LEADING

CHANGEFOR

Summer 2015

18 LeadershipFOUR LEADERSHIP LESSONS EVERY CHANGE AGENT NEEDS TO LEARN

Madeleine Blanchard

6 Around the WorldNIGERIA’S PEACEFUL 2015 ELECTION MAKES HISTORY

Ann Oden

22 Global Pro Bono THREE WAYS GLOBAL PRO BONO BUILDS BETTER LEADERS

Amanda MacArthur

34 Impact & InnovationCAN LEGISLATION FORCE COMPANIES TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE?

Alicia Bonner Ness

Forging a Pathway to Transformation

Editor In ChiefAlicia Bonner Ness

Executive PublisherAmanda MacArthur

Managing Editor, Design & Publication Manager

Melissa Mattoon

Cover IllustrationBratislav Milenković

(http://bit.ly/1I5Q0e5)

PUBLISHED DAILY AT: www.newglobalcitizen.com

CONTACT:

editor@newglobalcitizen.com

(202) 719-0656

@BeNewGlobal

facebook.com/BeNewGlobal

Today’s world demands individuals and organizations prepared to thrive in a globally interconnected network of challenges and op-

portunities. Greater social awareness and innovative approaches have allowed us to cross borders and cultural boundaries to create

shared value and understanding. The New Global Citizen chronicles the stories, strategies, and impact of innovative leadership and

global engagement around the world. This publication seeks to capture the ground-level impact of these approaches, providing an

avenue through which beneficiaries and implementers alike can showcase their impact.

Today’s transformed and increasingly interconnected world has spurred a revolution, ushering in collaborative approaches that address

complex challenges. The New Global Citizen elevates the ways in which individuals, corporations, and social enterprises champion a

better future for our world.

THIS IS THE WORLD OF THE NEW GLOBAL CITIZEN.

THIS IS YOUR WORLD.

S u m m e r 2 0 1 5ContributorsKarl Hofmann CEO, Population Services International

Ann Oden Nigeria Country Director, PYXERA Global

Hannah Romick Co-founder, Conscient Strategies

Lauren Kienzle Senior Program Coordinator, PYXERA Global

Madeleine Blanchard Co-founder, Blanchard Coaching Services

Deirdre White CEO, PYXERA Global

John Holm Senior Director, CAF America

Christian Bartley Principal, Faleiro

Laveen Naidu Former Executive Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem

Maia Wagner Senior Program Coordinator, PYXERA Global

Laura Asiala Vice President, Public Affairs, PYXERA Global

Harry Pastuszek Vice President of Enterprise & Community Development, PYXERA Global

Andrew Hoffman Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan

Leading for Change in a VUCA World

Today’s leaders must be pre-

pared to confront a world that

is volatile, uncertain, complex,

and ambiguous. These dynam-

ics are so consistently true that many

management experts now speak of

how to lead in a VUCA (“voo-cah”)

world.

Many aspire to lead better, but

what a leader needs to learn to man-

age this reality is not always clear. In

this issue of The New Global Citizen, we have searched the field of leader-

ship for models, lessons learned, and

shining examples that offer inspiration

and insight for leaders everywhere.

In these pages, we go inside the

outcome of the recent Nigerian election

as an unlikely example of leadership.

In Angola, we reflect on the attitude

needed to succeed in an environment

of constant change. And in Serbia, we

explore how leading social sector or-

ganizations are adapting to thrive in

the face of constraints imposed by the

country’s expected E.U. membership.

Karl Hofmann, the CEO of PSI, re-

flects on his own lessons in manage-

ment and their implications for lead-

ership in the 21st century. Madeleine

Blanchard, a best-in-class leadership

coach, shares a universal leadership

model that transcends culture. Laveen

Naidu, the former Executive Director

of Dance Theatre of Harlem, reflects

on how classical dance can become a

medium for better intercultural under-

standing. We explore how immersive,

cross-border pro bono service expe-

riences better prepare executives for

leadership in a VUCA world, and how

governments are using legislation to

encourage companies to prioritize so-

cial investment.

By using common language and

finding common cause, perhaps we

can minimize the downsides of a VUCA

world, and instead exploit the realities

of complexity and uncertainty to foster

growth and innovation.

Alicia Bonner Ness

Editor in Chief

INSIDE THE ISSUE

Many aspire

to lead better,

but what a

leader needs

to learn to

manage this

reality is not

always clear.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 52NGC

INSIDE THE ISSUETHE FOUR LEADERSHIP LESSONS EVERY CHANGE AGENT NEEDS TO LEARNMadele ine Blanchard

THREE WAYS COMPANIES BUILD BETTER LEADERS WITH GLOBAL PRO BONOAmanda MacArthur

CONNECTING THE GLOBAL HUMAN EXPERIENCE THROUGH DANCELaveen Naidu

THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF LEGISLATING SOCIAL GOODAl ic ia Bonner Ness

THERE IS ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED THE WORLD – WHY PRODUCE MORE?Harry Pastuszek

COMMENTAUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP FOSTERS A CULTURE OF POSITIVE CHANGE Kar l Hofmann

HAPPENINGSCAN SHARED VALUE SURPASS THE PROMISE OF CSR?Shared Value Leadership Summit

HAPPENINGSTHE IDEAS GLOBAL CHALLENGE ENABLES THE INVENTIONS OF THE BEST AND BRIGHTESTMIT IDEAS Global Chal lenge

HAPPENINGSHARNESSING THE SUPERHERO POWER OF HEALTHCARE INNOVATIONIPIHD Annual Forum

HAPPENINGSCOMPANIES THAT LEAD WITH CSR LEAD THE WAYWorld CSR Congress and

Char i t ies@Work Conference

BOOK EXCERPTCULTURE AND CLIMATE: GETTING THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RIGHT FOR CHANGEAndrew J . Hoffman

FEATURES

24

38

4

28

36

NIGERIA’S JOURNEY TO AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIPAnn Oden

LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM ANGOLA’S OIL & GAS FRONTIERHannah Romick

AROUND THE WORLD

22

SERBIA’S E.U. BID THREATENS THE FUTURE OF ITS SOCIAL SECTOR Lauren Kienzle

6

10

14

32

18

44

42

50

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 3

“IT REALLY WASN’T ME—ALL CREDIT GOES TO MY GREAT TEAM.”

How often have we heard that line from a leader, or used

it ourselves? We admire that manager’s humility, and

assume anyone using that approach must be great to

work for. Right?

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell doesn’t think so. He used

to tell his senior staff at the State Department, “If your team did

all the work, then why do I need you?” He would say this with

a tinge of humor, but his point was clear: leaders need to lead,

and their contributions ought to amount to more than just the

sum of a team of followers, even if that team is high-performing.

Powell brought the U.S. Army culture—where he served for 46

years, ultimately as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—with him

to the State Department. He realized that one of the most chal-

lenging aspects of his new role would be to reshape the culture

of the department to serve his vision for American policy. And he

would have to dig in and take the lead, not simply rely on those

he had assembled around him. Changing the culture of an organi-

zation may be the toughest assignment any leader will confront.

Powell knew this and so did Alan Mulally, who took over Ford

Motor Company on the eve of the 2008 financial meltdown. As

Bryce Hoffman recounts in his 2012 book American Icon, Mulally

took his decades of experience building a culture of teamwork at

Boeing and slowly massaged it into the strong and independent

spirit of the American auto industry. He required that those who

had previously isolated themselves integrate into the collective.

That decision paid off; Ford was the only automaker to avoid

bankruptcy after the American economy collapsed. Collaborative

leadership and shared problem-solving won out over older models

of Detroit leadership.

I experienced the challenge of organizational culture change

directly when I assumed the leadership of Population Services

International (PSI) in 2007. Before I arrived, PSI had harnessed

the power of an individual-driven culture to fuel the organiza-

tion’s expansion in the decades since its founding in 1970. The

high-performing PSI staff, however, was proud of its iconoclasm

in a sea of cooperative NGO partnerships, where rewards often

favored showing up more than getting things done. PSI embraced

its cowboy reputation, anxious to wade in and do things while

others dithered in working groups.

But in 2007, expansion powered by a strong culture of individu-

alism was showing its limits. As the emphasis on collaboration in

the global health community grew stronger, PSI’s autonomy became

Karl Hofmann

Authentic Leadership Fosters a Culture of Positive Change

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 54NGC

an obstacle to growth, rather than an at-

tribute. Suddenly, institutional funders in

the realm of global health required active

partnering among grant recipients. One of

PSI’s leading donors, The Global Fund to

Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, began

gathering stakeholders and cooperating

implementers at the same table to decide

how to execute grants. Increasingly, major

donors like USAID expected large consortia

of NGOs to bid on larger projects together.

For PSI, a funding landscape that

rewarded collaboration over in-

dividual success challenged the

status quo. PSI’s staff had always

prided itself on the entrepreneurial

energy and independence at the

ground level, “where the health

happens.” Headquarters manage-

ment exercised relatively little

direction over country-level deci-

sions, which was considered an

organizational strength. But PSI

was growing as well, managing

even more programs in multiple countries

funded by multiple donors. The growth was

challenging PSI’s individualism, opening up

organizational risks and fatigue created by

perpetually reinventing-the-wheel, due to

the absence of effective organization-wide

systems. For instance, human resource sys-

tems varied widely across the countries in

which PSI worked and financial reporting

had not yet been standardized.

I termed this a mismatch between PSI’s

“muscle mass,” our field programs, and

our “skeleton,” or the procedures, poli-

cies, and systems needed to make that

muscle mass perform at its highest lev-

els. PSI needed to shift its culture toward

greater centralization and standardization,

without sacrificing its independence and

spirit of innovation.

We began by introducing a new en-

terprise resource planning system, with

change management components built in.

At first, this was badly received, but over

time PSI developed its own homegrown

approach using innovation tools that have

worked consistently. We began hiring with

a broader definition of the skillsets we

needed, rather than solely those typical

to global health. We inventoried our poli-

cies and procedures, built structures to vet

and approve new ones, and we rewarded

leaders who upheld these policies, actively

embracing a culture of collaboration. While

these changes did expand the organiza-

tion’s bureaucracy, it also led to more buy-

in. We overhauled our corporate mission

statement and embraced six refreshed

corporate values, which emphasized that

success comes from honest and pragmatic

work with others for long-term sustainable

impact.

These changes—toward collaboration

and away from individualism; toward stan-

dardization and away from bespoke sys-

tems everywhere—are incomplete and un-

even. And I must take care of course not to

push such changes too far, because there

is much positive energy in PSI’s legacy cul-

ture, which deserves to be nurtured. None-

theless, the organization’s cultural shifts

over the last eight years have enabled PSI

to double in size, expand its range, and

deepen its impact.

Across the public, private, and social

sectors, different leadership ideals pre-

vail—even practices that seem to be dia-

metrically opposed have been successful

in the right circumstance and context. In

the business world, influential leaders like

Elon Musk, the late Steve Jobs, and Jack Ma

have met with great success through top-

down approaches, while Sheryl Sandberg,

Paul Polman, and others have delivered

incredible results through collaborative

and shared-leadership models.

In government, a culture of

global insecurity and persis-

tent challenges often favor

executives willing to make

unilateral choices. Yet, the

complexity of today’s inter-

dependent world and the

need for collective security

can also favor more subtle

models of leadership such

as what the Obama admin-

istration informally termed

“leading from behind.” In the social sec-

tor, one can cite numerous examples of

successful and highly individual leaders

who have presided over strong growth and

impact, though the sector itself has often

embraced collaboration and shared ap-

proaches to challenges more consistently.

In reality, both Colin Powell and Alan

Mulally’s lessons on leadership hold true

in a complex landscape of leadership for

positive change. Leaders shape the future

of their organizations, more than just sim-

ply by building the right team, and the

absence of a strong and appropriate culture

can prevent an organization from achieving

its goals, no matter how adept its leader-

ship may be. Leading enduring approaches

to social impact demands patience, com-

mitment, and the wisdom to adapt to the

conditions the marketplace of the future

will reward.

