CONFERENCE REPORT

April 7, 2014The Public-Private Partnership Forum

April 8, 20145th Annual International Corporate Volunteerism Conference

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2014 SPONSORS For the past five years, PYXERA Global has convened an annual conference that amplifies the best practices and impact of International Corporate Volunteerism. This year we were proud to welcome more sponsors than ever before.

Broadcast live from the Knight Studio at the Newseum, senior leaders from the public, private, and social sectors

addressed the ways in which cross-sector interests converge to achieve shared value. The conversations were

moderated by Nina Easton, Senior Editor of FORTUNE magazine:

Many corporations seek to enhance the impact of local enterprise, while fueling their own business pipeline. In the

opening discussion, Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Bo

Miller, Global Director of Corporate Citizenship at Dow and President of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation,

and Paul Tregidgo, Vice Chair and Managing Director of Debt Capital Markets at Credit Suisse discussed how

industry and investment can pave the way for market growth.

Human capital is one of the world’s most prized resources, and yet, one of the hardest to cultivate. From

leadership to entrepreneurship, individual action and capability are transforming economies and nations like never

before. Wendy Hawkins, Executive Director of the Intel Foundation, Deborah Holmes, the Americas Director of

Corporate Responsibility at EY, and Amini Kajunju, President & CEO of The Africa-America Institute discussed how

companies are bringing talent to new markets in ways that reinforce leadership potential, while delivering social

impact.

The absence of basic access to health services and infrastructure undermines many communities throughout the

world. Influential leaders in global health, Tom Hart, US Executive Director, ONE Campaign, Katie Taylor, Deputy

Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Global Health, USAID, and Leigh Verbois, Director, Office of International

Programs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration had a dynamic conversation about how cross-sector partnerships

are capable of affording healthier lives for more of the world’s population.

Individuals—especially those representing high-profile corporations—have initiated their own style of corporate

diplomacy in the markets where they operate. Congressman Jim Moran (D-Virginia), Bruce McNamer, CEO of

the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and Karl Hofmann, President & CEO of Population Services International engaged

in an open dialogue about the challenges and opportunities inherent in cross-sector engagement and the

requirements of leadership in a globally connected world. The panel delivered an energetic conversation about

how corporate diplomacy will affect future cross-border cooperation.

There’s a lot of lofty talk these days about “creating shared value,” but what does that mean at an operational

level? And what are the partnerships required to move the needle on challenges that not only reduce the quality of

people’s lives, but hold back business and government from operating at maximum effectiveness? Stan Litow, Vice

President, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM; President, IBM Foundation, and Deirdre White,

CEO, PYXERA Global discussed the partnerships that each of their organizations has forged to effect real change,

while simultaneously recognizing the question: “How do we make partnership the cornerstone of global

engagement and shared value in ways that deliver real and sustainable impact?”

The April 7 broadcast served to place the practice of ICV, or Global Pro Bono, in context while the event on April 8,

at FHI 360, took a closer look at the practice itself, featuring public, private, and social organizations with first-hand

experience achieving results with pro bono and volunteerism.

Gary provided a welcome to the conference, via video. His remarks focused on his and BD’s commitment to

“shared value,” the practice of using business models to deliver mutually beneficial, profitable and socially

impactful outcomes. Using the example of the need to protect health care workers from occupational injuries,

Gary pointed out how developing an improved sharps container proved to be both the huge growth opportunity

for BD while reducing injuries in healthcare workers. “If a company can figure out how to meet societal needs and

earn a profit, there is no limit to scale.”

Following Gary’s welcome, Amanda opened the conference by addressing the state of the practice and its evolution

over the last 5 years. In 2009, following the successful pilot of the first IBM Corporate Service Corps teams, PYXERA

Global (then CDC Development Solutions) hosted a workshop at DLA Piper to raise awareness and understanding

of the impact of cross-border pro bono corporate teams. Then and now, the themes are the same: leadership,

innovation, and impact.

With emerging leaders placed well beyond their comfort zones, leadership skills—both soft and hard—are

stretched and honed. Impact is still often anecdotal, but the positive feedback is consistent, and beyond the

specific projects, what are often left in place are new process methods, which serve the host organizations long

after the teams return home.

Amanda also highlighted the findings of the 2014 Benchmark survey,

International Corporate Volunteerism (ICV) is still relatively new. The study identifies 39 companies with

programs; 26 companies participated in the survey.

The practice has grown significant in five years, from five countries in 2009 to 80 countries by the end of

2013. By the end of 2014, an estimated 9,000 individuals, recruited from 50 countries, will have

participated in such programs.

One area of focus is on building strong teams: 90% of the programs have a team-based component; 75 %

of the teams have six or more participants.

