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By John Fallon

How do you educate refugee children in places with a shortage of trained teachers, a lack of resources, and where school records have been lost? In the last four years, across the Middle East and North Africa, millions of young refugees have fled from their homes. And an entire generation -- millions of children -- are at risk of growing up without an education.

The threat of an educational void is becoming abundantly clear in places like Syria. More than 2.3 million children inside the country are not in school. Of the hundreds of thousands who have fled, nearly half are not receiving any education at all. In Lebanon, there are more school-aged refugees than the entire intake of the country’s public schools, and only 1 in 5 Syrian children are enrolled in school. Sadly, it’s a similar situation in Jordan and Iraq. Aid needs to reflect the new, longer-term reality of conflicts, and should include the means for providing access to education to those who are forced to establish a new life.

Abu Mohamad, a Syrian refugee, recently told his story about small businesses in refugee camps to CNN. He started a pizza delivery service for other refugees and aid workers living in his camp. “I couldn’t sit and wait for the situation to change,” he said. “We always want more for our families.” But not everyone is an entrepreneur, particularly young children – many of whom lack access to basic education. Not everyone has the necessary tools at their disposal.

Aid through education

Last month, the U.K. pledged £100 million (~US$148 million) to help support Syrian refugees with food, medical care and relief items. The U.K. Department for International Development has committed more than US$1 billion – the U.K.’s largest response to any humanitarian crisis. And USAID, between 2012 and 2015, donated $570 million to help Syrian refugees. This is all much-needed support. Given the reality of this crisis, we need to supplement these efforts. More governments, NGOs and companies can play a significant role in improving access to education in these settings.

Much as food aid often includes basic essentials needed for survival, education assistance needs to be rapidly deployable but without compromising on quality. Refugee camps and host communities need easily accessible materials and low- or no-cost tools for education that work in challenging settings. Some organizations are already leading the way.

UNICEF helped more than 375,000 Syrian children last year access formal and informal education through school construction and rehabilitation, teacher training, and provision of school materials for teachers and students. In Jordan, staff and volunteers from Save the Children are creating specialized teacher training and support programs for those operating in conflict regions. These sessions will equip teachers with an entirely new way of approaching lesson plans, homework and grading. Save the Children has also developed a database of emergency personnel for education. These experts can be dispatched on short notice to areas affected by emergencies.

All this can be done without traditional classroom tools. Teachers work from condensed, modified curriculum, written to be delivered quickly and affordably. Mobile-delivered teaching resources can be vital when communication and normal delivery methods are limited by circumstance. And there is a need for solutions for grading tests where no national marking system exists and where students lack school records.

How can businesses make an impact?

Education is often among the first casualties of sustained conflict, and all too often, the international focus simply moves on to the next conflict, leaving a massive skills and knowledge void in its wake. Children out of school are vulnerable to the influence of extremism, a growing threat in the region, as well as criminal behavior and other forms of exploitation. Many host governments are stretched to the limits in terms of their ability to absorb the influx of refugee students into schools in already-struggling education systems.

How can we make a difference? Businesses must prioritize the social impact we stand to make as major players in the global economy, and we must do so with a view to the future.

In 2015, the United Nations is examining where focus must go following the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals, and education will surely be among the priorities for the new Sustainable Development Goals. There is work to be done. I encourage all businesses to examine their core competencies — whether in logistics, product design, communications or whatever their area of expertise – that can be applied or offered to refugee communities to drive educational improvements at little or no cost.

The late professor C.K. Prahalad said: “The big challenge for humanity is to get everybody, not just the elite, to participate in globalization and avail its benefits.”

The shift in our thinking I’ve described around moving from a short to a long-term view of how we assist those in need through education, and what Prahalad envisioned, is about inclusion; it is about fairness, and it is about allowing everyone -- not just those at the top of the pyramid -- to have a chance.

John Fallon is the chief executive officer for Pearson. Click here to read about our own partnership with Save the Children, and join the conversation on Twitter at #EveryChildLearning.

By Marta Maretich

Here’s a riddle: Investors are demanding them. The global business community is boosting them. Companies large and small are trying to figure out how to produce them. What are they?