COMMENT

Leaders shape the future of their organizations, more than just simply by

building the right team, and the absence of a strong and appropriate culture can prevent an organization from achieving its goals, no

matter how adept its leadership may be.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 5

Sometimes, the best thing a leader can do is admit defeat.

That’s what I Iearned from the 2015 Nigeria presiden-

tial election, which pitted incumbent Goodluck Jonathan

against former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari.

In the months leading up the election, Nigeria was in tumult.

Boko Haram was wreaking havoc in the country’s north. The vio-

lence was so bad that Jonathan postponed the February elections

until April. The heavy military presence in major cities, especially

those designated as flash points, had the country on edge. People

prepared for unrest by stocking up on food and other provisions.

Those who could afford to left the country for fear of violence. In

my home city of Calabar, an uneasy calm hung in the air. When

Buhari’s victory was announced, the first time in Nigeria’s history

that a sitting president had been voted out of office, the world

held its breath for the expected backlash.

Then, nothing happened. A collective sigh of relief could practi-

cally be heard across the region as Nigeria began its first peaceful

transition of power.

An Election to Remember

Nigeria’s democracy is still relatively young, and elections have

almost always brought controversy, often precipitating protests

and violence that destabilize the country for weeks. A democratic

civilian government was established just 16 years ago, replacing a

series of military dictatorships that ruled after the country gained

independence in 1960. Like many formerly colonized regions,

Nigeria has struggled to operate as a cohesive whole given the

Photo: Getty Images/Florian Plaucheur

Supporters of the main Al l Progress ive Congress at tend a ra l ly in Kaduna, Niger ia .

ern Christian, could reignite violence in the

north, similar to the 2011 riots.

This time, however, it was different.

Jonathan immediately conceded defeat,

accepting the end of both his six-year

presidency and the 16 years of leadership

of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

“Nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of

any Nigerian,” the former president said in

a statement released after the election re-

sults were announced. “The unity, stability

and progress of our dear country is more

important than anything else.” Surprising

many, Jonathan asked his supporters to

accept the outcome and conveyed his best

wishes to Buhari, who was sworn into of-

fice at the end of May.

The 2015 election also offers some hope

that Nigeria’s irreconcilable religious di-

vides might yet be converted into a cul-

ture of national unity. Buhari, a Muslim,

secured northern support while also mak-

ing inroads in the southwestern states,

due to the formidable coalition that gave

birth to the APC. His campaign pledges, to

fight corruption and quell the Boko Haram

insurgency that has terrorized the country

since 2011, transcended geographic and

religious alliances.

Political Progress, Not Perfection

This election marked another important

step for the Nigerian political system: the

integration of technology into the polling

process as a way to prevent corruption.

The Independent National Electoral Com-

mission introduced the permanent voter

card, which used biometric data to reduce

the risk of ballot stuffing and fraud en-

demic in previous elections. With perma-

nent voter cards in hand, people felt more

certain their vote would count. This was

progress, but the process was far from

perfect. Many of the card readers did not

work as expected and voters had to wait

in line for hours to cast their votes. When

AROUND THE WORLD

NIGERIA MAKES HISTORY WITH PEACEFUL 2015

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

NIGERIA’S JOURNEY TO AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP

forced consolidation of different ethnic and

religious groups into a single nation under

British colonial rule.

In 2011, the presidential election di-

vided the country in half—by politics, ge-

ography, and religion—triggering a slew of

violence across the northern states that

left over 800 people dead. Many worried

that no matter what the result of the 2015

vote, violence would erupt somewhere.

A victory for Buhari, a northern Muslim

representing the All Progressive Congress

(APC), could disrupt the oil-producing Niger

delta. The re-election of Jonathan, a south-

Ann Oden

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 7

PDP

APC

ACN

2011

APC

PDP

O I LOil prices are falling and Nigeria’s economy has

failed to diversify to protect it from market shifts.

2015

S E C U R I T YThe Islamist extremist

group Boko Haram continues to terrorize

northeast Nigeria.

E C O N O M YInstitutionalized corruption, unemployment, and falling

oil prices threaten the Nigerian economy.

INFRASTRUCTUREMore than 50% of the

country has no electricity. Much of the infrastructure

is in need of repair.

REGIONAL RIVALRYThe country continues to be equally divided religiously, politically, and geographically.

M U H A M M A D U B U H A R IAll Progressives Congress (APC)

G O O D L U C K J O N A T H A NPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP)

PRESIDENTIAL E L E C T I O N2015

THE NIGERIAN

PDP

2.7 Million

In a historic election, Muhammadu Buhari became the first Nigerian to defeat a sitting president through a democratic election, putting him at the helm of Africa's largest economy.

The 2011 election results show a clear geopolitical divide in the country, with the predominantly Muslim north voting

for Buhari and the predominantly Christian south for Jonathan.

The 2015 presidential race was a rematch of the 2011

election. Voting results show a shift away from a clear

north-south divide.

With a GDP of

$509 billion,

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy.

Nigeria produces

2.5 millionbarrels of oil per day, making it Africa’s largest oil producer.

With a population of

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.

170 million,

APC

more votes than Jonathan.

Buhari received

Incumbent president

From the predominantly Christian and oil producing Niger Delta

Former military ruler and four time presidential candidate

From the predominantly Muslim north

Data sources: INEC Nigeria | CSIS | The World Bank | Afrobarometer | Al Jazeera

card readers failed to work altogether, polling stations resorted

to manual voting, causing unprecedented delays in the release

of results.

Some Nigerians claimed that these technical failures meant the

elections were still not free and fair. But Jonathan’s quick conces-

sion allayed these concerns. His

swift acceptance of defeat sur-

prised Nigerians and media across

the globe that predicted he might

try to exert his influence to stay in

power. Though he was not a per-

fect leader—his presidency was

clouded by accusations of corrup-

tion and weak responses to Boko

Haram—Jonathan’s willingness to

accede to the democratic process

was an important act of leadership for Nigeria and Africa. His con-

cession set a precedent for the continent’s political leaders and

may encourage more democratic transitions of power elsewhere.

In some ways, being the first Nigerian president successfully

voted out of office may be his greatest achievement. What’s more,

choosing to leave office graciously, and with a statement of peace

and purpose, reinforces that the country’s leaders should value

the good of the country more than personal gain.

Over the past decade, Nigeria has struggled to live up to its

full potential. Though it is Africa’s largest economy, faltering oil

prices have underscored the risks of fossil fuel dependence. The

Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed nearly 18,000 people and

which continues to gain traction in northern states, is growing.

As a country rich in both nat-

ural resources and determined

individuals, Nigeria is in a unique

position to lead the region, yet

to do so requires an authentic

leader who can overcome cor-

ruption, guarantee security, and

invest in strengthening the coun-

try’s economy and infrastructure.

Buhari is well-positioned to lead.

He has the trust of the people,

charisma, and an honest reputation. Yet, Nigerians will not easily

forget Buhari’s militaristic past, characterized by repressive and

unlawful governing tactics. While he has reconciled some of his

past indiscretions, being democratically elected President does

not automatically mean Buhari will be a good leader. Choosing to

lead collaboratively, transparently, and authentically will be critical

to enacting the positive political and economic change Nigerians

so desperately seek.

As a country rich in both natural resources and determined individuals, Nigeria is in a unique

position to lead the region, yet to do so requires an authentic leader who can overcome corruption, guarantee security, and invest in strengthening the

country’s economy and infrastructure.

A voter holds up his permanent voter card, which used biometr ic data to reduce the r isk of bal lot stuff ing and fraud.

Photo: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung | CC BY-SA 2.0

In Angola, like so many emerging markets around the globe,

change is constant and the challenges to quality of life

often seem insurmountable. The two most commonly used

words here are complicado and confusão—complicated and

confusion. In short, chaos reigns.

In 2002, Angola’s 27-year civil war came to an end, remov-

ing obstacles to commerce and reinvigorating the hope of a

people downtrodden by decades of conflict. Angolans were

ready to begin building toward a brighter future. Yet, despite

the country’s new peace and political stability, on any given

day, a weak infrastructure and a persistent culture of crony-

ism created obstacles to progress. Imports could be delayed

in port for months at a time. Rains flooded the streets. Rolling

blackouts struck different sections of the city for hours or days

at a time. Three times during my 18-month stay in Luanda,

trucks transporting goods across the country were sucked into

sinkholes that spontaneously collapsed in the middle of the

road, stopping traffic for hours.

Consistency drives performance everywhere, but in places

like Angola, consistency itself is a challenge. Successful leaders

in this environment demonstrate a steadfast vision, quietly

and patiently continuing onward no matter what obstacles—or

sinkholes—might erupt in their path. Anyone who interacts with

these leaders can spot their inner confidence, determined and

happy to achieve incremental progress toward their vision.

Doing Business in Angola’s Oil and Gas Sector Demands Patience and Adaptation

LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM ANGOLA’S OIL AND GAS FRONTIER

Hannah Romick

Photo: Maia Wagner

AROUND THE WORLD

Hannah Romick

CAE Enterprise Center Helps Angolan Businesses Succeed

Eduardo Pembele, a tailor from Luanda, Angola, is a leader who

managed to keep his business running during the war. He’d lost

friends to disease, and over the years he, his family, and employ-

ees had to stop working for periods of time due to the conflict.

As the war ended, he was ready to reinvigorate his business.

Pembele wanted to compete for a contract from the oil and gas

industry, Angola’s leading industry quickly opening to outside

investment. But, he was unsure how to begin. He made his way

to the Center da Apoio Empresarial (CAE), a business development

center in Luanda founded in 2005 by a consortium of international

and local oil and gas operators to cater to the needs of smaller

Angolan companies seeking to win contracts from international

oil companies.

At the time, multinational companies were entering the market,

hoping to take advantage of the increased peacetime opportunities

in the country. Angola had become the second-largest producer

of oil and gas in Africa. But instead of hiring locally, many oil and

gas companies imported the goods and services they needed. This

meant that few Angolans benefitted directly from the increase in

investment.

To counteract that, the Angolan government and oil and gas

operators established agreements called local content require-

ments, which ensure foreign entities operating in a country make

meaningful investments in the economic capacity of the host

country. The intention is to leave a percentage of the profits

in-country, by purchasing a regulated amount of products and

services from Angolan companies.

This was a big opportunity for Angolan businesses, but despite

their enthusiasm, most were unprepared to compete. Many small

businesses were unaware of international health and safety stan-

dards. Large multinational corporations have arduous procurement

processes that small businesses the world over struggle to meet.

In Angola, structures are not up to international code and most

companies do not follow internationally accepted accounting prin-

ciples. They often didn’t know how to become part of an approved

buyers list. The risks of entering the sector are high and require

immense investment of money and time not only to undertake

a bid, but to successfully fulfill a contract once won—requiring a

capital output most Angolan companies aren’t able to afford. Even

for those that had the financial resources, the consulting services

to implement business improvements were in short supply locally.

CAE was established to aid in the fulfillment of local content

agreements. Businesspeople like Pembele came to CAE for assis-

tance, excited by the prospect of the immense wealth they could

gain from even one small contract.

Finding the Heart of Local Industry

I arrived in Luanda in the summer of 2006 as a member of

MBAs Without Borders, formerly the MBA Enterprise Corps, to

volunteer at CAE. During my year in Angola, I worked with the

oil and gas operator procurement teams to identify gaps in their

supply chain and to find local companies to fill them. We spent

the bulk of our time working one-on-one with Angolan companies

on completing a due diligence process to enable them to win

contracts. This process included confirming that a company was

at least 51 percent Angolan owned, had at least three years of

financial records, and was compliant with safety regulations in

their place of business.

Beyond the individual consulting, our eight-person staff led

training sessions on the procurement process, business eth-

ics, financial management, supply-chain management and other

sector-specific information for local businesses. We built relation-

ships with the banking sector so that our clients could access

more trade finance.