Projects range in length from one week (with a virtual component) to six months, with the most common

time frame of four weeks, which turns out to be just enough time to deliver a significant deliverable to the

host client, but not overly burdensome on the participant, their family, or their employer.

The nature of the projects is cross-cutting. While microfinance represents 18% of projects and healthcare

represents 17 %, projects address a broad spectrum of issues, including economic growth, education,

women’s empowerment, and several major industries—housing, water, sanitation, energy. The practice

has proven to be extremely adaptable to the different objectives of local organizations and sending

corporations.

Nearly 85% of companies surveyed use an implementing partner. On average, companies have less than

one full-time staff person dedicated to implementing or overseeing the program internally.

The projects offer the opportunity for significant cross-sector collaboration; each project represents a

micro cross-sector partnership. Yet, an emerging trend also indicates the projects provide opportunities

for partnership between companies as well. Seventy-five percent of companies surveyed indicated that

they actively partnered or were considering partnering with another company, recognizing the need for

diverse skills and experiences to address tough challenges.

The impact of the programs remains a triple win: for participants, the companies who send them, and the

local clients who receive pro bono services. Leadership development is the primary benefit for

participants, specifically related to increased cultural adaptability and cross-border company integration.

Thirty-eight percent of companies surveyed ranked “perspective on emerging markets” as their top

business benefit. Host clients report satisfaction, illustrated through testimonials, although it’s widely

acknowledged that there is significant room to improve the quantitative assessment of program impact.

Advice to newcomers to the field include:

o Tie the programs to strategic corporate objectives;

o Ensure you have senior leadership’s support;

o Be flexible and oriented toward the social need (not just what you can deliver);

o Tell your story well.

Amanda ended with an inspiring message to set the tone for the rest of the day: “ICV programs take cross sector

engagement out of the boardroom, into people’s lives. By developing the types of relationships that come out of

ICV programs, we have a real chance to make substantial progress towards addressing some really complex global

challenges. ”

In October 2013, Hemang participated in SAP’s Social Sabbatical in South Africa, working with Endeavor, a leading

non-profit focused on catalyzing long-term economic growth by accelerating high-impact entrepreneurs globally.

His talk highlighted both the strategy of SAP as well as his own experience. SAP’s vision is to make the world run

better and improve people’s lives, and as a result, improving people’s lives is the center of every CSR program.

SAP’s social innovation strategy focuses on propelling and supporting emerging entrepreneurs for sustainable

long-term growth. The focus on entrepreneurship is a “win-win” for SAP and their host clients: it represents an

area of commercial growth for SAP and it supports the entrepreneurs themselves, enabling greater economic

impact.

In 2013, SAP’s Social Sabbatical placed 48 employees in 4 countries—China, South Africa, India, and Brazil—for

four-week assignments, working alongside entrepreneurs or entrepreneurship-focused organizations. SAP plans

to scale its program in the coming years.

Hemang’s remarks hit home: “We are in the midst of a transformation in business and society. This generation of

leaders is dealing with social and environmental issues in new ways, driving impact through entrepreneurship and

innovation in emerging markets. Emerging entrepreneurs are a key engine for sustainable growth. We must

leverage the talent, technology and capital inside our companies and invest it in innovative businesses that are

addressing our most pressing societal issues today. Innovation, emerging entrepreneurs, and emerging markets

are a very natural fit to our growth strategy, and that’s where we have chosen to focus.”

One word sums up every participant’s experience: “transformative.” It’s a shared feeling for participants and the

people they serve. Each participant described their experiences through PepsiCorps, Google Reach, and the

Smarter Cities Challenge. They each also observed the restorative power that service and commitment have to

their passion for their work and their employers.

Bob Osmond of IBM has had the unique experience of both having been a participant, as well as managing staff

members who have been participants. “When they come back, I notice that the participants’ ideas and level of

innovation grows. In their day job, they are more open to new ideas and new relationships, and able to make

more connections, which increase their ability to contribute on projects. The level of ambition is higher. It’s

profoundly effective. “

Scott Krenitski of Google identified an opportunity within his project in Ghana, which has enabled him to convert a

portion of his project into a longer term assignment, supporting Google in Ghana, the site of his field project. Scott

was also quick to point out these types of experiences are also effective at breaking down internal company

barriers, and the ability to be even more effective within a large global company.

Joe Quinn of PepsiCo echoed a common refrain amongst several returning participants who attended the

conference—that as a member of PepsiCorps, he appreciated the opportunity to serve, while acknowledging the

experience was richly and personally rewarding.