You guessed it: Extra-financial performance results — the environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics that demonstrate that a company is acting responsibly as it conducts its business. In a major shift in global attitudes toward sustainability and a more responsible role for business in society, this fast-growing area is now a major focus for businesses and investors alike.

Not new, but moving fast

The movement behind making ESG criteria for investing has been gaining ground for four decades, with pioneers like Hazel Henderson and Joan Bavaria of Trillium leading the charge. But the pace of change has recently been accelerating across non-profit, public and business sectors alike leading more investors to look to ESG when making decisions.

Several factors are driving the shift. Increased concerns about the effects of climate change are leading citizens and governments to demand tougher environmental regulations for businesses (E). Social factors (S), such as human rights abuses, are now recognized as material risks. Poor governance is widely seen as a factor in the financial crash of 2008, sparking investor demands for more information about the G in ESG. Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that shows companies that pay attention to extra-financials actually perform better in the long term.

Extra-financial and ultra-influential

All these factors contributed to making 2014 a watershed year for investment decisions based on extra-financial factors. Fossil fuel divestment was one area where investors were seen to make decisions for reasons other than financial performance.

Investors controlling billions of dollars, such as the Rockefeller Brothers, The Wallace Fund and Ben and Jerry’s, all divested their holdings in fossil fuels in an effort to combat climate change. More of this is coming. Major institutions such as museums, universities, city governments and pension funds are all feeling the pressure to divest.

Private investors are an important part of the trend with some 70 percent now expressing an interest in investing with a conscience. As a result, asset managers in many parts of the industry are climbing on board and looking to expand their expertise in what is a strong growth area of the market.

Changing attitudes to ESG in business

These trends are putting new ESG-related obligations on companies and investors alike.

For companies, there is increased pressure to track and report ESG performance, an activity that costs organizational resources and must be carefully managed for good results. Luckily, attitudes toward ESG are changing across the business world. Top executives no longer see it as mainly a reputational or branding exercise. Rather, ESG-competence is emerging as good business practice that can foster innovation, lead companies to identify efficiencies and help manage risks.

Embracing ESG reporting provides greater access to capital, too. It’s a necessity in a climate where investors will turn down deals with companies that don’t disclose well enough or don’t disclose at all.

Across the world, companies are racing to incorporate ESG into their monitoring and reporting frameworks. To help them, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) provides a range of resources, including this one for absolute beginners. GRI starter kit. Other groups, like the EVCA, a European group of private equity investors, have developed their own framework to help businesses disclose ESG performance.

Investors incorporate ESG in decision-making

The EVCA framework—for businesses but developed by investors—is one example of how seriously investors are now taking ESG. And there is further evidence that the investing sector is taking positive steps to get better at incorporating extra-financials into decision-making processes.

The UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) initiative has been around since 2005 and today has 1,371 signatories around the world. The PRI provides a framework for incorporating ESG concerns into investment practice as well as reporting. It now includes a climate change pledge for asset owners.

Global investors are banding together around ESG, joining groups like the Global Sustainable Investor’s (GSI) Alliance. The Alliance supports progress in sustainable investing by identifying trends and acting as a network for national groups. It has attracted important national members including Europe’s Eurosif, British UKSIF, American US SIF, Canadian RIA and the Asian region ASrIA.

Standards are also being developed to help investors compare ESG performance across companies. The CDP amasses disclosure data on climate change issues and works with investors and companies to improve performance and reporting. Today its membership includes more than 822 institutional investors representing in excess of US$95 trillion in assets. In 2014 the CDP scored over 4700 companies on climate-related performance.

Meanwhile, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is establishing the materiality of sustainability issues, applying an accountancy approach to determining their value. Operating as a nonprofit, SASB makes its standards in areas like healthcare, infrastructure and renewable resources available online to investors and businesses alike.

Burdens and opportunities

Extra-financial disclosure presents both a burden and an opportunity for companies and investors. On the burden side, it takes time, resources and in some cases a profound change of attitude for companies and those who capitalize them to embrace ESG and make it part of normal business practice. On the opportunity side, the link between non-financial performance and long-term organizational health and profitability is becoming clearer. That of course leaves aside the core argument for ESG reporting: that it is a powerful tool for reigning in the damage business can do and turning its efforts to benefit in the larger sense. This is something both companies and investors should get behind.