Pembele wanted his company to be part of the “gold rush,” but

he had never worked with a multinational corporation before. CAE

served as a much needed resource, providing him with services

and guidance as he sought to enter the oil and gas services market.

Beyond the high-level local requirements and business pro-

cess improvements, Pembele also had to ensure that the fabric

he used and the style of the coveralls he produced met the fire

standards regulated by the industry. To do so, he had to travel

to various locations around the globe to source the appropriate

material, not something the dressmaker had previously done for

his business. We would often meet at his shop to discuss his

Consistency drives performance everywhere. But in places like Angola,

consistency itself is a challenge. Successful leaders in this environment demonstrate a steadfast vision, quietly

and patiently continuing onward no matter what obstacles—or sinkholes—

might erupt in their path.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 11

progress towards meeting the international requirements and his

strategy for transitioning his business from a local tailor to an

international-standard uniform manufacturer.

As I began my work at CAE, Pembele instantly found a place

in my heart. There was something about his quiet, yet hopeful

demeanor that made me want to help him win one of the many

contracts open to local suppliers. Pembele was an innovative and

progressive leader. He recognized that the world around him was

changing and that those changes would affect the business he

was trying to run. He was ready to adapt his operations to meet

the new reality of operating in a global business space.

Embracing the Power of Change in the Face of Uncertainty

During my time in Angola, I learned one of the most important

leadership lessons of my career: few things in life are certain, but

the specter of change is constant. Many people think of leaders

as those who create a following, but in my experience, the test of

true leadership is being able to create a culture that allows people

to confidently navigate the uncertainty of change. A good leader

doesn’t tell me to do things. Rather, she helps me think through

a situation and determine the best way forward.

Pembele was an effective leader because of his openness to

change and uncertainty, which encouraged those around him to

follow his lead. He, like so many Angolans, was soft-spoken, but

his vision empowered his employees to move forward. By the time

I completed my year in Angola, he was awarded a small contract

to supply 100 coveralls to one of the largest operators in country.

It has been 40 years since Angola gained its independence from

Portugal, and 13 years since the end of the civil war. Approximately

30 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line.

Though the country is extremely dependent on oil—90 percent

of Angola’s nearly $10 billion exports come from the petroleum

industry—peacetime has brought with it more opportunities than

Pembele ever dreamed possible when we first met. Pembele

“graduated” the CAE process, expanding his business operation.

Like many other leaders, he continues to strive for a better future

for himself, his family, and his country.

Since I left Angola, I have dedicated my professional life to

helping others perform at their best. Having the CAE experience as

my foundation for business development, I returned to the United

States and became an executive coach. Being able to take the

lessons I learned in Angola and apply them across a spectrum of

industries and realities is something that I continue to treasure.

The road to Lubango, the

capi ta l c i ty of the Angolan

province of Huí la

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AROUND THE WORLD

E.U. MEMBERSHIP MEANS FIERCE REGULATIONS

AND DWINDLING FUNDS FOR SERBIAN NONPROFITS

Lauren Kienzle

Today, Belgrade is a diverse, con-

temporary city with pop-up res-

taurants and brick-walled cafes.

But just 20 years ago, the idea

of a modern Serbia poised for integration

into the European Union was unthinkable.

When Slobodan Milosevic came to power

in the mid-1990s, violence among different

religious and ethnic groups plagued the

region. Gas lines stretched for miles, medi-

cations ran low, and violence weakened

the region’s infrastructure and economy.

In Belgrade, the city’s historic café culture

quieted as people stayed indoors, avoid-

ing the military police on the hunt for

draft dodgers. NATO bombings of Belgrade

in the late 1990s, intended to induce the

end of the Milosevic regime, only added

to the uncertainty.

On October 5, 2000, nearly 500,000

protesters took to the streets of Belgrade

to oppose the results of an unlawful elec-

tion. They managed to oust Milosevic, who

stood trial in 2002 at the International

Criminal Tribunal for war crimes, including

genocide and crimes against humanity.

In jarring contrast to the rest of the city’s

renaissance, the remnants of the former

Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, cratered by

the NATO bombings in 1999, still stand in

the city’s center.

Serbians refer to the years of war

under Milosevic as “the bad years,” but

they are quick to point out how things

have changed since then. Though Serbians

will never forget their storied past, they

are ready for a better future.

In 2003, the country’s new leadership

began to negotiate the country’s path-

way to membership into the European

Union. By 2008, Serbia was on its way

to full E.U. membership with a Stabiliza-

tion and Association Agreement. This first

step provides some of the benefits of E.U.

membership, including freer access to

European markets. In exchange, Serbia

was required to fully cooperate with the

International Criminal Tribunal for the

former Yugoslavia. Four years later, the

country was confirmed as a candidate

for full membership. To secure this, the

country must reform labor laws, curb cor-

ruption, and generally bring its policies

Photo: Brums2009 | CC BY-SA 2.0

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 514NGC

AROUND THE WORLD

more in line with the standards of the European Union. Though

membership is expected to bring substantial economic benefits,

it also has some less obvious drawbacks.

Under new leadership, the country’s isolation from the interna-

tional community ended. Many NGOs, which had previously

been persecuted for their focus on democratization and human

rights, began to expand their activities, providing vital services

that the fledgling government struggled to offer. Over the past 20

years, the NGO community in Serbia has continued to grow with

the majority of its funding has come from EU grants. Today, Serbia’s

strong civil society continues to play a critical role in improving

the quality of life for the nation’s most vulnerable people.

But access to that support is quickly coming to an end. As

Serbia moves closer to EU integration, a decline in funding from

both the EU and other multilateral donors threatens the coun-

try’s thriving social sector. According to ForeignAssistance.gov,

assistance from the United States has been reduced by close to

70 percent in the past 5 years, from $54.8 million in 2010 to only

$16.5 million planned for 2015. Once, organizations like USAID, GIZ,

and international NGOs were important donors, making grants for

democratization and post-conflict projects. Today, they view the

country as a much lower priority and are directing their funds

elsewhere, leaving many of Serbia’s young grassroots groups

searching for new resources.

Beyond declining funding, EU integration poses additional

challenges for Serbian NGOs, including more stringent regulations

and due diligence requirements that organizations must meet to

be eligible for government grants. Higher compliance standards

may be easily met by larger groups but present challenges for

smaller grassroots organizations. The EU also focuses its fund-

ing on specific technical and service-oriented programs, which

narrows the types of organizations that can apply for grants and

further shrinks the opportunities for other organizations that may

not match this focus.

Increasingly, these groups are looking to fill the gap with

support from international and domestic companies that can sup-

port local nonprofits with their time, talent, and funds. The Ana

and Vlade Divac Foundation was founded in 2007 by former NBA

All-Star Vlade Divac and his wife to help care for and economi-

cally empower refugees. When it began, the Foundation received

almost 80 percent of its income from government grants. But five

years ago, they decided to focus on private-sector donors and

individuals. The Foundation recognized that it could benefit from

the business community’s acumen and best practices. They are

currently hosting a team of three IBM Corporate Services Corps

participants who are updating and streamlining the Foundation’s

budget systems. The Foundation has also taken advantage of a

capacity-building grant from the U.S.-based Mott Foundation to

expand its ability to fundraise and to strengthen donor relations.

Ana Koeshall, the Foundation’s director, says it can be more time-

consuming to build personal relationships with private donors, but

it’s essential given the increasing withdrawal of more traditional

multilateral donors. And, she acknowledges, she has it easier

than others. “Divac Foundation is somewhat unique in that it is a

private foundation with a famous founder,” she says. “So its brand

is easier to understand for private-sector or individual donors.”

Neven Marinovic, the Director of SmartKolektiv, a group that

promotes corporate social responsibility by applying business

strategies to social problems, says that nonprofits are struggling

to meet the requirements of this new reality. “The problem is from

both sides,” he says. “Civil society organizations aren’t commu-

nicating in a way that is usable for businesses, and businesses

don’t see an incentive to invest more meaningfully in a partner-

ship.” In some cases, NGOs are perceived as anti-government, a

legacy of their persecution under Milosevic, who painted them

as CIA-funded, anti-Serbian groups. Though the war is over, those

reputations haven’t faded. This presents a barrier to partnerships

with companies that might otherwise be interested in supporting

their work.

However, he does see a gradual trend toward private-sector

involvement in social-impact organizations. For one thing, civil

society is much more diverse than it was during the 1990s, mean-

ing companies wary of anti-government organizations can more

easily identify a non-political group. Nonprofits are also becoming

more innovative and capable of interacting with businesses. For

example, some social enterprises meld social impact with making

a profit, which might appeal to businesses. Finally, Neven says,

the private sector has realized the need for partnership to achieve

social progress. “Businesses are fed up with central government

partnerships and ministries,” he says. “So, they do not just turn

to civil society organizations, but also public institutions to help

get the job done.”

Biljana Djordjevic of the Trag Foundation agrees. She sees an

increase in local companies looking for a strategic way to en-

gage with their communities. Trag, a group launched to support

Serbia’s democratization during the NATO bombings, realized an

opportunity to help companies understand that corporate social

responsibility can be a sustainable model of doing business and

help create long-term community relationships. They have already

helped one company create a local corporate volunteer program.

Djordjevic says that nonprofits and businesses also tend to “speak

different languages”—businesses focus on the bottom line, while

social sector organization are more concerned with sustainable

impact. The Trag Foundation is currently helping nonprofits com-

municate and articulate their impact in a way that can be better

understood by the private sector.

To meet the funding gap, all nonprofits are going to have to

get better at this kind of communication. Serbian law is not de-

signed to encourage business partnerships with local nonprofit

organizations, and while strategic corporate philanthropy is be-

coming more common, Djordjevic noted, it will not fill the gap left

by withdrawing institutional donors. EU integration will open up

new funding opportunities specifically focused on sophisticated,

established groups, forcing grassroots organizations to explore

other options. As Serbia moves toward full EU membership, groups

like the Divac Foundation, SmartKolektiv, and the Trag Foundation,

as well as a growing number of socially-minded companies, will

play an important role in sustaining Serbia’s civil society. By fully

embracing the new realities of EU membership, Serbia’s social

sector can ensure the country’s continued economic growth and

its sustained political stability for years to come.

In jarr ing contrast to the rest of the c i ty’s renaissance, the remnants of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, cratered by the NATO bombings in 1999, st i l l stand in the c i ty’s center.

S p o n s o r e d C o n t e n t

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S p o n s o r e d C o n t e n t

DEFINING A LEADERSHIP MODEL THAT TRANSCENDS CULTURES

Madeleine Blanchard

As an international leadership coach, I am familiar with

hundreds of leadership models and know there are

many ways to define “leadership.” A Google search for

the word yields hundreds of millions of results. Mis-

sives have been spoken and written on the topic by the likes of

Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Ernest

Shackleton. Peter Drucker, Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins, and Peter

Senge (and many, many others) have all conducted extensive re-

search on what makes an effective leader. New leadership gurus,

it seems, are crowned every day.That doesn’t mean, however, that there are no universal prin-

ciples. In 1993, the cultural anthropologist Dr. Angeles Arrien developed a new leadership model that provides clear guidelines for effective behavior across cultures and circumstances. Her theories are outlined in her book The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary. For her research, Arrien lived among indigenous peoples and studied how change-agents drew their power and wisdom. She found that no matter what their culture—peace-loving or warlike, matriarchal or patriarchal, agrarian or nomadic—all effective leaders followed

the same four principles:

1. Show up and choose to be present

2. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning

3. Tell the truth without blame or judgment

4. Be open to outcomes, not attached to them

These four principles have guided my own leadership and coaching style for more than 20 years. They provide an effective foundation for those who wish to build personal authority, be more effective with groups, and increase their followership—and they have astonishing staying power. Most effective leaders find little inspiration in competency models that focus on helping leaders overcome their own weaknesses. Even strength-based models tend to offer leaders a laundry list of behaviors that are overwhelming and hard to prioritize.