Dan Runde, CSIS, acknowledged the huge change in the last several decades in international development and the

need to leverage the power of the private sector. Dan shared that he was skeptical of short-term volunteers, but

given his front-row seat as a board member of PYXERA Global, he’s changed his mind. He characterized ICV as an

“emerging revolution.”

Justin Bakule, Shared Value Initiative, reinforced the opening comments of Gary Cohen, using the cocoa market as

an example of sustainable and scalable business value and social value—simultaneously. “Responses to social

issues which connect to a business should just be considered good business.” Building in a pipeline for the

business, aligned with the strategy, and integrating insights into a process is the hardest work. “Building linkages,

the process for integrating insights back into the business—these are critical to innovation.”

Ahsiya Posner Mencin, GSK, shared hard-won lessons on innovation at GSK. In particular, the issue of building a

process in which the 100 employees annually participating had the ability to share their experiences, “Bringing us

closer to patients and their unmet needs.”

Four GSK PULSE alum, along with Ahsiya, took it upon themselves to start an innovation incubator to capture

insights and fresh ideas. “The PULSE program was always about change: change communities; change yourself;

change GSK. But Changing GSK was the hardest and most nebulous aspect of our mission to achieve.” The team

spent a year developing the idea, socializing it with business leaders, and finally launching the PULSE Lab in 2012—

in addition to their already demanding day jobs. Since then, the PULSE Lab has moved to an open platform within

the company, which enables all employees to play a role through crowdsourcing – voting, commenting,

questioning and building on innovation proposals. There are clear rules of engagement, an opportunity for key

business challenges to frame the innovation challenge, as well as a clear judging process and prizes – the main

prize of course being to receive funding and resources to translate the winning idea(s) into reality. “The PULSE

Innovation Challenge has now moved from CSR to an innovation platform by and for the entire company that can

ultimately bring both business and social benefit. This is changing GSK. “

Graham is a returned GSK PULSE participant. A research scientist, Graham’s six-month project in rural Kenya

yielded an innovation in affordable paper-based diagnostics. He was one of the PULSE alums who helped create

the PULSE Lab, building a process by which to bring insights from the field back into GSK.

In his talk, Graham articulated what may be the most important insight for returned participants, “I realized that

telling people what to do didn’t work. You have to learn and listen—showing empathy and hearing what they think

they need. I have gained such respect for people.” During his six-month tenure, Graham worked with local

communities in soap manufacturing, bee husbandry, and solar power micro-franchising, a huge public health

priority to help prevent kerosene fires. His insight for innovation came from the experience in the field,

recognizing the need to develop a low-cost, easy diagnostic tool that would increase access to appropriate

treatment.

Leaders from JPMorgan Chase, Dow, and Symantec all described their experiences—challenges,

opportunities—in launching their various programs.

The practice can be used to address a number of challenges and/or opportunities. It’s important to

consider the most important, and align the program with management’s priorities. With Symantec,

the focus was on employee engagement; with Dow, the focus was on leadership development; with

JPMC, the focus was on stakeholder engagement and the ability to work internationally.

Dow introduced a virtual component to the model, which was successful, and helped to grow

leadership skill development in person and virtually. Both are essential for their leaders.

Executives need to be “on board” for sustainable programs.

Partnering with other experienced companies can be a help in launching a program.

Leaders from la Caixa Foundation, IBM, Google, and SAP discussed opportunities for companies seeking to

develop impact and market growth strategies through corporate volunteering and pro bono.

For new organizations that are starting ICV programs, it’s critical to set and manage expectations from the

beginning. Also tying the agenda of the company into the mission of the ICV program is important.

Having a defined scope of work and repeated projects can be helpful to maximize impact.

Pilot projects and partnerships are significant—be willing to experiment and test, to see what works.

Building and establishing open and honest relationships matter.

Local organizations benefit from joint ICV projects; they get two skillsets and perspectives.

Engaging the local office in some capacity is beneficial depending on the priorities of the company.

Participants discussed moving programs to “the next level” and learned from the experiences of EY, Pfizer,

Credit Suisse, and Intel. This session included discussions of some considerations for growth, including

critical success factors:

Communications—all channels, internally and externally;

Agreed upon goals that are aligned with the organizational strategy, changing these as the

organization’s needs shift;

Consistently capturing feedback and assessing value vis-à-vis goals;

Working cross-function and cross-department internally, for goals, outcomes, and resources.

The session opened with presentations from the public and social sector, with Sharon Rudy providing an

overview of USAID’s Global Health Fellows Program II, as implemented by the Public Health Institute.

Theresa McCoy presented the view of a private sector program, the Merck Richard T. Clarke Fellows

Program, with contributions from returned fellows Rob Dribbon, Darrell Penn and Pamela Polino. The

group consisted of representatives from public, private and social sector, and included an exercise in

which participants were invited to play a role different than that their current position. This proved to be

an effective exercise in building understanding across sectors in terms of motivations, expectations, and

needs.