Marta Maretich writes about impact, sustainable and social investing for Maximpact.com, a deal listing portal and information hub for the new finance sector. She is Chief Editor of the Maximpact blog.

About Maximpact: Maximpact is a free global portal for the social, impact and sustainability sectors. It operates as a secure web-based listing service that allows sustainability, philanthropy and CSR professionals, as well as entrepreneurs, intermediaries, and funds to share information about initiatives and impact investment deals, online. For more information on the platform or to review latest impact projects visit: www.maximpact.com. This article first appeared on Maximpact’s blog.

Surfers Against Sewage has launched a ‘Save Our Seas’ Marine Litter Tattoo campaign to highlight the growing scale and permanence of the marine litter crisis.

The ‘Save Our Seas’ Marine Litter Tattoo campaign takes its inspiration from highly stylised maritime tattoos that are synonymous with the sea and those connected to it – mariners, sailors, fishermen, seafarers, explorers and in more recent times, surfers. As tattoos, the designs convey a strong sense of permanence, something that the marine litter crisis is threatening if urgent action is not taken soon.

The campaign highlights some of the most pervasive litter items washing up on our beaches, including the single-use plastic bag, the plastic water bottle, the aluminium can and discarded fishing gear. 

The amount of litter recorded on UK beaches in 2014 was at its highest level ever with 2,457 pieces found for every kilometre of coastline surveyed, representing a 6% increase on 2013 levels.

The campaign was created by award-winning advertising agency M&C Saatchi in association with acclaimed American tattoo artist Nick The Tailor.  

 

Picture credit: SAS

 

On Tuesday, the U.S. became the latest country to submit a climate action plan to the United Nations in advance of the Paris climate conference.

The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asked countries to submit a strategic plan -- detailing how they will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change -- by a March 31 deadline.

By submitting its plan, the U.S. joins more than 30 countries that released national commitments to the forthcoming global climate change agreement, to be reached in Paris in December. Others include Switzerland, Norway, Mexico and all the countries covered under the European Union.

Some 194 nations plus the EU are signatories to the UNFCCC climate change treaty, which was enacted in 1994.

Forging a new climate treaty and successor to the Kyoto Protocol has proven difficult. Negotiations have been hindered by disagreements over the shared responsibility of developed and developing nations for past and present GHG emissions. Debates over how developing nations should implement climate strategies -- and where the money and expertise will come from -- have also proved to be longstanding obstacles.

America's commitment to a global treaty on climate change

In its plan, the U.S. pledged to reduce national carbon emissions by as much as 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. The commitment “essentially formalizes an identical pledge President Barack Obama made during a November summit in China,” energy and environment reporter Alan Neuhauser wrote in the U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday.

Collectively, the 33 nations that filed their commitments by the initial deadline represent nearly 60 percent of worldwide anthropogenic carbon emissions, Neuhauser pointed out.

Encompassing a variety of executive actions undertaken by President Obama, realization of its UNFCCC climate commitment would put the U.S. on track to reduce carbon emissions “on the order of 80 percent by 2050,” White House senior adviser Brian Deese told reporters during a March 31 conference call.

"The administration's climate work will help meet the ambitious but achievable goal we have submitted today. We have the tools we need to meet this goal and take action on pollution. And we know this is good for our economy, good for our health and good for our future."

Momentum builds

Hopes that a new global climate treaty will be reached in Paris are rising as of late, as some of the world's largest polluters announce more aggressive GHG reduction targets and plans to ramp up clean energy and energy efficiency solutions.

China's new and strengthened policy of reducing air and environmental pollution doesn't hurt prospects either. A renewed spirit of cooperation was also evident by the Chinese government's pledge to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy and cap its carbon emissions by 2030. Those pledges came about as part of joint China-U.S. climate announcement issued during President Obama's visit to China earlier this year.

China and the U.S. are the largest sources of anthropogenic carbon emissions in the world. Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India – the world's fourth-largest source of carbon emissions – and President Obama announced a new cooperative agreement on clean energy and climate change this past January.

This growing momentum comes amid word from national and international climate monitoring organizations that 2014 was the warmest year on record.