This model, in contrast, works regardless of language, corporate culture, or cultural background. It offers straightforward, simple principles that are easy to remember.

The Four Leadership Lessons Every Change Agent Needs to Learn

LEADERSHIP

1. Show Up and Choose to be Present

Arrien argues that choosing to be present is a way of extending respect. The word respect comes from the Latin word respicere, which means “the willingness to look again.” By being present, a leader agrees to take a new look rather than staying stuck in one view. In this way, a leader listens with the intent of being influenced rather than listening as a way to gather data to build an argument. This requires the discipline of detachment and flexibility to turn away from distraction and pay attention to what matters.

The concept of choice in this first requirement is an important distinction. Even in the face of innumerable external distractions, a leader can always choose to be present and pay attention. To assess yourself as a leader on this fundamental practice, consider the following questions:

• Do I choose to stop what I am doing to simply be present?

• Do I consciously turn away from my myriad distractions?

• Do I show respect through my willingness to take an-other look?

On hard days, if there’s just one thing leaders can do to shift their energy, it should be to choose to be present.

2. Pay Attention to What Has Heart and Meaning

Good managers pay attention to their people. They take the time to notice and reinforce when things are going well and ac-knowledge when things are hard. Check in with a simple “How are you doing?” and then listen carefully to the answer. This isn’t hard to do and it doesn’t take much time, but such attention is invaluable. Paying attention to “what has heart and meaning” means first understanding our own personal conviction and then listening for and understanding the same thing in others. In her book, Arrien writes:

“Where we are not strong-hearted is where we lack the courage to be authentic or to say what is true for us. Strong-heartedness is where we have the courage to be all of who we are in life. The word ‘courage’ is derived from the French word for the heart, coeur, and etymologically it means ‘the ability to stand by one’s heart or to stand by one’s core.’”

For a leader, the questions this prompts are many:

• Do I know what is true for me? Do I know what is true for the person I am talking to?

• What am I willing to stand by? What are others willing to stand by?

• Am I paying attention to what has meaning that is not being said?

• Am I saying all that needs to be said at any given moment?

Listening with the heart is a subtle action, but one that cre-ates a strong foundation for a really healthy working relationship.

3. Tell the Truth Without Blame or Judgment

Telling the truth seems easy enough—until, of course, it isn’t. Being fully honest means being open to judgment, and consider-ate of the circumstance. Being honest does not mean telling the truth at all costs. The outcome must be worth it. Arrien writes:

“Communication that carries integrity always considers timing and context before the delivery of content. . . . Direct communica-tion—giving voice to what we see without blame or judgment—means we must consider the alignment of appropriate word choice, tone of voice, and body posture.”

An effective leader must be direct in stating the truth, practic-ing detachment, objectivity, and use of a neutral voice (one that doesn’t carry emotional weight) in order to effectively “tell it like

NGC 19

it is.” Some leaders, especially humble ones, can be a little skittish about designating themselves the one with enough information, intelligence, and authority to tell the absolute truth. Often telling several different possible truths at any given moment can work better—unless the truth is staring you in the face and there is no equivocating, which is rare.

Leaders may ask themselves:

• Have all angles been considered?

• Am I saying everything that needs to be said?

• If not, what is keeping me from doing it?

• How can I do so appropriately?

One aspect of telling the truth without blame or judgment requires a level of authenticity which in turn requires that lead-ers reveal themselves. But the degree they do so will depend on the surrounding culture. Some say such openness should be very calculated and measured. Others say that it is easier to build trust when leaders “let it all hang out.” Each leader will have to experi-ment and decide for themselves, but in doing so, there are again some universal principles.

First, leaders must reveal enough of themselves to be relatable to those they lead. They must be willing to express vulnerability, sadness, or joy as is appropriate to the situation. Leaders can and should show emotion—both positive and negative—but they must also exhibit an observable demonstration of self-control. Secondly, a leader should never publicly show contempt or derision for a follower. This rule holds true across cultures: a leader may give positive feedback and praise in front of others or privately, de-pending upon the situation and the individual, but should always give negative feedback, criticism, or correction in private. Finally, leaders are called upon to pay attention and respond to a mas-sive amount of incoming information, so it makes the most sense to choose to respond to what has heart and meaning—to explore and expand on ideas that will make the most emotional impact.

Leadership is the ability to display courage in times of trouble, to envision direction

and change, and to create an environment in which all may flourish. Human beings the world over will respond positively to people who are wise, grounded, and care deeply for

their people.

4. Be Open to Outcomes, Not Attached to Them

In American football, sometimes the quarterback calls an au-dible. He goes up to the line of scrimmage, sees the other team in a position he wasn’t expecting, and then adjusts by unexpectedly calling a new play. In business, a leader has to be willing to do the same thing, deciding on a shift in strategy at the last possible second after seeing all options and obstacles.

Leaders often emphasize the importance of setting up account-ability and support, then applying fierce discipline to achieve the ends in mind. We set “SMART” goals that are specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and time bound, then break down all the needed actions and apply ourselves. We go, go, go, and we grit our teeth and thrash around when things don’t go the way we want. And through that action we get information—facts that inform us of what is real, and somewhere along the continuum between “stop right now, this is a terrible idea” and “this is exactly right.”

To stay open to outcomes, it’s important to recognize that sometimes we set the wrong goal. And if we pay attention to the information coming in, we might find something more ef-fective—more magical—than the goal we had previously set. So a leader has to be open to the notion that something could come along that’s an even bigger priority than the earlier goal—and be prepared to call an audible.

Leaders need to continuously check themselves:

• How important is the goal?

• Is the cost too high?

• Is this (still) the right thing?

You can decide what you want to create, but nothing is going to work properly if your desire is out of alignment with what the world, your customers, the economy, or the markets are telling you. So you have to listen and look for signs. They are always there.

We can’t expect leaders to constantly monitor themselves on how they rate on competency scales. But we can provide them with these four basic steps to use as a code—knowing that if they work hard to stick to them, they can’t go too far off course.

Leadership is the ability to display courage in times of trouble, to envision direction and change, and to create an environment in which all may flourish. Human beings the world over will re-spond positively to people who are wise, grounded, and care deeply for their people. Arrien’s research indicates these four practices—being present, attending to heart and meaning, telling the truth without judgement, and being open to outcomes— can substantially contribute to a leader being perceived as thoughtful, authentic, and powerful. With leadership principles that effectively transcend cultures, leaders are better prepared to forge the right strategies and reach a critical mass of support to make the most meaningful impact.

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Over the past five years, the

world of CSR has shifted. Where

once “conscious capitalism,”

“the triple bottom line,” and

“blended value” were seen as the har-

bingers of a new era, today these flashy

buzzwords and trendy themes representing

“catalytic change” and a “seismic shift in

social change” are increasingly received

with cynicism from an audience demanding

authenticity and transparency in the form

of tangible social change.

In this context, the Creating Shared

Value movement, an effort to unite the

public, private, and social sectors for pro-

found change has reached a pivotal point.

Spearheaded by Michael Porter and his con-

sulting firm, FSG, the movement will either

reach transcendent success, or become the

next buzzword, overpromising and under-

performing on its intended mission.

For decades, C-suite executives, con-

sulting firms, thought leaders, and leading

academics have been trying to solve the

precarious riddle that businesses can cre-

ate real shareholder value while also solv-

ing real social problems. In the proper con-

text, many view shared value as the answer

to this challenging equation. Shared value,

as defined by FSG, is the idea that business

can create both profitable businesses and

tangible social impact simultaneously.

Many companies are demonstrating

that this can be achieved. At the fifth an-

nual Shared Value Leadership Summit in

New York earlier this month, business lead-

ers in energy, finance, pharmaceuticals,

fast-moving consumer goods, and count-

less other industries gathered to share sto-

ries of how they make shared value work

for their businesses.

Sessions addressed a wide range of top-

ics, including identifying and tackling social

issues, solutions to youth unemployment,

the role of the investor in shared value, and

climate-smart agriculture. Many of the sto-

ries were truly inspiring, and most of them

relied heavily on partnerships crossing the

private, public, and social sectors. Lots of

the right words were said and promptly

tweeted: “growing inequality is a threat to

business,” “complexity is not an excuse for

complacency,” “the money I make should

be equal to the value I bring to others,”and

“values and models are shifting.”

It was hard to listen without feeling

that the world is changing, that business is

accepting that it must have a different role

in society, for a better world, shepherded in

by innovative partnerships among institu-

tions committed to mutual benefit.

At the same time, as we participated

and constantly debriefed over the course

of the two days, we found ourselves in-

creasingly questioning how real the idea

of shared value is and how much potential

it has to change the status quo.

While it is unquestionably a good thing

that some corporations are focused on cre-

ating social value in addition to business

value, we found a disconnect between

the right hand of a business conducting a

shared value approach, while the left hand

was engaged in the old model business

practices, in many cases creating societal

damage. For instance, how should a com-

pany that is seen as a shared value leader

for its responsible sourcing and support for

local farmers be judged for simultaneously

advocating for privatization of water? Is it

acceptable for the world’s biggest banks

to claim shared value for their work in en-

hancing financial literacy while they slowly

slip back into many of the practices that led

to the 2008 economic collapse? If a large

retailer is investing heavily in improving

the quality of education in the communities

surrounding its stores, should consumers

overlook that it is not paying a living wage

CAN SHARED VALUE SURPASS THE PROMISE OF CSR?

HAPPENINGS

The Creating Shared Value Movement Reaches an Inflection Point

Deirdre White and John Holm

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 522NGC

to its employees? Is it acceptable for the extractive industries to

tout their shared value achievements in the health arena, while

doing nothing to innovate on renewables?

The positive impact of improved solutions and honorable inten-

tions of those who have bought into the importance of creating

shared value is undeniable.

However, as leaders in the

social impact community, we

are obliged to ask, “Is shared

value enough?” Clearly, the

answer is, “No, not as it cur-

rently stands.” In order to be

truly effective, shared value

must be intrinsic and inte-

grated throughout the organi-

zations which espouse it, lest

it be seen as a way to detract

attention from their less sa-

vory practices. Shared value

needs to go deeper within

the corporations that claim to be the best in class.

At the same time, the practice needs to go broader. While

there is more buzz about shared value, and better understanding

of what it is, the number of new entrants into the space seems

rather anemic. The Summit participants—from business, nonprofits,

and government—represent the very same organizations as last

year and the year before. If each year it is still the same 75 or 100

companies that are developing shared value strategies, it won’t

be possible to address the world’s most pressing challenges as

comprehensively as is needed. The challenges are too big—and

too urgent—for shared value

to continue to be a boutique

product.

Certainly, we were not

the only two people who

have these questions and

thoughts, and the leaders

of the Shared Value Initia-

tive readily admit that these

are some of the tough issues

it needs to take on. No one

expects the corporate world

to change overnight—the

achievements on the shared

value front should be held up

as examples of how the role of business in society is evolving.

At the same time, if the shared value champions don’t start ask-

ing the tough questions, the initiative risks being perceived as

“shared-value-washing,” which would be a loss for both business

and society at large.

HAPPENINGS

If each year it is still the same 75 or 100 companies that are developing shared value strategies, it won’t be possible to address the world’s most pressing challenges as

comprehensively as is needed. The challenges are too big—and too urgent—for shared value to

continue to be a boutique product.

Image: Shared Value Leadership Summit 2015

Amanda MacArthur

Sending senior executives into emerging markets may not

be an obvious way to develop strong leaders, but many

top companies are doing just that. Once-marginalized

markets in the Global South are quickly becoming critical

revenue drivers for corporations. Business leaders with a nuanced

understanding of how these markets operate can be the difference

between a business’s stagnation and its continued growth. Yet

emerging and growth markets can seem opaque to many execu-

tives who have spent their careers in more established markets.

That’s why travel is so critical—the lessons learned on-the-ground

in growth markets can prove vital to understanding consumer

needs and demand in the future.

