Tag: corporate-social-responsibility

January 6, 2020

Green Careers: Corporate Social Responsibility Panel Discussion

Join us for our first 2020 Green Careers meeting for a panel discussion + Q&A with individuals who work in corporate social responsibility.   Corporate social responsibility (CSR), is how companies pursue sustainability goals, give back to their local communities, and make general efforts to improve society via the lens of business. This is your opportunity to ask the professionals about their career history and how you too could possibly transition your career into related work. Informal networking will follow at a local venue.   Speakers include:  Judy Albert – The New School Julie Jack – APCO Worldwide Ashley Hartman – Verisk   (more…)

April 23, 2018

{Green Careers} Recap: Exploring Corporate Social Responsibility

Recap by Miaoru Guan   Corporate Social Responsibility, commonly referred to as CSR, describes companies’ initiatives to give back to the environment and community. The April 2018 Green Careers panelists spoke about their extensive experience with a wide range of CSR initiatives that help companies fulfill these goals while also improving the bottom line.   Zoha Karmali began her career in sales and marketing for Tata Group and combined her skills with her passion for CSR to eventually transition into the field. She coordinated volunteer programming and corporate hotel sustainable practices for 100 locations and 25,000 employees of Tata Group’s luxury hospitality firm. Abisola Adekoya is currently a consultant at Salterbaxter MSL Group and advises companies in telling stories of sustainability through reporting. Prior to sustainability consulting, Abisola worked to bring together companies and NGOs to solve pressing issues in international development. Heliana Higbie has experience with both the public and private sector. Heliana has implemented sustainable agriculture programs for PepsiCo in addition to renewable energy resilience efforts for the City of Yonkers and NYC Transit.  

From Left: Emily Taubenblatt (Moderator), Zoha Karmali (Panelist), Abisola Adekoya (Panelist), Heliana Higbie (Panelist)

Photo by Rishika Shrivastava   CSR efforts not only benefit the community and the environment but also increase long term profits for the company. Zoha talked about how company-wide employee volunteer programs allowed for inter-departmental networking within her company. Abisola agreed and mentioned that volunteering activities increase employee engagement and overall productivity. Heliana discussed climate resiliency fixes for the MTA that improve transportation reliability during natural disasters, reducing the cost of recovery.   For companies interested in starting or increasing their CSR initiatives, the panelists gave insights into strategies that encourage CSR. The easiest way to implement programs is to have support from upper management. When the CEO or other decision-makers recognize the benefits of CSR and emphasize it as a priority for the company, sustainability professionals have the necessary support to organize initiatives and employees are encouraged to participate in events. When there is no clear mandate, sustainability professionals can engage individual departments and people to elicit interest. The panelists also highlighted the most effective CSR strategies, such as volunteer programs that integrate job responsibilities.   Drawing from their unique backgrounds, the speakers gave advice to those interested in entering the CSR industry. The panelists all agreed that is not necessary to have a direct career path to CSR. Abisola mentioned that having colleagues with different backgrounds is an asset because it brings more nuanced perspectives to the table when making CSR decisions. Zoha emphasized the importance of applying skills gained from other opportunities to CSR jobs, such as communication and teamwork. Heliana encouraged people to think outside the box for career decisions and to carve one’s own path by using resources from schools and professional networks.    

June 23, 2017

No Paris? No Problem: Climate Action Marches On

by Pamela Berns   As though sending a portentous message, the movie “Paris Can Wait” was playing at the Paris theater just one block from Trump Tower in New York City, when Donald Trump announced the U.S. pullout from the Paris Climate accord. But commitments to climate change action and strategy march on: the initial disappointment with the White House decision quickly morphed into strengthened resolve and galvanized coalition building within and across public and private sectors, U.S. localities, and around the world.   While organizations like NRDC have stepped up their legal and policy battle, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein’s first tweet ever was to tell the administration that the president’s “decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.’s leadership position in the world.” California Governor Jerry Brown and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to expand trade between California and China with an emphasis on green technologies, and 313 U.S. mayors joined together in a commitment to “adopt, honor and uphold” the goals and principles of the Paris agreement. And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Despite federal policy, the sustainability and climate change action movements are very much alive, kicking, and in full throttle. The list promises to keep growing, and we invite you to add to it (see the the end of this article to learn how to contribute your stories). Here are just a few more of the most recent reports we’ve come across. (more…)

August 24, 2016

{Green Careers} August 2016 Recap: Sustainable Career Tracks – Corporate Social Responsibility

By Dean Yeh   In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a rising phenomenon in companies, which have begun to integrate sustainability into previously established business models.  Broadly defined as a business initiative that monitors a company’s effects on environmental and social wellbeing, CSR has proven to be a beneficial practice in business operations, as companies have gained increasing comfort with and commitment to incurring short-term costs in exchange for longer-term social, environmental, and, critically, financial advantage.  
courtesy of Emily Taubenblatt

Courtesy of Emily Taubenblatt

In the early weeks of August, a diverse crowd convened at the Grohe Center Showroom in New York City’s Flatiron District in order to attend the GreenHomeNYC Sustainable Career Tracks event on Corporate Social Responsibility.  This month, GreenHomeNYC invited a panel of four guest speakers whose careers are anchored in sustainability and who hold roles that stretch across an array of industries and professions: Heather Zanoni, Associate Advisor in Sustainability Services at KPMG; Amy Springsteel, Assistant Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Voya Financial, Inc.; Mike Schwartz, CSR Analyst at EcoVadis; and Harry Etra, Director at CodeGreen Solutions. (more…)