Mean global surface temperature last year was 0.57 degrees Celsius higher than the 1961-1990 average, edging out 2005 and 2010 as the warmest year on record, according to the U.N. World Meteorological Organization. According to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), global temperatures averaged 0.68 degrees Celsius (1.24 degrees Fahrenheit) above their long-term average in 2014. Fourteen of the 15 warmest years on record have occurred since the turn of the century.

The increased temperature isn't evenly distributed around the world, nor are the manifold effects on ecosystems and societies. This has climate scientists and government leaders increasingly concerned about our warming planet's potential to spark exoduses and resource conflicts in hard-hit regions, small island and lesser-developed nations in particular.

Image credits: UNFCCC

Palm oil and soy have created festering social and ecological problems over the past several years for a bevy of reasons. In the case of palm oil, food manufacturers shifted away from hydrogenated oils, which are bad for your heart, to an ingredient that is bad for the Earth’s lungs. The surging demand for palm oil has led to deforestation, human rights violations and the destruction of wildlife habitat, notably in Indonesia and Malaysia. WWF has also decried the threat of mono-crop palm oil plantations in Africa and Latin America.

Soy production has also been problematic, with the conversion of the Amazon rain forest into vast soybean plantations that supply animal feed and meet the growing demand for protein worldwide. In addition to soil erosion and pesticide runoff, many small farmers have been pushed off their land as soy has become the commodity of choice on large plantations in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

Now the food and commodities giant ADM, which has reached over US$80 billion in revenues, says it will develop a no-deforestation policy in a move to source soy and palm oil more responsibly. The change occurred after a shareholder proposal, submitted by Green Century Capital Management and the New York State Common Retirement Fund, requested that ADM set quantitative goals for a reduction in supply chain impacts from deforestation.

Usually shareholder activism poses a huge uphill battle when it comes to convincing companies to change their business practices. In this case, however, ADM decided to rework its policy on how it sources these raw materials. The announcement will be made next month at ADM’s annual shareholder meeting. In return, Green Century Capital Management and the pension fund agreed to pull the shareholder proposal. So, what is going on?

Part of the reason for this changing tone in the food production sector is the growing revulsion at what is occurring within the palm oil industry. The emotional appeal over the destruction of orangutan habitat, for example, is a difficult one to ignore. Furthermore, at a time of growing desertification, drought and environmental degradation, the surging demand for soy and palm oil threaten the world’s rain forests — the destruction of which contributes even more carbon emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere.

According to Green Century Capital Management, ongoing droughts and extreme weather have contributed to a decline in ADM’s profits over the past few years. Reining in the producers and suppliers of soy and palm oil in order to clean up the global food industry is one way to decrease risks related to climate change. In addition, improved environmental stewardship will secure the viability of these corporations’ operations — a point the activist investor NGO Ceres has been making to companies in all sectors for over 25 years.

Customer preferences are also changing as more have become aware of these products' impacts on the planet and people. In the case of soy, consumption of soy milk here in the United States has been in decline. The soy latte inhalers of a few years ago have switched to almond milk, which of course is also problematic. Similar trends could happen to food products containing palm oil if improvements are not made soon.

Some companies, including Dr. Bronner’s, avoid sourcing palm oil from Southeast Asia period. Other firms, such as ADM, are following the standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which recently kicked out some members that were not complaint with the organization’s reporting requirements.

Meanwhile, the dominoes in the industry keep falling, and in a more positive way. Cargill, the largest palm oil supplier in the U.S., has shifted toward a more sustainable palm oil sourcing policy. Last summer, ConAgra said it would do the same after shareholder pressure. In contrast, the movement to switch toward more responsible soy has been quiet. Hopefully ADM’s announcement will give those organizations working on cleaning and greening the soy industry a second wind.

Image credit: Achmad Rabin Taim

By Bob Murphy

By 2020, nearly half of all U.S. workers will be millennials: those born between 1976 and 2001. The new crop of millennials looking for jobs -- educated, worldly, savvy people with strong resumes behind them -- have a different vision of what they want in a career than the jobseekers who came before them. If you’re not tuned into their needs, you’re missing out on top talent, and those same future leaders might be going to your competitors.

So, what is it they’re looking for? Millennials aren’t looking just for money, power or prestige, but rather something a little less tangible and much less selfish: They’re looking to make a difference in the world around them. According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, millennials are more altruistic and cause-focused than previous generations, and they believe that “working for causes is an integral part of life.”