Travel abroad has long been recognized as a way for students

to expand their horizons. But in the business world, work-related

visits often insulates the traveler from their local environment.

Executives stay in international business hotels that could just

as easily be in Cleveland as in Mumbai. They are transported

from their hotels to modern office buildings by private drivers

and order hamburgers from room service for dinner. Meanwhile,

local consumers are traveling by rickshaw, drinking masala chai

from street vendors and confronting marketplace realities a global

executive would never see.

According to Bloomberg, the world’s fastest growing economies

in 2015 are China, the Philippines, Kenya, India, and Indonesia, all

of which forecast annual growth rates higher than five percent.1

While it is increasingly possible to hire strong local talent in each

of these countries (as it is in most emerging markets around the

world), a multinational company still requires leadership that un-

derstands the differences between American and foreign markets.

Failure to do can come at great cost, as General Motors quickly

Three Ways Companies Build Better Leaders with Global Pro Bon0

THE BEST BUSINESS LEADERS KNOW THE VALUE OF GLOBAL SERVICE

learned after launching the Chevrolet Nova in Latin America. In

Spanish, no va translates as “doesn’t go.” For reasons that would

have been obvious to a business leader with an understanding of

the local market, the car didn’t sell and was quickly discontinued.

Global pro bono programs—which allow employees to engage

their professional skills for a period of weeks or months within

social-sector and government organizations—are an increasingly

popular way for companies to introduce personnel to emerging

markets at the ground level. Participants in programs like IBM’s

Corporate Service Corps, SAP’s Social Sabbatical, and GSK’S PULSE

program come back from their experience reporting an increased

ability to understand client needs, a business’s role in society,

and a culture more generally. An employee base with a global

perspective is critical for the long-term health of the bottom line.

But without a similar experience for senior leadership, opportuni-

ties may be missed in the short-term. Global pro bono programs

are generally not available to senior executives who are simply

unable to be away from their responsibilities for an extended

period of time.

Companies have provided senior executives with a “ground-

level” glimpse of emerging markets through visits abroad and

brief meetings with high performing social entrepreneurs, lead-

1 Robinson, J. (2015, February 25). The 20 Fastest-Growing Economies This Year. http://bloom.bg/1SCt7Vt

GLOBAL PRO BONO

ing NGOs, or relevant government agencies. While such trips do

provide some insights into new markets for participants, they are

often missing a critical component—linking the experience and

learnings back to the company’s core business. Because they

are not asked to engage their professional skills, there can be a

tendency not to think about what they are observing and hearing

through a business lens. Developing living case studies—through

which executives travel to an emerging market and utilize their

professional skills in the service of a stated challenge (often posed

by an NGO)—facilitate both experiential and professional learning

objectives. Making the projects team-based and spending the

time up front to work closely with the local client organization to

develop the project and to prepare the team allows for a mean-

ingful engagement to be undertaken in as little as five business

days. Pro bono-based executive development programs enhance

participants’ leadership courage, strategic and systemic thinking,

and marketplace knowledge by exposing them to new and often

challenging environments.

Yet, successful programs are harder to design and execute than

they seem. Finding the right partner, emphasizing local insights

and stakeholder engagement, and creating structured opportuni-

ties for reflection are critical to a program’s success.

Find the Right Partners

Companies with global pro bono programs

consistently report that partnerships—both in-

ternal and external to the company—are key to

success.2 The same is true for programs that

target executives. While most executive devel-

opment programs are housed in the human re-

sources department, adding a global pro bono experience provides

the opportunity to partner with the company’s corporate social

responsibility team. This enables participants to explore the social

value of business as a strategic asset.

The most successful projects provide the opportunity for execu-

tives to actively engage their professional talents while learning

something new about their operating environment. It is critical

to select the right external partner that can serve as the living

case study. The selected organization should have a mission that

engages the company’s consumer segment and deals in similar

2.1.

2 Corporate Global Pro Bono: The State of the Practice, PYXERA Global, 2014

Strive to Develop Local Insights Through Effective Stakeholder Engagement

Working collaboratively with a team

of their peers in the field under difficult

circumstances, executives find practi-

cal opportunities to reflect, take on new

roles, and see the market from new van-

tage points. Walking through open-air markets to learn about

consumer purchasing preferences, speaking with patients with

non-communicable diseases at community clinics, examining

agricultural supply chains, and discussing infrastructure and

funding challenges with government officials contribute to a deep

understanding of the needs of a particular market. In contrast

to programs that simply ask participants to visit and observe, a

program with a pro bono component actively engages professional

skills, forcing participants to wrestle with local realities while

delivering business value. The depth of a pro bono engagement

affects participants at a deeper level that each carries back to

the business.

Perhaps the most important aspect of an executive program is

the opportunity to actively engage with a local community, espe-

Pro bono-based executive development programs enhance participants’ leadership courage, strategic and

systemic thinking, and marketplace knowledge by exposing them to new and

often challenging environments.

issues, such as health, technology, or education. By ensuring the

alignment of mission and issue, executives have the greatest

opportunity to capture insights that can inform their own future

business decisions.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 25

3.Internalization Comes From Reflection

For the experience to be

truly impactful, it should not

end once a participant steps

off the plane or presents their

findings. The best programs

provide opportunities for participants to reflect

during the experience, at its conclusion, and even

several weeks or months later. Doing so can also

help to reframe the experience through a business

lens. Some companies have an executive coach

travel alongside the team to assist as they seek

to internalize what they are seeing, hearing, and

experiencing. It is also helpful to have a third-party

guide who can provide objective context on the

intricacies of the local environment.

As business landscapes continue to change

globally, the demands on senior leaders similarly

expand. Introducing a global pro bono component

to talent development provides executives with the

insights to adapt their perspective to diverse chal-

lenges in order to improve business outcomes and

human well-being around the world. No company,

government ministry, or NGO can effectively ad-

dress global challenges on its own. Rather, progress

requires partnerships across sectors. With greater

understanding of the realities of emerging mar-

kets, senior executives are better prepared to create

meaningful and sustainable initiatives that more

effectively grow the business and improve lives.

• Have a goal for the experi-ence—a “road show” to projects will be impactful, but having the partici-pants personally engage their professional exper-tise as well will help to tie CSR back to business objectives.

• Be mindful of the limited time available to senior leaders to be engaged; design experiences to be mindful of their broader commitments and prepare the organization for the additional workload.

• A little bit of time spent on preparation with the participants will go a long way to making the experience even more impactful—set the stage in advance so significant time is not spent answer-ing basic questions.

• Design the experience so that the senior leaders have an authentic view of the community/issue you are engaging with.

• Internalization comes

from reflection, make sure

to include time and space

for this both during the

experience and after it is

completed.

cially stakeholders at the bottom of the pyramid, to

understand their needs and aspirations, if only for

a moment. Beyond market insights, experiencing

the realities of everyday people—not just the local

business elite—encourages participants to stretch

their listening and observational skills. Meeting with

social entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and govern-

ment officials will certainly provide great business

insight. However, if executives are asked to assess

how an NGO can better meet the healthcare needs

of rural farmers in Rajasthan, India, meeting with

those farmers directly can help them understand

how to improve an NGO’s operations, but also why

those farmers make other decisions. The average

consumer becomes a real person, not just someone

seen from the backseat of a taxi.

Designing an Executive Leadership Program

• Find the right partner(s)—not all initiatives are well-suited to an executive engagement; ideally, the partner’s purpose should align with the corporate strategy and the CEO’s interests.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 526NGC

S p o n s o r e d C o n t e n t

A Signature Initiative of PYXERA Global

@MBAsWB

“This is my o�ce.”

#ThisIsMyO�ce

Jessica Custer, an MBAs Without Borders Advisor in Kerala, India, brainstorms with the Kara Weaves sta� on ways to integrate the natural beauty of Kerala into the design of local artisans’ handwoven products to reach more consumers in new markets.

MBAs Without Borders sends business professionals into frontier markets to utilize and adapt the latest management tools and techniques to fuel economic growth.

Where will your next meeting be?

www.MBAsWithoutBorders.org

PASSION, SMARTS, AND MENTORSHIP DRIVE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS THROUGH MIT’S IDEAS GLOBAL CHALLENGE Christ ian Bartley

The IDEAS Global Challenge is both

a sustainable solutions competi-

tion and a mentorship program.

Over the course of a year, teams

develop an innovation plan. The winners

of the challenge—approximately 10 teams

each year—receive an additional 15 months

of guidance. In the past 14 years, 117 teams

have developed solutions to major health,

education, and energy challenges, among

other issues, which have been deployed

in 43 countries. Most impressive, over 50

percent of the winning teams have turned

their proposals into companies still in op-

eration today.

My first exposure to this program came

in 2011, when I was asked to judge. Hav-

ing served on panels at a variety of other

The IDEAS Global Chal lenge Enables the Invent ions of the Best and Br ightest

Photo: MIT IDEAS Global Challenge | Wen Zeng

HAPPENINGS

Beyond their passion, students were also eager to learn, genu-

inely curious, and open to areas of improvement that they had

not thought of. As judges, we were all surprised when we posed

a challenge they had not thought of, the students consistently

responded by asking us for advice, rather than trying to make

up an answer.

Framing the Challenge

The program begins with a Generator Dinner, an evening event

attended by 200 students who have an idea or skill they’d like

to share. Those with ideas have one minute to pitch the problem

they would like to solve. At the event I attended, a few students

proposed ways to use infrared satellite imagery to help identify

risks to vulnerable populations. Others had the skills to make

this vision a reality.

By the end of the night, a diverse team of people with back-

grounds in visual arts, engineering, urban planning, computer

science, and venture capital had come together to address the

challenge. Today, OpenIR is deploying this technology in Indonesia

to help with flood mapping, and is beginning to expand into other

ecologically vulnerable areas, as well.

Once a team is formed, they submit a scope statement to the

IDEAS staff for review. If selected, the team is now part of the pro-

gram. Over the next several months, they are mentored by IDEAS

staff, who connect them to people around the Institute and be-

yond. MIT alumni and the companies that support the IDEAS Global

Challenge also play a critical role in this phase as mentors, expert

resources, connectors, judges, and of course program funders.

The “speed mentoring” session, one of the most interesting

components of the challenge, brings fifty senior Bose executives

and engineers to MIT for one day. Each team has one minute to

pitch the global challenge they are working to solve and where

they need the most help. The Bose leaders assist the teams they

think they can help the most, rotating for a few 20-minute ses-

sions. Brian Mulcahey, the Director of Emerging Business at Bose,

helps coordinate the event. “None of my colleagues had experi-

ence in industries like farming, sanitation, and water quality,” said

Mulcahey, “yet they were amazed at how relevant and transferable

their Bose experiences were in helping these incredible students.”

In many respects, he said, the insight from the event goes both

ways. “We got as much out of the event as the students did.”

Finally, there is the competition. But like every component of

the IDEAS Global Challenge, the judging process is another oppor-

tunity for mentorship. Judges offer advice and guidance in their

notes, which are then shared with the teams. In addition, the

judges meet in person with teams at the Innovation Showcase, an

competitions from university level to Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur

of the Year program, I thought I had a fairly good idea of what I

was going to see. I was wrong.

The power of the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge, run out of MIT’s

Public Service Center, comes down to three factors: passion, techni-

cal expertise, and mentorship. Of course, students at MIT have no

shortage of intelligence and creativity. More powerful than any one

idea, however, was the driving force behind each of their projects,

the passion to address a critical need, and the drive to provide a

workable, scalable solution that truly makes a difference.

Students present thei r pro jects at the 2015 MIT

IDEAS Global Chal lenge Innovat ion Showcase.

NGC 29

evening poster session where they are encouraged to ask ques-

tions and offer their expertise.

Winning projects are announced at an awards ceremony a few

days after the poster session. A month later, the winning teams

attend a retreat. There, mentors from both MIT and supporting

organizations help the victors further develop their projects, ad-

dressing topics like financing, communications, strategy, and

operational planning. The winning teams are given the guidance

they need to succeed at both implementing their solutions, and

also building the organizational structures needed to support

those solutions long term.