Alice addressed the lunch-time crowd with an overview of her recently published book, which focuses on the

power of the marketplace to solve global problems. Pervasive human need presents itself as opportunity to

visionary business leaders and the organizations and individuals they serve. Partnering with NGOs and

governments, these businesses bring sustainable and profitable solutions. Alice highlighted several examples,

including a number of companies involved in ICV.

“For business, alleviating poverty presents opportunity, while addressing a pernicious global issue. By helping to

advance people from extreme poverty to the middle class, businesses anticipate achieving long-term strategic

growth through access to new markets, workforce development, product innovation, and product distribution. In

Africa, Asia, Latin America, and formerly Communist countries, businesses are teaming up with NGOs and

governments to foster employment, business development, and regional capacity-building to strengthen

economies. Companies realize that these locales will provide vast and growing market opportunities as wealth

increases and consumers seek to increase their quality of life.

Businesses are a powerful force in economic development and individual empowerment in some of the poorest

regions of the world. By building stronger and more vibrant communities in previously impoverished regions,

businesses, in partnership with NGOs and governments, benefit by advancing the vision of all people sharing in

global prosperity.”

For the first time, the conference streamed live a panel of leaders from the site of a current SAP Social Sabbatical

cohort kicking off in Nairobi, Kenya. Rebecca Harrison, CEO, African Management Initiative; Nat Robinson, CEO,

Juhudi Kilimo; and Rodney Carew, Senior Analyst, Open Capital Advisors joined the conference from Nairobi,

Kenya. All of these organizations are hosting current members of the SAP Social Sabbatical, who had just arrived.

Each of the organizations has identified specific scopes of work, and are welcoming the new insight and expertise

of the SAP participants.

The panel’s first point of agreement was to change the word “versus” to “and,” recognizing the considerable value

that both human and financial resources bring when companies are committed to solving global problems. Joe

Sibilia reminded us the language we use is fateful. If we’re “giving back,” the obvious question is, “What did you

take?” On the other hand, if we look carefully at the value created, we see that “Companies which have structured

volunteer and giving programs have greater value. They attract and retain better talent, inspire more loyal

customers, help develop products and services and improve the quality of life for all their stakeholders.”

Donna Callejon and Scott Jackson pointed out the power of technology to connect people with the rest of the

world. “Changing dynamics, and a growing mindfulness of the base of the pyramid, are feeding greater awareness

and understanding. We have the possibility now to see the need and the possibilities; we’re beginning to see the

connectedness,” said Scott.

Kristine Fortman and Tom Christensen represented the perspective of the private sector and the critical nature of

employee engagement in these efforts. The Joint Initiative for Village Advancement (JIVA) in India is a long term

commitment by the Deere & Company in response to insights during an in-field experience of senior leaders.

Kristine pointed out the need to support do-ers from both a corporate and an individual’s point of view. While it’s

important for multinational companies to align their giving of both human and financial resources with their

corporate strategy, it is also important to support employees and their personal passions.

The panel convened around the understanding that education is bedrock for so many different aspects of society,

including economic issues, and the recognition that cross-sector collaboration remains vital to systemic change.

Credit Suisse and Teach for All, now in 32 countries, demonstrate a long-term partnership and investment for

change which Amy Black characterized as “demand driven.” Credit Suisse’s Eva Halper credited the depth of the

partnership to a willingness to understand the entrenched nature of the problems, and the demand to see real

results—even if they are “proxies” pointing in the right direction.

Education is a priority at the most senior leadership levels across public, private and social sectors. Daniella Foster

pointed to a notable public-private partnership, in which the State Department has partnered with Intel to make

educational English language information available on Intel devices. The panel agreed that the intersection of

values, mission, priorities, a willingness to share risk, and the inclusion of uncommon partners are key factors for

success.

Eight social sector organizations joined PYXERA Global for an executive speed networking hour in which

representatives from each organization led interactive round-table discussions with other attendees.

A Billion + Change is a movement to inspire companies of all sizes and sectors

to do skills-based and pro bono service and to mobilize billions of dollars’

worth of skilled service activities to address core issues in our communities. A

Billion + Change is housed and managed at Points of Light, the largest

organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service.

Charities@Work is an alliance of four nonprofit federations—America’s

Charities, Community Health Charities, EarthShare and Global Impact—that

serves as the cooperative voice for more than 2,500 international, national

and local charities. Our purpose is to provide employers with strategies and

tools to deliver and enhance high impact and valuable employee engagement

programs, CSR and corporate philanthropy initiatives.