Reaching this new generation of employees and consumers in a meaningful way requires businesses to think about how they can build their purpose into the ethos of their business to bring employees in the door, keep them around and grow them into tomorrow’s leaders.

What is purpose?

Business purpose can be difficult to define: While for some NGOs and nonprofits it’s as straightforward as “delivering clean water to those who need it” or “giving microloans to female business owners in India,” the majority of businesses don’t operate with such a clear, central or cause-focused mission.

However, purpose still exists in those businesses: It can be a strong corporate social responsibility initiative, a focus on creating jobs and economic impact as your sales increase, or a mission to support employees meaningfully. While business purpose can vary, it’s important to make sure people know about it: It’s one of the best things for your recruitment, employee retention and production.

Above all, millennials value business purpose

While good pay and fair benefits will always bring in new hires, it’s time to use your business purpose to attract millennials. In order to keep your company attractive to this changing workforce, it’s important to know what drives them. With easy access to news via Twitter and Facebook, millennials self-organize and participate in causes they care about, and this connection to the larger world encourages the need to be part of something larger than themselves. In order to be attractive to these workers, you must be able to engage them in your purpose and make it clear that, as an employee of your company, they are working to affect change in the world around them.

This need to participate in change carries over to millennial work trends. The generation defined by their connection to social media have a difficult time separating their personal and professional selves, and thus seek jobs where they can feel personally impactful. As a result, millennials embrace brands that make a difference, and whose causes are in line with their own. In the 5th Millennial Impact Report, created by research and creative agency Achieve in partnership with the Case Foundation, more than 50 percent of of the millennial respondents said that a company’s involvement in various causes influenced whether or not they accepted a job.

Integrating your business purpose into your operations makes your company a more attractive option to millennial workers looking for new employment. By positioning your company as a purposeful corporate citizen, you have a better chance of engaging these potential employees.

Purpose keeps employees engaged

Millennials are more likely to stick around if they feel like their passions for social good are being fulfilled through your company’s mission and everyday operations. According to the Millennial Impact Report, 53 percent of millennials were inspired to work long-term for their companies when they felt that their interests and passions were being used to their fullest. And believing in a company’s mission and purpose was important to 1 in 5 long-term millennial employees. Moreover, the typical promotion structure isn’t as important to millennials as it is to older employees: In a study conducted by Bentley University, 84 percent of millennials said that making a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition.

These statistics tell a compelling reason to use purpose to not only attract talent, but also to keep it. Millennials aren’t going to stay around just for the promise of higher pay or a corner office; rather, they stick around because they see their job as integral to the causes they support. By aligning your business to the purpose-driven mindset of this group, and setting up operations in a way where employees can see how their work is affecting the world, you set your business up for success in retaining the next generation of talent.

Your employees, purpose, profit and production

Purpose may make hiring and staffing easier for your business, but why does this translate into long-term, sustainable, bottom-line benefits? Keeping your business purpose at the center of your organization -- and hiring people who will operate with that purpose in mind -- benefits your production, customer satisfaction and long-term success.

As we’ve already discussed, employees stick with businesses that have demonstrated their commitment to their purpose. People want to work for a greater purpose, and they want to know that their work is meaningful. This means not only does employee morale increase, but teams also begin to do more work and do it better. Purpose is a powerful motivating factor for production. Moreover, purpose encourages innovation in the workplace: If the goal is to improve the larger community, employees understand that this should be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, making their jobs more streamlined and operations more innovative.

But purpose does more than just motivate those within the company. It’s also good for current and potential customers: 83 percent of U.S. consumers want more of the products and services they use to contribute to a social cause, and 62 percent of consumers around the world will switch brands if one has a stated social purpose and the other does not. Why would you not want to leverage your purpose and reach these consumers and grow your bottom line?

If your organization is already purpose-driven, it’s clearly positioned for success. Keeping that purpose in mind as you brand yourself makes it easier to communicate what you stand for to the next generation of employees, retain the best talent and increase profits. If impact isn’t already central to your operations, now is the time to take a good look at how you want to move forward in business, and how you can leverage that purpose for success later on.

