06.03.08
Posted in Education, Events at 10:51 am by Oliver
Today, I stumbled upon the letter, John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of San Jose, CA based networking infrastructure giant Cisco Systems was writing about Cisco’s CSR and Corporate Citizenship report (download report).
Since Gordon and I enjoyed a very interesting meeting with Cisco just a few days back, I want to share some of our learnings.
First of all, we were impressed with the size and scale one of Cisco’s initiatives – in particular the Cisco Networking Academy.
The Cisco Networking Academy is in its tenth year now and what started in one class room of one local school in one country abroad, today involves about 350 Cisco staff, operates in more than 160 countries and has touched more than 2 million students, with an ever-growing percentage of them women in many regions. The academy’s goal is to educate students and have them acquire technical skills that enable them to participate in an economy increasingly driven by technological initiatives, which in turn helps energize local economies and bring underserved communities across the digital divide.
Secondly, in our conversation it became very clear that companies – even with Cisco’s global reach and resources – wouldn’t be as successful without the right partners. As far as I know, one of the valuable cooperation in the case of Cisco’s Networking Academy was the one with USAID.
This reminded me strongly of one of our own goals at Worldsight, which is to become a catalyst and connect all stakeholders of mission driven businesses and initiatives. We may host an event in the future which educates all stakeholders about the “how to…” of mission driven programs and partnerships. If you have input for us we’d appreciate to hear from you.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections-whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time.
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06.02.08
Posted in Education, Wired News & Press Releases at 2:55 pm by Oliver
The Berkeley, CA based Rockwood Leadership Institute is launching a new program for social entrepreneurs and socially responsible business leaders. Designed to provide a high-intensity learning community for senior executives of socially responsible businesses, it is also open to non-profit leaders with a social venture focus.
“Among Rockwood’s 3,000 alumni and friends are a growing group of entrepreneurs who want to experience our unique approach to leadership development and expand their networks,” says Rockwood’s CEO Akaya Windwood. “Our mission is to encourage social change through transformative leadership development. We are looking forward to providing regular seminars for triple-bottom-line venture individuals and teams”
The growth of enterprises that mix for-profit and non-profit practices in pursuit of social goals has led the organization to refocus its programming to include this growing sector.
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Posted in Reports, Wired News & Press Releases at 1:30 pm by Oliver
Abbott, the Illinois based global health care company today released its 2007 Global Citizenship report. The report titled “Ingenuity at Work” highlights Abbott’s commitment to access to care, innovation, science education and the environment. It is available www.abbott.com/citizenship.
Abbott has received numerous recognitions, including a listing among world leaders in economic, environmental and social performance in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. It consults many resources in developing the report, including SustainAbility, Business for Social Responsibility, the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, and others.
About Abbott
Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 68,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott’s news releases and other information are available on the company’s Web site at www.abbott.com.
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Posted in Campaigns, Wired News & Press Releases at 1:01 pm by Oliver
MicroPlace, the San Jose, CA based online brokerage specializing in socially responsible investments, today announced the launch of “Small change. Big change.”
Through the campaign (www.smallchange-bigchange.com), everyday people can team up with friends and family to make investments that earn a financial return and help address global poverty by raising funds for global microfinance institutions that provide loans to the world’s working poor.
“If you are like most people, your nickels and quarters go unnoticed and collect dust in a jar or pot. We have launched the “Small change. Big change.” campaign as a way for people to take that small change and make big change by addressing global poverty,” said Tracey Turner, founder and general manager of MicroPlace.
To encourage investors to ask their friends to join them in making a difference, MicroPlace will offer uniquely handcrafted artisan piggy banks from Chile to groups of investors who invest at least $500. Investors can track their impact and the impact of their friends on the campaign website. They can read stories from the people receiving loans and can track how many loans they are enabling to the world’s working poor.
Microfinance empowers the working poor to help themselves through small business loans and is an effective way to address global poverty. According to MicroPlace, approximately 84 percent of microfinance borrowers are women and repayment rates historically average more than 97 percent.
About MicroPlace
MicroPlace (www.microplace.com), launched in 2007, is the world’s first and only online brokerage specializing in socially responsible investments that alleviate poverty. MicroPlace enables everyday people to make investments that earn a return while empowering the poor to work their way out of poverty. Investment dollars are used to provide microfinance loans to the world’s working poor. Unlike charity, investing in MicroPlace offers a rate of return and allows the investor to align their social values with their investment wallet. MicroPlace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay Inc.(Nasdaq:EBAY).
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