GlobalGiving provides a platform for nonprofits around the world to connect

with individual and institutional resources. We leverage this marketplace to

work with companies on their global employee engagement and philanthropic

programs.

MBAs Without Borders sends business professionals into emerging and

frontier markets to utilize and adapt the latest management tools and

techniques to fuel economic growth. MBAs Without Borders Advisors have

worked around the world and across various sectors to introduce innovative

methodologies through long-term technical assistance and market-based

strategies.

Since 2001, The Taproot Foundation has engaged over 3,500 professionals to

deliver more than $150 million worth of pro bono services to nonprofits

through its award-winning Service Grant program. Taproot’s Advisory Services

practice also works with companies to help them design and scale high-impact

pro bono programs in the U.S. and around the world.

True Impact provides web-based tools and consulting support to help

organizations – such as Deloitte, Intel, GSK, Merck, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Wells

Fargo, and their nonprofit partners – to measure the social, financial, and

environmental value of their grants, volunteerism, and other social

investments.

VolunteerMatch strengthens communities by making it easier for good people

and good causes to connect. The organization offers a variety of online

services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer and business leaders

committed to civic engagement. Our popular service welcomes millions of

visitors a year and has become the preferred internet recruiting tool for more

than 97,000 nonprofit organizations.

PSI is a global health organization dedicated to improving the health of people

in the developing world by focusing on serious challenges like a lack of family

planning, HIV and AIDS, barriers to maternal health, and the greatest threats

to children under five, including malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and

malnutrition.

Many corporations struggle to determine where their program best aligns within the company, and in a large

multi-national company, that can prove crucial to the long-term success of the program, since it often relies on the

ability of professionals to work cross functionally to ensure the program’s success. Michelle Langley and John

Kolmer recounted their collaborative work in the first year of Dow’s Leadership in Action Program as they both

sought to fuse together CSR and leadership development.

Like many multi-national companies, Dow already had a fairly well-developed leadership program, but they shifted

resources in order to move the experience from the classroom and boardroom to the real world. Specifically, the

program sought to achieve the targeted goals of action learning, tackling real world problems, enhancing cultural

and global fluency, and gaining a first-hand look at the challenges and opportunities of some of the world’s fastest

growing markets.

The last panel of the day convened a group of program leaders with a range of perspectives. IBM represented the

largest of these programs, as well as one of the longest running, while the first Symantec cohort had returned just

two weeks earlier.

In addition to reviewing again the themes of the day –leadership, innovation, and impact—the panelists noted

some additional findings from their experience. While programs are generally noted for leadership development,

the direction of that emphasis is usually with the individual in the field, a part of the ICV cohort. Yet, Theresa

McCoy noted that when a senior executive became a Merck Fellow for three months, it necessitated a whole new

level of performance from the home team, and significant opportunity for those left behind to grow and manage

the absence.

Lora Phillips noted that, while engagement of the team employees is generally understood, the new program for

Symantec was a “Perfect storm of opportunity to align with our new strategic framework. It gave us something to

celebrate together at a point of enormous change.”

The need to prepare employees to excel in a globally integrated enterprise remains a significant component of the

IBM Corporate Service Corps, and the program has grown based on its ability to demonstrate the capability to

deliver those results. Not only does IBM measure the feedback from participants of the program, but their

managers as well. The results speak for themselves: 92% of managers report employees showed enriched cultural

awareness; 78% reported improved attitude and motivation; and 73% report their employees demonstrate

enhanced leadership skills. The ability to measure specifically the change catalyzed by such interventions remains a

challenge, but one still well worth pursuing.

Deirdre White, CEO of PYXERA Global, delivered the closing remarks to the 5th Annual International Corporate

Volunteerism Conference – Catalyzing Growth in Emerging Markets. The inspiring keynote emphasized how cross-

sector collaboration can pave the way for “development 2.0,” purposeful global engagement. Read the entire

keynote:

A Confession

When I was first asked to provide the closing remarks

for the 5th

Annual International Corporate Volunteerism

Conference, my first thought was that by this point in

time, most of you have heard of my musings, whether

in person, in my blogs, or even in my very occasional

forays onto Twitter. But then I gave it some thought

and decided that this might be an excellent opportunity

to make a confession to all of you. “A confession?” you

ask. Well, yes. Because while many of you know how

vocal a proponent I am for the good that business can

do in the world—especially with the right partnerships

across the public and social sectors—what you

probably don’t know is that I did not start out that way.

In fact, rather the opposite. It’s true, I confess, I was a

stalwart business-hater.

So, if you will indulge me, I’d like to share with you a bit

about why I took that position in the past, and why and

how my thinking on the topic evolved. This means you

have to take a little trip into my past, so bear with me a

few moments, and I promise not to tell you about my

first grade teacher or my high school crush.