Image credit: photogeek133, Flickr

Bob Murphy is a managing partner at Movéo, a Chicago-based B2B marketing firm which partners with category-leading brands to craft strategies and build tactics that engage audiences and drive business growth. 

It may be a coincidence, but it is still great timing for REI and the National Park Service.

This week REI, one of the largest outdoor gear and apparel companies in the U.S., announced it would support the National Park Service through a partnership with the National Park Foundation, the charity that helps to fund some of the programs in over 400 national parks. While an exact figure has not been given, REI says the level of commitment will run into the millions of dollars. No word on whether Sally Jewell, the Secretary of Interior who was previously the CEO of REI, had any involvement in this campaign, but the timing is excellent nonetheless.

The celebration started with the launch of Find Your Park, a public awareness campaign that not only commemorates 100 years of the National Park Service, but also seeks to inform citizens about ways in which they can enjoy the parks — and perhaps even enlighten them about one that is closer to them than they may think.

Of course, there is also a marketing component to REI’s support of the National Park Foundation. REI is the “official outdoor retailer” of this centennial celebration. And through at least 2017, REI will sell gear and market programs tailored for its partnership with the national parks at its stores as well as online. Some of the funds REI will funnel to the National Park Foundation will be through travel bookings made through its “Adventures” portal; the company will donate 10 percent of the retail price of booked trips to the foundation through 2016.

Despite the national parks’ economic impact (as in my hometown of Fresno, California, 90 minutes from three of them and where the city finally realized Fresno Yosemite International Airport was a better name than FAT), not to mention their stunning beauty and cultural significance, the last several years have been rough going for our parks. Despite an economic impact that ranges from US$26 billion to US$33 billion (depending on the source), adequate funding is always a battle for national parks year after year. According to the Washington Post, the National Park service has delayed about US$11.5 billion worth of maintenance projects because of budget shortfalls. Of course, with the rising cost of construction labor and materials, such problems will only worsen in the coming years if the parks cannot get the necessary federal funds.

When counting up the national parks budget woes, REI’s program may come across as little more than a Band-Aid. Nevertheless, it’s a Band-Aid that was not there previously, and REI’s funding will help aid programs that can enrich visitors’ experiences when they spend time in our national parks, one of America’s most stunning assets.

Image credit: Leon Kaye

By Benjamin Geyerhahn

What do a union advocate, a freelancer and an ex-convict have in common? There’s no punch line here — they’re all successful leaders and social entrepreneurs.

Social entrepreneurship commonly refers to businesses that use the market to fulfill social goals. For example, solar panel companies use the electricity market to serve the mission of delivering clean energy.

But no matter the market, social entrepreneurship involves innovative leaders focused on new ways of achieving social change.

The most impressive leaders understand that social responsibility is more than donating profits to a cause or doing business with higher ethical standards. While those practices are admirable, they are only the beginning of what social entrepreneurship can achieve.

Today’s new generation of social entrepreneurs has reimagined the framework for addressing social problems, focusing on sustainable, scalable ways to make change.

The union advocate

David Rolf, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 775 in Seattle, is going beyond the traditional union model and asking big questions about the future and scope of the union’s mission. Is the union specifically focused on representing the needs of its membership, or should it attempt to improve the lives of all workers? Rolf’s union is working on behalf of workers throughout Washington, and he’s leading the way in union innovation.

Rolf successfully led a campaign to push Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. Although this benefited some of the union’s members, it also improved the lives of all working people in Seattle. Rolf also encourages rethinking the union model at the Workers Lab, which is modeled after Silicon Valley accelerators and is focused on developing self-sustaining organizations that unite workers and improve their lives.

The freelancer

Sara Horowitz, another innovative social entrepreneur, founded the Freelancers Union. A union traditionally organizes employees from the workplace and seeks better pay and benefits on their behalf. Horowitz is organizing people who have no regular employer and working to solve their unique problems.

Indeed, high-quality, low-cost health insurance was a tool of sustainability for the Freelancers Union, but it was also a tool for it to attract members. The product became the organizing principal, but it was only a first step. The Freelancers Union also supports its members with professional development services and legislative support.

Horowitz rethought the union’s target and the tool of its sustainability to create an organization with the power to positively impact the lives of its members. It’s the first of what are commonly referred to as alt-unions and is easily the most successful.

