social responsibility

Social Media as Time Transporter

Shel Horowitz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:59:28 -0500

Thirty-one years ago, the housemate with whom I’d found an apartment
moved out, and I invited a poet friend of mine to take his place. We
shared that apartment for several months, until he, too, moved on, and
another friend moved in.

Last weekend, I went to see that poet friend for the first time since
around 1980. We’d been completely out of touch–but about a year ago, a
mutual friend tracked my wife down on Facebook. Turns out that mutual
friend also convinced my old housemate to join Facebook, where we found
each other a month or so ago.

Social Responsibility

Laptops for Kids and Shared Village-wide Cell Phones can Fight Systemic Deep Poverty

Shel Horowitz — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:39:10 -0400

Horace Mann, founding President of Antioch College, famously said "Be ashamed to die until you have won one victory for humanity." Neither Nicholas Negroponte nor Iqbal Quadir will ever have to worry about shaming themselves in front of Horace Mann's ghost.

These two M.I.T. professors have both made substantial contributions in developing countries, bringing life-changing technology to villages that don't even have electricity or running water.

Social Responsibility

Why We Beat Our Heads on Walls

Carel Two-Eagle — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:03:47 -0400

I've made so many job applications since March 7 I finally started listing "job applicant" as my current job. I've heard the dumbest collection of excuses for not hiring me, & I get no unemployment & I don't want welfare! Excuses include: you know too much; you have too much experience; you were in business, we can't hire you; you have a limp. Lessee - the Army advertises "be all you can be". Hm. Must be just a slogan, not real encouragement.. After over 30 years of work, I should have lots of experience! I do - at a high level, too. I've never been a slacker.

Sometimes Old Stuff is Best

Carel Two-Eagle — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:40:23 -0400

Hanh mitakuyapi / hello my relatives. Long time no hear. I've been so far behind the 8-ball, I had to take it on faith that it was still out there ahead of me. "Making a living" has been incredibly tough this year & last. Try a gross in of maybe $9000. It's enough to make a person think of welfare!

Sometimes Old Stuff is Best

Carel Two-Eagle — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:38:58 -0400

They Won't Let Me Retire to a Job

Carel Two-Eagle — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:18:46 -0400

Hanh mitakuyapi / Hello my relatives. It's been a long time since my last post. Last winter was brutal up here - I literally spent the entire winter doing nothing but going to a temp job & home to eat & sleep, battling snow like we haven't had in over 10 years "both ways against the wind". And where I camp, it can be uphill both ways, too. This was "life" for most of the people I know here, too. We literally didn't stop being dog-tired until roughly this August!

The Real Value of Business

Zach Smith — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:53:16 -0400

As I talk with prospective members of Abound about their businesses, the business of sustainability and the challenges of being a leader in sustainable business, one of the recurring themes we encounter is that of value.

Sustainable, Innovative Leadership = Abundance

Zach Smith — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:40:56 -0400

Imagine you’re looking at a gauge. The left half of the gauge has black hash marks with numbers that go from “-10″ to “0″ at the top. The background color on this half is red. The right half of the gauge has numbers that start from “0″ at the top of the gauge and go to “+10″ on the lower right. Let’s say the background color for the right half is green.

So, How Sustainable is the Wal-Mart Sustainability Index?

Zach Smith — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:21:18 -0400

To quote Eric Clapton: “It’s in the way that you use it.”

The Wal-Mart sustainability index is measuring whether suppliers are measuring their impact on energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, resource depletion and the communities in which they operate. Essentially it’s binary with annotation. Are you or aren’t you? If you are, please describe what you are doing.

Operation Street Kidz Helps Turns Inner City Youths into Entrepreneuers

Karma Martell — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:59:59 -0400

Grassroots organizations like Young Entrepreneur Net http://ycen.fliggo.com/ and 4 Entrepreneur Net are raising the bar on supporting entrepreneurship and exposing youth to positve, confidence-building experiences that will show them a path to realizing their dreams.

Diversity, Foundations and Corporate Giving

Tory Clarke — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:48:58 -0400

According to a 2009 study conducted by the Greenlining Institute ("Diversity on Foundation Boards of Directors", www.greenlining.org, April 2009) foundations - which often fund organizations that work with diverse populations - lack diversity themselves.