I suppose I did not really have a choice but to be a do-

gooder of some sort. When I was two months old, my

family moved to Ouagadougou, in what was then Upper

Volta. My father has spent his whole career working in

the field of public health, and at the time, he was part of

Lyndon Johnson’s commitment to eradicate smallpox.

So my mom and brother and I travelled from Bourkina

to Ghana to Ivory Coast to Senegal as he worked to

vaccinate people across West Africa in what turned out

to be a fantastic and lifesaving massive effort using

public funds.

My mom, on the other hand, spent most of her career

as a civil rights attorney for the labor department,

where her job was to sue businesses that violated the

fair labor standards act, ensuring that people were

treated and compensated fairly when business behaved

badly, which appeared from my observation and the

volume of my mom’s work, was far, far too often.

In other words, I grew up with a sense that business can

do a lot of bad, and that government is there to save

lives and also to keep businesses in check. And this was

not because my parents said that, but because of what I

observed in their work. I’m sure I had no sense of the

NGO, or social sector at the time.

I’m also sure I neither thought through where those

lifesaving vaccines came from, nor the number of jobs

sustained by those very same businesses kept in check

by the fair labor standards act. In other words, it was

pretty black and white for me. But hey, I was a just a

little kid.

Fast forward a number of years, and further cementing

my distrust for and dislike of business was the situation

in apartheid South Africa. In the 1980s, there were

huge movements across the US to get American

businesses to divest of their South African operations. I

remember being such a proud daughter watching my

mom arrested and plasticuffed for protesting at the

South African Embassy—and so disappointed that I

wasn’t allowed to get arrested too, only to watch and

drive the car home.

I took my outrage and sense of injustice to my college

days at Penn. A quick peek into the archives of the

Daily Pennsylvanian would tell you how often I used my

opinion column to rage against the University for its

massive investment in businesses with South African

operations. As a leader of the Penn Anti-Apartheid

coalition, I even went so far as to bring together a

handful of other students to file a class action lawsuit

against the university to force transparency on the

investments, and, of course, eventual disinvestment of

our endowment. Umm, they really loved me at Penn …

… At that time, the guiding principle for American

businesses who maintained operations in South Africa

was “constructive engagement”, in other words, “We

can do more good by being here and having good

policies vis-à-vis black South Africans than if we were

not here.” For those who don’t remember those days,

Reverend Sullivan from Philadelphia had developed the

Sullivan Principles for responsible business

engagement in South Africa. The original Sullivan

principles were launched in 1977 to apply economic

pressure on South Africa in protest of its system of

apartheid. The principles eventually gained wide

adoption among United States–based corporations.

But at the time, there was much criticism that these

generally positive principles were simply a set of

standards with no real teeth, and that while they may

have changed some of the environments within a

business working place, they were not fostering

substantive policy change. They gave business a

justification for —and a way for management and

shareholders to feel better about—turning profits

under the apartheid regime. For those of us focused on

the issue, we saw it as crucial that our university not be

supported with money in any way earned through the

atrocities of apartheid.

In looking back at the height of the anti-apartheid

campaign of the ‘80s, it is fascinating to see what the

role of business turned out to be. Before the end of

South Africa's apartheid era, at least 100 businesses

completely withdrew their existing operations from

South Africa. At the movement’s peak in the late 1980s,

hundreds of universities, governments and pension

funds in the U.S. had pulled billions of dollars out of

South Africa, helping to undermine the apartheid

regime.

That is, while it was certainly the courage of the South

African people that was at the heart of the changes that

rolled out in the early’ 90s, even Mandela himself

credited the American movement for divestment and

the eventual passing of the economic sanctions bill as

having pushed deKlerck into a corner where he had no

choice but to hand over power. In other words, it was

not the constructive engagement that fostered change,

but the active disengagement of business.

While at the time I was primarily focused on getting

businesses not to support bad, in retrospect, this was

my first real lesson in the power of business to do good.

That is, business acted as a powerful counterpoint to

government, and was able to force the enactment of

unfathomable social change. And while there was

certainly talk of Corporate Social Responsibility in the

two decades previous, from my observation, that

divestment movement was the spark that launched

contemporary corporate citizenship practice—launched

it slowly, to be sure, but I believe that there was

enormous, if unconscious, recognition of the power (if

not the obligation) of business to do good for society.

For my part, it was also, if subconsciously, the reason

PYXERA Global focuses on the work we do today – we

believe it’s time for another spark, and that’s why we

have made it our bold mission to reinvent the way

private, public and social sector interests come together

to solve problems and effect change.

