- Strategic Business Strategies
- Social Impact Metrics
At the end of his presentation, Stangis introduced the five panelists who discussed their backgrounds, careers and how they ended up in the field of CSR. The panelists included:
- Jennifer Kuhn, Executive Director of Public Affairs/External and Legislative Affairs, AT&T [3]
- René O. Deida, Senior Program Director of Integrated Strategies, Community Resources Department, Prudential Financial [4]
- Karen Price-Ward, Community Affairs & Grassroots Manager, Southwest Airlines [5]
- Marta Tellado, Vice President Global Communications, The Ford Foundation [6]
- C. Howie Hodges, Vice President, External Affairs, Time Warner Cable, Inc. [7]
Jennifer works on philanthropy, CSR and policy-focused outreach for the AT&T Foundation. She discussed "It Can Wait," one of the big campaigns launched in 2009. It has now become part of AT&T's internal culture and has positioned the company as innovative and forward-thinking.
René has worked closely with TWC in making the Prudential Foundation Global Citizens Program a possibility for undergraduates and graduate students from Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The program is in line with what Deida's work at Prudential Financial, where he addresses "shared value proposition and assists with the investment of $25 million around education and infrastructure." In his position as Senior Program Director for Integrated Strategies, he streamlines ground-breaking programs like "Building Diverse Leadership," launched last year to place aspiring executives on boards of nonprofits in their community.
In addition to her position as the Community Affairs and Grassroots Manager at Southwest Airlines, Karen is also a TWC alumna ('92) who frequently returns to discuss her successful career at Southwest over the past 18 years. Today, Karen works with nearly 70 strategic partnerships, which target minority groups such as seniors, the LGBT community, military personnel, children, women as well as Latin and Asian Americans.
Marta was TWC's second alumna ('81) featured on the CSR panel. She has spent the last 16 years in D.C. cultivating her career in public diplomacy, sharing that it was her TWC experience that "set her on that path." Now she is the Vice President of Global Communications at the Ford Foundation, which is currently the largest philanthropy in the world. Started with a $25,000 grant provided by Edsel Ford in 1935, the foundation is now worth $12 billion used to "alleviate problems by creating partnerships."
Howie spends his days in the fields of policy and legislation. As the Vice Present of External Affairs at Time Warner Cable, Inc., his day-to-day responsibilities which include:
- Developing and advancing policy
- Focusing on consumer protection, competition issues, intellectual property and telecommunications regulation
- Working with non-governmental stakeholders
After the Panel
Once each panelist discussed their backgrounds, their careers in CSR and responsibilities required of their positions, they took questions from TWC spring interns. The session ended with a short break in which students were given the opportunity to mingle with the panelists before they continued to breakout sessions with one of the five panelists or moderator. The sessions included topics such as:
- "Winning with Integrity" with Dave Stangis
- "It can Wait-Insight into AT&T's 'Dangers of Texting & Driving' Campaign" with Jennifer Kuhn
- "Social Sector Solutions" with René O. Deida
- "Igniting Community Grassroots Initiatives" with Karen Price-Ward
- "Banking on Social Accountability" with Marta Tellado
- "Leadership Skills for Effective Partnerships" with C. Howie Hodges
[Check out photos of the panel and event on our Flickr channel] [8]
[Read about last semester's Roundtable on Civil Society & Social Responsibility] [9]