The ex-convict

Frederick Hutson didn't remake an old institution, but he did fix a social problem that few had previously considered. Hutson wanted to address inmates’ isolation from their families. The founder and CEO of Pigeonly knew how much isolation impacted inmates — he served four years in federal prison for trafficking marijuana.

But Hutson made the most of his incarceration. He wrote business plans and came up with the idea of making prison calls less expensive. He understood that he could make a difference by making it easier for inmates to connect with their families.

The core function of Pigeonly directly serves Hutson’s social mission. Pigeonly delivers photos from a relative’s phone to the inmate at a small price, and it provides a tool that allows prisoners to dial local numbers to reach relatives across the country, rather than making expensive long-distance calls that would deplete limited resources.

Leaders tie business functions to the mission

Rolf, Horowitz and Hutson built innovative organizations focused on using new ideas and methods to solve common problems. The mission is the guiding star, but the tactics aren’t dictated by past practices.

In this approach, the social mission of the business naturally trickles down to people at all levels of the organization. For a mid-level marketing associate at Pigeonly, for example, getting more people to use the product means addressing the isolation of prisoners on a larger scale. For an operations associate at the Freelancers Union, delivering a more efficient health plan means helping freelancers and their families achieve stability through reliable healthcare.

When you tie your mission directly to your core business functions, you and your team can focus on effectively delivering high-quality goods and services.

Integrate social entrepreneurship into your company culture

When a company builds innovation and entrepreneurship into its culture, its mission guides that effort — from the CEO to the front desk. Here are three ways to build social responsibility into your company culture:

1. Focus on the mission. Let your core mission drive everything you do. TOMS Shoes began with the goal of matching every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. The company has since expanded to offering other products, but it’s focus is the same: helping people in need.

2. Reinforce the mission at all employee levels. As the leader, you need to speak directly to all employees so they understand the role the mission plays in the company.

Have conversations about the mission in meetings or through a company newsletter, and celebrate people who actively support the mission. For example, we’ve made it clear at our company that team members will never get pushback for spending too much time helping someone get Medicaid.

3. Hire the right people. To execute a profitable business model that addresses big social problems, you need to hire the right people. You need people who are creative and dedicated enough to take on the challenge of building a business that’s committed to a social mission.

The demand for jobs at companies that serve a larger purpose is growing, especially as more Millennials enter the workforce. Keeping social responsibility at the core of your company’s daily functions will prove to be an incredibly useful recruitment, engagement, and retention tool. Although it might take some adjustment to build social responsibility into your already established company culture, it will lead to a better business in the long run — trust me.

Image credit: Flickr/Yoel Ben-Avraham

Benjamin Geyerhahn is an experienced entrepreneur, a healthcare policy expert, and a member of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Health Benefit Exchange Regional Advisory Committee. He is the founder and CEO of BeneStream, which uses a combination of technology and a multilingual call center to guide employers and employees through the Medicaid enrollment process.

Editor's Note: This post is an excerpt from the University of Wisconsin Sustainable Management blog. 

By the UW Sustainable Management team
Can you say, with complete assurance, that you have found your calling in life? Nate Tillis can. He’s an operations manager at a wastewater treatment plant, as well as a soon-to-be college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Management from the University of Wisconsin. And every day, he works to preserve one of the planet’s most precious resources: water.

His journey began in a pizza shop with a friendly sanitarian. Back then, Nate was a teenager in Milwaukee, just out of high school with a wife and a child on the way. He worked in the restaurant, cooking and delivering pizzas, but he knew he had to do something different. He needed a job that would better provide for his family.

A driven, friendly and easy-going guy, Nate quickly formed a friendship with the restaurant’s health inspector, occasionally asking him about sanitation. It was the inspector who suggested an associate's degree program at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). Nate enrolled, intending to become a sanitarian himself. The first year of school involved chemistry and lab work — but it also focused on soil and water.

The force of nature leads to a sustainability career

Water. That really caught Nate’s attention and reminded him of the Tao Te Ching, a short book of Chinese proverbs he has been fascinated with since high school.

“I was raised Christian, but I wanted to explore what else was out there. So I read the Koran, the Bible, Bhagavad Gita, and Tao Te Ching. That’s when I had my great awakening. It’s still the book that resonates most with me,” he said.