It is also not unimportant that our vision is of a

CULTURE of sustained collaboration. This means long-

term behavioral change. And while certainly the past

two days (of the conference) have shown ample

evidence of cross-sectoral partnerships, and some

progress on the culture change, we still have a long

ways to go.

Catalyzing Growth and Change in Emerging Markets

So with that background, and confession behind me,

let’s turn back to today and why you are all here—to

Catalyze Growth in Emerging Markets. If I had the

opportunity to rename the conference today, I might

say Catalyze Growth and Change in Emerging Markets

because I think the focus on growth for growth’s sake

does not serve many citizens of the world well and that

change of systems and mindsets to provide broader

opportunities must accompany growth. And that

comment is not directed just toward the private sector,

but equally to the public and social sectors.

The US has been engaged in so-called development

since the post-World War II Marshall Plan, which while it

contributed enormously to Europe’s ability to recover

and thrive after the war, was also a brilliant

containment strategy in the dawning of the Cold War.

Post-Marshall plan, it seems that we development

experts gradually lost our way. That’s not to say that

development practitioners have not done an enormous

amount of good—especially in crisis and humanitarian

response, and in the global health arena, the successes

are many—but the failures are many too, and there are

undeniable contributions of the aid system to propping

up bad leaders and to disenfranchising the very people

that it set out to help.

Moving Beyond Development to Purposeful Global

Engagement

These failures should shock, offend, and shame us, but

in spite of a few key books and articles, we’re not talking

about it as practitioners or as a nation. I said earlier

that behavior and mindset change is critical to a better

world, and part of the mindset change at PYXERA Global

is that we are erasing the word “Development” from our

vocabulary in favor of this concept of “Purposeful

Global Engagement”

Some of you may have noticed the similarity to the

term “constructive engagement” of the 1980s anti-

apartheid movement. Ironically, given the background I

just shared, I only noticed that when I was preparing my

comments for this closing. In any case, I think that

whether the model in your head is one of

“development” or “constructive engagement,”

purposeful global engagement kicks it up a notch. It

requires us to do more.

Having worked in the international development field

myself for more than 25 years, I object to the term

development as I think it connotes doing something “to”

someone or something. And while you may think that

is too nuanced—if you look at some of the greatest

development failures of the last 70 years—it is precisely

this dropping in and doing something TO someone that

has been the root of some colossal failures, with

sometimes catastrophic results for individuals,

communities, and nations.

By the way, I have a whole list of words I object to in this

space—beneficiaries, developing countries, and fragile

states, just to start. I don’t have good new language for

my entire list yet, so I invite you to join PYXERA Global

on its journey to “re-vocabularize” development.

Because, like it or not, nomenclature counts.

So now let’s look at this notion of “purposeful

engagement.” Here, we are doing something WITH

someone. We are engaging together with a purpose. In

the case of the John Deere Foundation’s JIVA program,

some 20 people spent the better part of three weeks

engaging with villages, from the regional government all

the way down to the farmer and student level, with the

purpose of identifying needs and creating a longer term

engagement for positive change. That’s 60 person

weeks spent just getting a solid picture of the

challenges in three tiny villages! Trust me, that does

not happen in your average development project, but it

was possible by leveraging the talent and time of John

Deere employees.

In the case of Dow, IBM, Pfizer, and Merck, PYXERA

Global identifies host organizations and conducts

participatory needs assessments. We don’t assume we

know their needs and what is right. We listen and co-

create a scope of work and then match the skill sets of

our private sector partners, who go on to co-create

solutions. In the case of all global pro bono or

international corporate volunteer programs, individuals

and companies are engaging with the purpose of

developing skills and leadership acumen, and gaining

insights into new markets, but also with the purpose of

driving social impact.

Purposeful Global Engagement is a different mindset. It

moves away from the idea that “we are here to help

you.” And I know it feels so good to have that sense of

“helping”. But I would challenge us all to think of this

work as “Providing services that enable people and

organizations to succeed,” and to find that concept

equally satisfying, and equally warm and fuzzy.

That may not seem hard, but it can be. When we look

at charitable activities around the globe and the way

that fundraising is done, it is often about “help”, and the

pictures show a mother that will be able to feed her

child because of your help. It sure feels good to be a

part of that. And charity is important. Philanthropy is

important. It’s important that there are organizations

that fill those immediate humanitarian needs.

But with purposeful global engagement and with global

pro bono in particular, we move away from the idea of

“helping” and to one of “service provision and enabling

success.” Yep, so much of the global pro bono work on

the ground is all about process.