The Challenge Makes an Impact

While not all projects continue for the long term, about 50

percent of the teams that come through the program continue to

advance solutions that are making a difference. One that I had the

privilege of judging early was Wecyclers, a solution to help encour-

age recycling, improve health, and create jobs in Lagos, Nigeria.

Founder Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, an MBA student, worked with

one of the labs on campus to design an inexpensive tricycle with

different receptacles to hold different types of recycled materials.

She worked with the local government in Lagos to create a system

whereby the “wecycles” can go from house to house collecting

recyclable materials. Households are rewarded with redeemable

points based on volume and quality of what is collected. People

who used to troll garbage dumps can now ride the wecycles,

generating income for themselves in a safer and healthier manner.

Not only has Wecylers met their original goal, they’ve surpassed

it. The company is still in operation today, and it’s growing. Wecy-

clers has over 80 employees and the Nigerian government wants

the company to grow faster. Bilikiss was also recently featured

in Fast Company magazine as an entrepreneur who is leading

change in a unique way.

Another IDEAS Global Challenge team, Essmart, has created a

cost-effective method to distribute technologies like solar lanterns,

portable water purifiers, and minimal smoke cooktops to rural

southern India. Today they reach 32,000 people through a network

of 1,000 rural shops. The founders, Diana Jue and Jackie Stenson,

were selected for the 2015 Forbes “30 Under 30” list.

I have now been involved in the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge

for nearly five years, and am continually impressed—by the stu-

dents, the staff, the process, and the companies who support

the program. From Dow to Qualcomm to GE Healthcare, from the

World Bank to USAID to the Embassy of Belgium, this is a program

that engages the best of the best. One of my fellow judges, Danny

Thomas, who is the associate general counsel for international

trade compliance at Emerson, recognizes that the program’s value

is not just the solutions the teams produce, but the innovation

immersion it provides for future high-potential leaders.

“How can you not be impressed and feel like you’re helping

make a difference? You meet and read projects by motivated people

developing innovative solutions to address complex issues that

really matter. Yes, some of these projects will make a difference

over the long-term,” he said. “But all of these students will be

making a difference over the long-term.”

With the experience of creating innovative solutions to tough

challenges under tight deadlines with resource constraints, MIT

students come through the IDEAS Global Challenge having learned,

having innovated, and having made a difference. These are stu-

dents who understand through their unique experiences the nexus

of passion, innovation, and social sustainability. They have the

skills, the network, and the resilience to try, fail, and try again,

ultimately contributing to a web of innovation that transcends bor-

ders and disciplines to change the world, one solution at a time.

Photo: MIT IDEAS Global Challenge | Wen Zeng

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 530NGC

S p o n s o r e d C o n t e n t

At John Deere, we believe our business success provides the means for being a productive member of society and fulfilling our higher purpose. That means supporting higher living standards for people around the world through a commitment to those linked to the land.

By focusing on solutions for world hunger through productivity training, value chain enhancement and access to water, we’re helping citizens from developing countries become food secure and live a better life.

Investing with Purpose

Holder’s stunning costumes. DTH was the

first performing arts company to break

the 30-year cultural boycott imposed on

South Africa by the international commu-

nity for its apartheid practices. There was a

heightened sense of presence, the moment

before an auspicious occasion. I can still

remember the opening trills of the flutist.

I do not consider myself a religious

person, but Holder’s chant imbued those

performances with a sense of ritual. In that

moment, each member of the Company

truly “represented something larger than

ourselves,” a favorite saying of DTH founder

Arthur Mitchell. This, coupled with Mitch-

ell’s larger-than-life vision for the transfor-

mative power of the arts, filled me with a

profound sense of purpose and strength

that night. A ballet company was changing

the world!

In breaking the cultural boycott, DTH

had the chance to christen the new Civic

Theatre. We danced in front of its first

multi-racial audience, with a multi-racial

orchestra and black conductor. To make the

occasion even more monumental, Nelson

Mandela was in the audience. For a South

African artist like me, few moments com-

pare to the deep honor and reverence I

felt that night.

In the five weeks leading up to the per-

formance, the company spent time teach-

ing, holding workshops, and interacting

with dance students, artists, and sponsors

in every corner of the country. We visited

townships where black children danced

barefoot on concrete floors and white acad-

emies where tights and ballet shoes on

sprung floors were the norm. I was struck

by how quickly the universal language of

I believe in God,

The maker of heaven and earth

And myself.

The whole world stinks

But I am beautiful,

I am gorgeous,

I am divine.

These words were repeated out

loud before every performance of

Dougla by the Dance Theatre of

Harlem (DTH). The ballet, created

by Geffrey Holder, depicts the marriage of

African and East Indian cultures in Trini-

dad. In September 1992, I stood on stage

with 25 other dancers at the Civic Theatre

in Johannesburg, South Africa, dressed in

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY

making and sharing art connected us to

one another. Though rhythm and gesture

meant different things to different people,

somehow they plucked the hidden strings

within each of us, enabling us to effectively

communicate.

This was not a revelation, only a re-

minder of the transcendent power of

dance. I had graduated from the University

of Cape Town Ballet School a few years ear-

lier and experienced what it was like to be

fully immersed with students of all races.

How quickly we bonded over the thing we

loved: dance. While at the University of

Cape Town, I taught ballet in an outreach

program started by the Company’s artistic

director, David Poole, in the neighboring

Black African townships of Gugulethu and

Langa. I experienced a tiny sliver of town-

ship life, not something many non-Black

South Africans had occasion to do. In a

country whose governance was built on

race, the issues underlying our differences

were always lurking. Yet, the experience of

racial exposure at the school in the town-

ships provided a window into what could

be possible with racial integration, while

the better part of the country was strug-

gling with the violence and inhumanity of

Apartheid.

Fostering Artistic Integration Across Cultures

Four years after my groundbreaking tour

of South Africa, the John F. Kennedy Center

for the Performing Arts in Washington,

D.C., commissioned a work for their

African Odyssey Festival. Arthur Mitchell,

South African DTH member Augustus Van

Heerdan, and I choreographed South

African Suite. The work was inspired by

our 1992 experience and was set to the

music of the Soweto String Quartet, four

black South African men playing original

compositions based on African tunes on

European instruments. It seemed a perfect

fit.

As part of the choreographic process,

we requested the musical scores. When

they arrived, we were surprised to see that

the five-line staff contained no musical

notes. There were a few symbols at various

intervals, but no way to understand the

phrasing, time signatures, or tempos. We

were scheduled to perform the ballet with

live accompaniment by the Soweto String

Quartet, who were to arrive a week before

the premiere. Needless to say, our musical

director was in a panic.

Performance Powers People-to-People Connect ions Around the World

Connect ing the Global Human Exper ience Through Dance

Laveen Naidu

DANCEDIPLOMACY:

Photo: Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 33

It turned out, the absence of a score made the group

even more in tune. The quartet had developed their own

musical language. Only two of them had extensive formal

classical music training, so they played together by ear.

This did not mean that there was no structure, replicable

model, tangible milestones, or any of those things many

of us have come to expect from music. The quartet made

extraordinary compositions because they understood each

other and their own code, both literally and figuratively.

The challenge in making a ballet with them was to learn

to be mutually understood.

Many people think of South Africa as a country divided

between black and white. Really, it is a multi-layered mix

of ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. It is home to

more than a million South African Indians, like myself. By

fusing music and dance styles, we were able to highlight

some of that complexity and transform certain perceptions

about what South Africa is, a representation of Nelson

Mandela’s “rainbow nation.” To reflect this, we added an

African conga drum and an Indian tabla to the score. The

ballet was created en pointe, typical for classical ballet, but

we also wove in elements of African dance, contemporary

movement, and Indian classical dance.

Working on South African Suite was a microcosm of

the power of changing perceptions at a single point in

time, a theme that continues to inspire me. Twenty clas-

sically trained dancers, a violinist, a violist, a cellist, a

classical bass player, a conga drummer, a tabla player,

three choreographers, not to mention costume, set and

lighting designers, a conductor, a host of technicians, no

score, and a world premiere coming up at the Kennedy

Center in short order. This was a small production by

ballet standards, but it contained all the ingredients for

success or disaster. And it begged a thousand questions.

Who should do what? Who can do what? How do people

interpret the world? How do they communicate?

Thankfully, the ballet was a rave success, delighting

audiences around the world as part of the Company’s

repertoire for several years. Though this was only one

experience of integrating performance across cultures

and media, I realized how important the mindset required

to do so would be for so many successful undertakings.

Bridging the Human Experience Through Dance

I soon realized the extent to which I would need to call

on everything I learned in those moments of integrated

creativity as I began my role as executive director of DTH,

which comprises a school that trains students ages three

to adulthood, standards-based arts education programs

delivered in schools, and a professional dance company.

Following severe financial strain in December 2004, the organization was

forced to lay off the professional company and shut its doors for seven

weeks, and I was asked to lead the recovery. Balance sheets, income

statements, cash flow, fundraising, marketing, facilities management,

and board meetings all quickly became a big part of my daily existence.

Changing leadership dynamics and broad external skepticism within the

New York arts community added to an already highly stressful internal

culture among students, dancers, and staff.

Together, an extraordinary team of staff and supporters resurrected

an iconic institution, culminating with the re-launch of the beloved DTH

Company in 2012, which is again touring. Together with its school and

outreach programs, the organization is inspiring audiences and changing

Discovering new connections takes courage and curiosity, and a willingness to explore the unknown.

Though doing so can be both fun and frustrating, it is almost always worth the effort.

34NGC

typically seen in ballet. Immediately following the pre-

miere and a standing ovation in Seattle, WA, an elderly

African American woman, urgently approached me. She

grabbed both my hands, visibly emotional. “You told my

story,” she said. “I have waited for 80 years, and a ballet

company told my story!” After a few minutes of conversa-

tion, I understood why she was so moved. It wasn’t that

the story was explicitly hers, but that the nuance of the

experience mirrored her own.

The success of all three works depended in large part

on the Company’s ability to develop a new language, a

new way of communicating, both verbally and physically.

As is the case for almost any successful creative endeavor,

the artistic process is both fun and frustrating, filled with

tension driven by deadlines, egos, personal insecurities,

and different points of view. Each person involved fo-

cuses on developing mutual understanding, attuning to

unfamiliar cues, deciphering differences in words and

meaning, letting ideas marinate, developing and solidify-

ing a shared vision, developing a clear execution plan,

making critical decisions, and allowing the co-creation of

the work to manifest.

Yet, in most cases, a final product—a book, a movie,

an iPhone—homogenizes the individual efforts that con-

tribute to its realization. In live performance art, each

individual action is preserved and repeated again and

again in perfect synchrony, and each performance offers

a different rendering of the same intent. The integrated

human power in performance triggers an individual’s

inherent cultural DNA and values, fostering people-to-

people connections through one’s unique experience of

each aspect of a performance. Discovering new connec-

tions takes courage and curiosity, and a willingness to

explore the unknown. Though doing so can be both fun

and frustrating, it is almost always worth the effort. With

a more subtle common understanding of the world, its

cultures, and its identities enabled by performance art,

people can come together more quickly to solve problems,

find solutions, and build common cause.

perceptions around the globe. Leading this resurrection was fun, frustrat-

ing, and fulfilling, a gift few ever receive.

In its new incarnation, DTH collaborated with the Cameroon National

Ballet, whose repertoire and dancers represent the 10 major provinces of

Cameroon and their traditional dances, showcasing Cameroon’s rich and

diverse heritage both at home and abroad. DTH Resident Choreographer,

Robert Garland, spent a week in Cameroon immersed in the local culture

and created beautiful work with CNB dancers that built on the traditional

dances using western concert dance structure along with contemporary

and ballet vocabulary. What resulted was a new and innovative way for

the Cameroonians to communicate with a western audience. The work was

performed at several high profile events in the United States including the

NAACP National Conference and a cultural celebration in New York hosted

by the Cameroon Minister of Arts and Culture and attended by a number

of international guests.