Taoist philosophy teaches that nature influences our thoughts and behavior and uses the analogy of water often. For Nate, it felt in line with what he wanted to achieve in life and his background in martial arts, which his uncle introduced him to as a kid.

Appreciation for water becomes a full-time job

By the time he finished one year of the MATC program, Nate’s interest in health inspection was overshadowed by his fascination with industrial wastewater.

“I interned at a wastewater plant, and I really liked it!” Once he finished his associate's degree, he applied for a full-time position at the Waukesha Wastewater Treatment Plant and was hired as an operator. Nate worked there for 10 years, learning the ins and outs of the water treatment process.

How does a wastewater plant work? Nate says underground pipes bring all the contaminated water from houses and buildings to the plant. Pumps raise the elevation of the water, and gravity causes it to flow through the rest of the process. Basically, the treatment plant speeds up a river’s natural purification process by creating narrow and wide spots that clean the water, and then discharges it into the Fox River. A large plant like Waukesha’s processes 8 million to 10 million gallons of water per day.

As an operator, Nate did things like open valves, grab water samples, assess how the plant is doing and monitor lab work.

Finding the perfect degree

In 2010, he enrolled in University of Wisconsin Sustainable Management, an online 63-credit bachelor’s completion program. “I always knew I would get my bachelor’s degree. I liked the field I was in, but I wanted to keep going with my education and move forward in my career.”

When he found the UW Sustainable Management program, Nate liked that it was more specific than biology or business, but says, “Ultimately, I enrolled because I wanted to finish my four-year degree.”

As he progressed through the courses, the program became much more than that. “It’s essentially an environmental business degree — a great fit for me. It will make me attractive as a manager, but also keeps in line with ecology and sustainable development.”

Growing a sustainability career

Nate says, “A lot of people don’t think sustainable management relates to wastewater management, but it’s a really good degree to have if you want to move up in the field.”

And move up he has: He took an operations and maintenance supervisor position in Beloit for two years, but returned to Waukesha to be closer to his sons, now ages 10 and 15. The position he took (maintenance supervisor) was a lateral move, but nothing beat living near his family.

Plus, he loves the job he has now. He supervises a crew of 14, all in charge of maintaining the pumps at the plant and at different stations around town. Thousands of pieces of equipment need care to be able to run so the plant can keep performing.

Nate does many things as supervisor, such as schedule maintenance, coordinate training, review specifications of parts, and work on the budget. His crew also responds to storms and flooding emergencies, which can be challenging. Pumping stations around the city sometimes go out and lose power or communication. He and his crew are responsible for getting them back up and running.

Although a four-year degree isn’t required for his position, a University of Wisconsin credential is recognized and respected, and Nate says it definitely boosted his appeal as a job candidate over the other applicants. “I know that overall, it is going to be a big advantage in my career.”

Nate uses skills and knowledge he’s learned from the Sustainable Management program at work almost daily. “Recently, we were going through a major technological upgrade at the plant. Contractors were explaining how the new data system will work, and I was able to ask questions about how the data is stored and how we are going to use that information based on what I learned in the information technology course.”

“I love the people and the challenges. I feel like I’m making a difference. Water is probably our most precious resource — something that I think will take main stage in the future.”

Read the full post on the University of Wisconsin Sustainable Management blog. 

After years of searching for a solution to the worldwide problem of textile waste, pioneering start-up Worn Again is joining forces with fashion retailer H&M, and luxury, sport & lifestyle group, Kering, to bring to market what it terms "a revolutionary innovation in clothing production and recycling".

The new technology addresses the major barriers in textile-to-textile recycling, namely: how to separate blended fibre garments; and how to separate dyes and other contaminants from polyester and cellulose. Once separated, the aim is for the process to enable the ‘recaptured’ polyester and cellulose from cotton to be spun into new fabric (creating a ‘circular resource model’ for textiles).

H&M and Kering, via its brand Puma, will be monitoring the testing of the technology to see if the process is commercially viable.

“Innovation is what we need to solve our global environmental challenges. Our collaboration with H&M and Worn Again is a great example of this, demonstrating how we can design and deliver a solution that will be fundamental in eradicating textile waste while simultaneously offering a new type of sustainable raw material for our Sport & Lifestyle brands,” commented Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs at Kering.