“Ewww, process.” It’s so unsexy, isn’t it? Well it sure as

heck shouldn’t be, because process change is what

allows that mother to feed her child EVERY day, not just

the day or days that your $20 pays for. Process is what

helps NGOs or local governments better deliver

required services. Process is what helps entrepreneurs

to grow and serve and hire more people. Process is

what transforms the old adage about giving a man a

fish and he eats for a day. The usual endpoint is “teach

him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”

At PYXERA Global we believe you can’t stop there—

sorry, but that’s the easy, feel good way out. In fact, you

need to support the creation of an ecosystem, where

there is processing and canning and sales and

marketing. And fishing pole manufacturing. And

financial and HR and safety policies. Then, that same

fisherman isn’t only feeding himself, but he is also

enabling a whole community to feed themselves, and

others as well.

That’s about supporting process, and it’s maybe not the

prettiest of pictures –the fish processing factory–but we

in this room have the capacity and the resources to

affect this kind of major change. Dr. Pat Morris from

DTS said this to me the other day “Process is the root of

all social change”.

Wow. Think about that for a moment. How do you like

that, YOU, the work that all of you in this room do

through your global pro bono programs and

partnerships, is the root of social change?

To me that is undeniably sexy, and I hope it is to you all

as well. This picture is my poor attempt to make it sexy,

but I’m sure together we can come up with something

much better.

Courage to Change the Status Quo

I think it’s really important to take a moment to talk

about the courage it takes to walk this engagement

path, this partnership path, this process path. All of you

are doing it, and you are probably so IN it that you do

not recognize that it is quite unique.

It takes courage to engage and to find out what is really

needed, versus what you want to give. It also takes

time, resources and deep listening and observation

skills.

As we heard in abundant detail yesterday and today, it

takes courage to forge a true partnership. It takes

compromise. It takes respect for one another’s goals,

experiences, knowledge, processes, and approaches. It

takes more time to forge a partnership than to just hire

a vendor or move forward on your own.

It takes courage, if you are the one writing the check, to

ensure that you are incorporating the partners’ goals as

well. It takes courage, if you are a donor institution or

an NGO, to accept that your private sector partner has

a goal, even an obligation, to drive business value that

is to ultimately profit from this work. And that is a valid

goal, and should be embraced as part of the

partnership.

It takes courage to disagree with your partner. Gina

Tesla from IBM and I were on a panel together a couple

months back and we were discussing this concept that

partnership is hard, and takes a lot of effort. At one

point I said something along the lines of “If you’ve never

wanted to strangle your partner, it’s probably not a

really partnership.” To which Gina replied, “Innovations

and great ideas don’t always come from agreement.”

Turns out even the great peacemaker Gandhi saw that

disagreement and progress go hand in hand. These are

really important notions to understand, accept, and

even value highly.

It takes courage to embrace fostering process change

as a massive contribution to the world. It does not have

pretty pictures and the traditional feel-good stories, but

together as a global pro bono field of practice, I can see

we are changing the traditional “feel good,” and creating

a whole new sphere of contributions that matter.

A Call to Action

One way you can certainly tell that it takes courage to

do this type of global pro bono work can be seen in this

room and in the PYXERA Global ICV Benchmarking

Study. We have, all of us together, developed a proven

model that drives both business and social value. It is a

gold standard shared value model. And yet, we have

faced some pretty stunning challenges in interesting

many of our public and NGO sector colleagues,

especially here in the US, in collaboration. Those of you

here from these sectors can see the great potential and

I want to acknowledge your vision and openness, and

express how grateful we are for the opportunity to

work with you. But there are, frankly, far too few of you

at the table and far too few who are prepared to make

the compromises necessary to engage in these types of

partnerships. The private sector is swarming the dance

floor, and there are far too few good dance partners

out there. You have a vested interest—the world has a

vested interest—in not leaving them to dance alone.

Turning to the private sector, we learned this morning

that there are still only 39 companies doing this work at

any scale. It’s just not enough. 26 companies answered

our survey, and the 2000 people a year they are

dedicating is not enough. Even if we assume that those

13 companies who did not respond have comparable

programs, we’re still only to 3000 participants a year.

It’s not enough to affect change within corporations,

and it’s not enough to really move the needle on

complex global challenges like those we’ve discussed

these past two days.

So I leave you today not only with a thanks for your

courage and the courage of the companies,

organizations, and government agencies you represent,

but also with a challenge—a challenge to do more to

instill courage in others; to do more to change mindsets

regarding partnership and mutual benefit; to do more

to share the importance of process change; to do more

to get other companies to follow your example; to do

more to scale up your own programs; and to think

creatively about what ICV 2.0 looks like.

What are the innovations we can bring to this proven

model that will more quickly and more effectively move

that needle? I have the feeling that we will have some

really exciting new approaches to explore—same time,

next year.