The report focuses on the nation’s top 46 foundations and their boards of directors, concluding that only one out of four board members is a person of color.

Diversity and the Healthcare Sector

Tory Clarke — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:31:27 -0400

Current demographics show that the healthcare sector in the US (hospitals, healthcare systems, academic healthcare centers, health plans, insurance providers, and federal organizations) is faced with a more diverse patient-base than ever before, and this demographic trend is set to continue.

Reinventing the Coffee Business Around Ethics and Sustainability: Dean Cycon

Shel Horowitz — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:41:28 -0400

Can you run this kind of company and make money? You betcha.

Social Responsibility

Diversity and Academia

Tory Clarke — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:12:33 -0400

Pursuing a college education in America is viewed by some as an inevitablenext step toward success. But for many ethnic minorities in the US, higher education is far from inevitable - academia itself must play a role in changing that.

Fast Company Site Still Awkward

m e — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:37:35 -0400

Fast Company site is still awkward to use.

When Social Media Trashes You...How Should You Respond?

Shel Horowitz — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:40:10 -0400

I just read a very interesting article called "How to Weather a Twitterstorm"--and one of the most interesting parts was the comments, which included a whole lot of people who basically said that Twitter, Facebook and other social media are a marginal part of the overall audience, and kowtowing to them is a mistake.

Social Responsibility

Diversity and the Retail Sector

Tory Clarke — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:23:59 -0400

A people-driven business, the retail industry caters to (and often defines) the needs of its consumers.

As an early adopter with regard to formal corporate diversity initiatives, the retail sector used to be considered a high-profile innovator and driver of diversity recruitment programs, while supporting the needs of a diverse employee-base.

Design Ignites Change Says What's Good for Your Company Can Be Good for the World

Alissa Walker — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:38:20 -0400

As principal of Worldstudio, designer Mark Randall has done branding and design for everyone from JP Morgan to Estée Lauder.

Six Levels of Sustainability: What You Be is What You Get (6) Constellation

Zach Smith — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:14:03 -0400

"Sustainability" is not always sustainable. Simply, doing and describing what you do as sustainable does not make it so. For organizations (and us, personally!) to be sustainable in what we do, we have to be sustainable in who we are and how we see the world. This gives us our best shot at doing something that is actually going to get or generate sustainable results.

P&G, Microsoft and Sustainability

Zach Smith — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:03:01 -0400

P&G and Microsoft have both recently strongly committed themselves to "sustainability." P&G's

When Does Paying Referral Commissions Raise Ethics Questions?

Shel Horowitz — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:07:07 -0400

At LinkedIn, a great discussion on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=54066&discussionID=2031924&commentID=2462364#commentID_2462364">when it is or isn't OK to pay referral fees</a>. I don't believe you have to be a member to see the conversation though you do if you want to make a comment (might have to join the group first, I don't know).

Here's my take.

Social Responsibility

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY LEADERSHIP SERVICE LAUNCHED

Tory Clarke — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:05:49 -0400

BridgePartners LLC (http://www.bridgepartnersllc.com) is a retained executive search firm with a focus on social responsibility, and placing senior-level women and diverse executives.

Green? Yes. But Just How Sustainable Is Your Product?

Kate Bonamici Flaim — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0400

Brittni Furrow

PhD Student
School of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona

BRITTNI FURROW, 22, is one of 55 graduate students and 181 undergrads studying sustainability at ASU. Furrow hopes to create a labeling system that would make it easy to see how sustainable a product is.

Supersizing McDonald's Eco-Cred

Melanie Warner — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0400

Bob Langert thought he knew where his life was headed. A few years after college, he took a job at a transportation and packaging company outside of Chicago that did huge business with McDonald's. He envisioned working one day in logistics or operations for McDonald's corporate headquarters. Then in the late 1980s, he was given a six-month assignment to eliminate the chlorofluorocarbons and find a way to recycle the polystyrene in the clamshell packaging that McDonald's was then using. He had no idea what CFCs and polystyrene were, but he jumped right in.

Six Levels of Sustainability: (5) Coherence

Zach Smith — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:01:42 -0400