Each art form has a different way of igniting human connections. In 2013,

the Company’s Artistic Director Virginia Johnson, commissioned a new ballet

entitled Far But Close, in which a 24-minute dialogue between a man and

a woman that begins on the New York A train. A piano and electric bass

accompany a dance among two couples. The dance itself does not follow

or literally depict the spoken word; rather the choreography, music, and

words together with the dancers create a unique theatrical experience not

The Dance Theatre of Harlem’s performance at the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, broke the 30 year cultural boycott imposed on South Africa by the rest of the world for its apartheid practices. Nelson Mandela was a member of this first multi-racial audience.

Photo: Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives

NGC 35

Harnessing the Superhero Power of Healthcare Innovation

Maia Wagner

When one thinks of comic book superheroes, colorful

characters saving the world in spandex and capes

come to mind. But one afternoon in Washington,

D.C., I came across an entirely different kind of

comic book champion: Nia. Nia, whose name means purpose in

Kiswahili, is a friendly, motivated, adventurous student and the

dynamic superhero created by ZanaAfrica, a social enterprise-

hybrid-organization that provides affordable sanitary pads and

relevant health information to women and girls in East Africa.

On the pink and purple pages of the comic book, Nia and her

friends explain, in a fun way, what happens to a girl’s body dur-

ing menstruation, providing advice, encouragement, and loads

of information.

At the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare De-

livery (IPIHD) Annual Forum, Megan Mukuria, the founder of Za-

naAfrica, explained why her project matters. In Kenya, 65 percent

of girls cannot afford sanitary pads, which results in extended

absences from school that hinder academic performance and limit

future opportunities. The Nia comic, which will be distributed in

sanitary pad back-to-school packets for young girls, is part of

a larger effort by ZanaAfrica to create opportunities for women

and girls to thrive as focused students, productive workers, and

informed mothers.

Mukuria, herself a visionary superhero, blew me away with

her idea. But even superheroes need help. She explained that

ZanaAfrica needs support in developing a long-term marketing,

communications, and design strategy. The ZanaAfrica team works

tirelessly on outreach efforts for all of their programs, but would

benefit from input on how to scale their idea, brand the campaign,

and deliver the product to have the greatest impact on women

The In t e rna t i ona l Pa r tne r sh ip f o r I nnova t i v e Hea l thca re Del ivery Cal ls for Corporate Investment and Expert ise

HAPPENINGSand girls in Kenya. How can our superhero package Nia’s message

to reach the girls who need it most?

IPIHD brought dozens of pioneers like Mukuria together with

businesses who could help answer these questions. During the

three-day forum, innovators, corporate supporters, foundations,

investors, and global health leaders discussed investment oppor-

tunities and new solutions to major global health issues. Social

entrepreneurs pitched impact investors and panels discussed

topics like empowering women, strengthening regional health

systems, and adapting new technologies.

Throughout the Forum’s activities, one common thread shone

through: the global health community lacks access to quality

talent and expertise, which is restricting the scalability of new

technology, products, and services.

“We need more corporate investment in terms of expertise,”

said Peter Gross, the Africa regional director of MicroEnsure, when

asked what big changes are necessary for healthcare transforma-

tion. He explained that the global health community needs to

learn from the Unilevers and Proctor & Gambles of the world and

ask, “How do we get a bar of soap into everyone’s hands across

the globe?”

Groundbreaking innovations alone cannot reach all of the indi-

viduals in need. To have that kind of scale and reach, small busi-

nesses and social enterprises pioneering novel health approaches

must collaborate with experts with critical expertise in delivery

method, marketing and communications, supply chain, and more.

The North Star Alliance, for example, builds health clinics out of

shipping containers at transit hubs across Africa. Executive Director

Luke Disney said that finding and training junior healthcare staff

is one of the biggest challenges he faces. The potential for creat-

ing talent exists, and experts who can spark talent creation are

available. How do we match these two groups together to foster

quality capacity-building and

sustainable access to talent?

Global pro bono, or corpo-

rate volunteerism programs,

have the ability to bring some

of the world’s top business tal-

ent closer to the innovators on

the ground. Professionals with

skills and experience in busi-

ness and operations lend those

capabilities to organizations in

underserved communities to

address their core business

challenges. For example, PYX-

ERA Global, in partnership with

the Public Health Institute, supports the implementation of the

USAID-funded Global Health Fellows Program II by matching corpo-

rate pro bono experts—Global Health Champions—with projects that

reflect and directly contribute to USAID’s global health priorities.

This direct link provides corporate professionals with the first-

hand insight of health-related needs and opportunities around

the world. And it helps NGOs build capacity and access talent.

Many effective organizations and social enterprises around the

world struggle to achieve optimal performance because they lack

access to talented healthcare professionals. One such organiza-

tion is Jacaranda Health, a company creating a self-sustaining and

scalable chain of clinics to provide reproductive health services

to urban women in Kenya. Jacaranda Health availed itself of two

Merck employees from the Merck Fellowship for Global Health.

The pair worked directly with the organization for three months

in Nairobi, developing a communications strategy, which included

creating a messaging platform and encouraging greater exposure

and outreach of the Jacaranda model in the global health space.

Both Jacaranda Health and the Merck participants emphasized

the impact this project had on the current success of Jacaranda

Health and on the participants, who now act as ambassadors for

these types of corporate investments.

The impressive network IPIHD has created will continue to

encourage the collaboration of public, private, and social actors

to invest in solutions that will bring lasting change to the world’s

most pressing health issues. The 4th Annual IPIHD Forum reminded

us all how important these types of collaborative initiatives are in

bridging the knowledge and skills gaps that persist in the global

health field. Through purposeful investment by global corpora-

tions, the healthcare industry can foster innovative ideas, allowing

global health’s superheroes to improve the lives of many around

the world.

The Nia comic, d istr ibuted by ZanaAfr ica, prov ides young g ir ls with essent ia l health information in a fun and interest ing way.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 37

Recent studies have shown that many companies are giv-

ing more generously to social causes than ever before.

Some, like Unilever, Coca-Cola, GSK, and others, have

begun to champion the notion that social and financial

profit can be achieved simultaneously. But even the most progres-

sive companies often sideline social investment and corporate

social responsibility, using them more to increase a company’s

brand image and awareness than to generate real social return.

In a survey of 26 multinational extractive companies, all but

two said their company’s success depended on society, but most

struggled to find ways to create a linkage between society and

their business. The two biggest obstacles were corporate structure

and the challenge of quantifying opportunity and cost—essentially

bureaucracy.

Yet, even as social investment has risen, the amount most

companies invest in social impact is well below one percent of

net profit. Some governments have wearied of corporations’ in-

ability to operationalize their commitment to meaningful social

investment. Ghana, South Africa, and India—three of the world’s

fastest growing markets—have legislated social mandates that

force corporations to incorporate a minimum social impact con-

tribution into their bottom lines. While CSR and local content

laws hold promise of being able to deliver social value, they also

come with drawbacks.

Alicia Bonner Ness

CAN LEGISLATION FORCE COMPANIES TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE?

The Opportunit ies and Chal lenges of Legis lat ing Social Good

IMPACT AND INNOVATION

Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Fields Inspire Local Content Legislation

In 2007, Tullow Oil discovered West Africa’s largest offshore

oil deposit. The subsequently christened Jubilee Oil Field is es-

timated to hold more than three billion barrels of light crude,

extracted at close to 85,000 barrels a day.

As oil extraction got underway in 2010, the Ghanaian govern-

ment published recommendations that asked foreign oil com-

panies to prioritize local sourcing. But a year after operations

were up and running, few international oil companies had made

progress towards the government’s ambitious recommended

targets. Undaunted, the parliament took action, converting its

recommended guidelines into mandatory legislation.

The local content law, passed in 2013, lays out specific re-

quirements concerning local ownership, local sourcing, and

domestic employment. It requires oil companies to give locally-

owned businesses preference in procurement, even when those

companies aren’t able to offer the lowest price. In Ghana, foreign

corporate entities are required to meet specific local procure-

ment and employment benchmarks over a 10-year period. While

the legislation allows companies some leeway in local hiring in

their first few years of operation, companies are expected to

meet 80 percent of their staffing and procurement needs locally

within 10 years.

Prior to the legislated requirements, oil companies tended to

abandon their pursuit of local talent after a cursory search. Now,

the legislation requires them to fill at least 10 percent of their

supply chain locally in years one and two, reaching 80 percent

local sourcing by year 10. It also requires that companies invest

in developing talent where local abilities don’t meet demand.

Likewise, business owners were previously frustrated with the

lack of opportunity. Through a USAID-funded Supplier Develop-

ment Program, local businesses are building their capability

and improving their systems and processes to win contracts,

increasing local opportunity.

The legislation is part of a larger trend toward local content

legislation in countries rich with natural resources. Equatorial

Guinea, Kazakhstan, and Angola have all passed similar legis-

lation, mandating the use of local suppliers in procurement.

South Africa BBB-EE Law Seeks to Overcome the Inequality of Apartheid

Unlike Ghana’s local content law, South Africa’s Broad-Based

Black Economic Empowerment law was designed to overcome

a history of internal inequality. For almost half a century, South

Africa lived under an authoritarian regime that discriminated

against and oppressed the country’s Black African, mixed race

(Coloured), and Indian people. Under Apartheid, these popula-

tions had limited education and were eligible only for manual

labor or domestic service jobs.

Even after the end of Apartheid in 1994, changes in Black

African employment were painfully slow. In response, South

African’s political leadership decided to further encourage com-

panies to overcome the country’s discriminatory legacy. The

subsequent 2007 law allows companies to apply for Broad-

Based Black Economic Empowerment certification. To earn the

certification, businesses are evaluated across seven empower-

ment indicators: ownership, management, employment, skills

development, preferential procurement, enterprise development,

and socio-economic development. Each category is weighted

between 10 and 20 percent of the total score. The practice is

referred to by the African National Congress, South Africa’s big-

gest political party, as “positive discrimination.”

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 39

Ownership evaluates whether or not a company is more than 51

percent Black-African owned. Management and employment evalu-

ates the percentage of management positions filled and number

of employees overall who are Black African, with “black” defined

in the law to include Coloured and Indian as well. Preferential

procurement acknowledges how much of a company’s product

is sourced from Black-owned businesses. The scores for skills,

enterprise, and socio-economic development measure the amount

of money companies spend on contributing to these activities for

their employees and others in the communities where they work.

BBB-EE certification is not mandatory for a company to operate

in South Africa. But it is required to compete for any government

contract, which are almost universally awarded on the basis of

a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment score. This struc-

ture requirement has especially

strong implications for multina-

tional companies operating in

South Africa. Subsidiaries of those

companies would automatically

receive a “0” for ownership, a

loss of a full 20 points out of 100.

The law attempts to overcome

generations of discrimination

in schools and commerce. But

because of this legacy of dis-

crimination, many Black African,

Coloured, and Indian employees lack the skills, training, and

experience to serve as effective corporate leaders. While training

may overcome some of these gaps, it will likely take time for

the law to significantly affect the country’s most disadvantaged

populations.

India Mandates Companies Spend Two Percent of Profit on CSR

In April 2014, India became the first country in the world to

legislatively mandate CSR spending. The law requires all companies

operating in India to spend two percent of their net Indian profits

on CSR activities. It also specifies how funding efforts should be

planned and coordinated, including the internal management

committees companies should form to design and oversee their

CSR investments. The law is an ambitious attempt to ensure that

the financial returns of the country’s “tech boom” trickle down

to the less fortunate. Though it is not yet clear how the law will

be enforced, if all companies comply, it could triple the amount

companies currently spend on CSR.

As India’s economy continues to grow and the country forgoes

bilateral funding from DFID, USAID, and others, private sector social

investment will play an important role in improving the country’s

social welfare. It is easy to argue that a dramatic increase in CSR

spending is exactly what the country needs.

Forward thinking Indian corporations are eager to get onboard.

In April 2015, PYXERA Global hosted an event in Mumbai designed

to bring together private and social sector leaders together in a

meaningful dialogue about the law’s implications. Dr. Mukund

Rajan, Tata Sons’ Brand Custodian and Chief Ethics Officer, and a

Member of the Group’s Executive Council, spoke about his deep

belief in the power of companies to transform communities.

“In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stake-

holder in business, but in fact the very purpose of its existence,”

said Dr. Rajan, quoting the Tata Group Founder, Jamsetji Tata.

“Genuinely listening to the community needs is an important

step in the process of purposeful engagement.” Dr. Rajan noted

that his company for its part has

embraced a number of ways to

increase its social investment, in-

cluding encouraging employees

to use their skills to improve the

operational capacity of nonprof-

its.

While the government has

identified several key priori-

ties, no structure has been put

in place to strategically invest

funds. Companies are on their

own. What’s more, no systemization has been created to effec-

tively leverage the expected increase. Without enforcement and

strategic management, it will be difficult—if not impossible—for

the government to effectively measure the law’s impact on India’s

development. Some companies are critical of the law, claiming

it essentially constitutes an exorbitant social-welfare tax, but

without government administration and oversight, while others

appreciate that the companies are able to determine how to

invest their funds.

Some would suggest that all social impact legislation creates

market inefficiencies, forcing companies to allocate resources in

ways that are neither optimally efficient nor profitable. What’s

more, insisting companies spend more on CSR, technical training,

or talent development does not ensure the delivery of economic

benefit, especially in cases like Ghana and India that lack suf-

ficient oversight.

Still, legislating social good represents a new era of tri-sector

cooperation in which government, companies, and nonprofits are

incentivized in the strongest possible way to work together on

mutually beneficial goals. Specifying requirements legislatively

creates a clear business case that could reshape the business

environment around the world.

Still, legislating social good represents a new era

of tri-sector cooperation in which government,

companies, and nonprofits are incentivized in

the strongest possible way to work together on

mutually beneficial goals.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 540NGC

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Companies That Lead with CSR Lead the Way

World CSR Congress and Charities@Work Reinforce How Sustainable Business Can Foster Social Impact

Laura Asiala

“I AM THE BIGGEST BELIEVER IN RESPONSIBILITY—SOCIAL AND OTHERWISE.”

Many responsibly-minded lead-

ers and their organizations

the world over endorse this

view. Increasingly, conferenc-

es and gatherings in the social impact do-

main have focused on two key themes that

underlie the point. First, that responsible

action has to be at the very heart of an or-

ganization, its mission, and its operations,

and secondly, the recognition that respon-

sibility—literally “response-ability”—must be

spread across multiple sectors to address

the world’s most complex challenges.

H.E. Khaled Al Kamda, Director General

of the Community Development Authority

of the Government of Dubai, opened the

second day of the World CSR Congress in

Mumbai with this quote, which perfectly

captured the spirit and content of a gather-

ing of some 1,400 leaders from 130 coun-

tries. He went on to clarify and propose one

of the best definitions for corporate social

responsibility, or CSR, I had ever heard.

“This is not just merely about how much

you give, but how you act and react, how

transparent, how ethical, how much of your

work is really touching the people.”

In other words, CSR is not charity or an

afterthought, but a mindset that guides

the formation of effective and impactful

business strategy. Dwayne Baraka of Value

CSR agreed, emphasizing that CSR needs

to focus on core business, how companies

make money in the first place, not solely

on philanthropy.

“The obvious answer to ‘giving back,’”

says Baraka, “is to stop taking so much in

the first place.”

World CSR Congress Connects Minds to Create a Better Future

For the fourth year in a row, Dr. R. L.

Bhatia convened an impressive group of

leaders to recognize the “best of the best”

in social responsibility and to encourage

even greater commitment from those with

a fervent desire to discover the best use

of CSR. The two-day event explored several

facets of CSR, including sustainability, green

energy, water, social innovation, corporate

affairs, and nonprofits, with more than 100

awards presented for excellence across

each category.

Equally impressive was the distribu-

tion of leaders from across sectors and na-

tions: corporations, universities, govern-

ment agencies and authorities, and social

sector organizations engaged in spirited,

respectful and optimistic dialogue about

the ways in which the most challenging

issues facing the world can be addressed

in a holistic way.

Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future,

outlined a dozen important business trends

that will encourage companies to adopt

CSR-driven business strategies. Long-held

notions of “cradle to grave” supply-chain

management, she observed, are being

disrupted by the momentum of a broader

movement toward a circular economy. Re-

newable energy of all varieties is becoming

increasingly prevalent, a potentially disrup-

tive force in the well-established infrastruc-

ture of fossil fuel-based economies. The

sharing economy, once on the fringe, has

broken into the mainstream, as companies

like Uber and AirBnB have disrupted es-

tablished markets, which has a significant

effect on traditional drivers of economic

growth and the production and delivery of

goods and services. Last, and perhaps most

importantly, shareholder values are gain-

ing ground on shareholder value, a trend

that underscores how socially-minded in-

vestments have become a chief concern

of investors committed to supporting both

responsible and profitable initiatives.

Uren challenged companies and their

potential partners to think of India’s new

CSR legislation, which mandates that com-

panies give two percent of their net prof-

its to charitable causes, as an opportunity

rather than an obstacle. By mandating

CSR investments, the Indian government

has given Indian companies a ready-made

Laura Asiala

HAPPENINGS“business case” for CSR. “Use the regulation to start your journey,”

said Uren, “to becoming a sustainable business by focusing your

CSR and sustainability activities for business value and positive

impact.” Being required to invest in CSR and shared value gives

companies a new incentive to discover ways they can also deliver

for the bottom line.

In my presentation to the World Congress, I shared how compa-

nies that support pro bono projects—which position highly skilled

corporate employees as pro bono consultants in underserved

markets—can lead to a “triple win” that delivers value to em-

ployees, companies, and communities around the world. Program

participants describe their experience as transformative leadership

and professional skill development opportunities. Local client

organizations are eager for the increased capability and capacity

they receive pro bono, which would otherwise be unaffordable.

And companies gain insight and relationships in new markets that

foster sustainable and inclusive businesses.

In India the projects in which companies can choose to invest

is not without limit; the Indian government has provided a tan-

gible list of appropriate issues corporations can support to meet

the requirements of the two-percent law. These include eradicat-

ing extreme hunger and poverty; promoting access to water and

sanitation; supporting access to education, increased livelihoods,

and employment through enhanced vocational skills; improving

health; empowering women and reducing child mortality; and

ensuring environmental sustainability. The priorities also endorse

support for social enterprise.

Fortunately, this list is quite broad. It’s difficult to think of a

company that might not be able to respond to at least one of

these needs in a way that is also strategic for their business,

assuming its leaders view CSR as an effective way to lead their

business forward.

Charities@Work Unites Employee Engagement with Corporate Citizenship

Half a world away, more than 50 CSR managers at leading U.S.

companies gathered for the annual Charities@Work conference, a

convening of corporations that have moved far beyond discussing

philanthropy—strategic and otherwise. The summit transcends its

name with a focus on what delivers impact: effectively engaging

employees in service opportunities that deliver meaningful value.

“Don’t get stuck on the name,” said Carol Cone, the Chair of

Edelman’s Business + Social Purpose, with a wry smile. “Here’s the

cool news: this is not a trend. Companies that succeed in building

a profitable relationship with the external world define themselves

through what they contribute.” Companies, she argues, no longer

face a black and white choice to be sustainable or not, but can

find ways of “generating long-term value for shareholders by

delivering value to society as well.” She pointed to the Edelman

Trust Barometer in which 81 percent of respondents indicate that

companies can pursue their self-interest while also doing good

work for society.

Everything old is new again. Where there is great need, there is

great opportunity. Corporate leaders have always known this, but

the challenge, as ever, has been to frame needs in ways that busi-

ness can address. Embedded within the Charities@Work summit

was just such an opportunity, with an introduction to the United

Nations post-millennial goals, the 17 Sustainable Development

Goals. Though they do not impose the same mandate as India’s

two-percent CSR law, the SDGs do provide an easy construct around

which companies can align and integrate their CSR programs.

Providing governments, companies, and social sector orga-

nizations with one set of goals around which to coalesce holds

enormous promise. IMPACT 2030, a private-sector led coalition

to use corporate volunteers as a way to address and accelerate

progress toward these goals, provides one clear way that compa-

nies can meaningfully contribute to their achievement. And even

those countries with different objectives, like India, have identi-

fied specific priorities that mirror at least eight of the SDGs. As

strategies that lead with responsibility become the norm, tactics

will differ from region to region, but the fundamentals will remain

the same. Not only must companies consider their issue of focus,

they must also evaluate their impact on all stakeholders, as well

as ways to leverage partnership and collaboration among sectors

to achieve real progress.

Back in India, Dr. Massouda Jalal, the former Minister of Wom-

en’s Affairs in Afghanistan, a former presidential candidate, and

the founder of the Jalal Foundation, summarized this approach

best during her keynote address. “If we want a better world,” said

Jalal, “we need to build a global army of supporters and challenge

the action which corrupts the foundations of the world we dream

about. We need to look at the issues holistically.” Her words were

echoed with enthusiastic nods by the hundreds of CSR leaders

gathered before her.

“I’m heartened that there is such a thing as corporate respon-

sibility,” Jalal observed. “I commend you for your social responsi-

bility—the heart of the corporate world which beats for the public

and making the world a better place to live.”

The obvious answer to ‘giving back,’ is to stop taking so much in the first place.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 NGC 43

There Is Enough Food to Feed the World – Why Produce More?The Food Industry’s Fight to Feed the World Should Start with Post-Harvest Loss

Harry Pastuszek

Photo: Martina TR | CC BY-SA 2.0

ENTERPRISE

Do you remember the last time you were

hungry? Truly hungry. Maybe you’re like me

and most of the time food is an alluring

vice. It’s a great source of comfort and a

relief from the humdrum, a celebration of all that’s

good. A good meal is something that can make even

the most challenging of days fade into your mind’s

backwaters, but the next visit to the doctor’s office

shows unwelcome contributions to the bottom (or

waist) line.

Maybe you get “hangry” late in the afternoon

on a day when lunch doesn’t materialize. You lose

concentration, resulting in you offending colleagues

or family members, and reduced productivity. Imagine

a day like that ending not with leftover take-away,

but instead with a sleepless night spent comforting

crying, hungry children.

My work is focused on finding ways for people

to earn money with meaningful work and for small

companies to win business from large multinational

ones. I don’t often associate my performance met-

rics with people’s caloric intake. But as I’ve come to

understand the complexities of post-harvest loss—the

devastating effect of food lost after harvest—I’ve re-

alized that addressing this challenge is also one of

the greatest opportunities facing the food industry

worldwide.

There Is Plenty of Food to Feed the Planet

Fifteen years ago, the Millennium Development

Goals committed governments and aid agencies to

halving the number of people who are hungry by

2015. As with many MDGs, progress was made. But

most of those improvements occurred in countries

like India and China, where rapid economic advance-

ment lifted millions into the middle class.

In the world’s least developed countries, the story

is not so promising. Today, the Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates

that about one billion people suffer from chronic

hunger. Many more are malnourished. Confronted

with a need to feed the hungry, it seems natural to

focus on increasing the volume of food production,

which aid agencies, multilateral institutions, and pri-

vate funders have worked in concert to do. Almost 95

peop l e su f f e r f r om ch ron i c hunge r, according to the Food and Agr iculture Organizat ion of the United Nat ions.

1billion

percent of all spending on food security is

focused on improving cultivation, enhanc-

ing productivity, and providing extension

services to improve farmers’ capacity to

grow and harvest more. The development

community is trying to grow its way out

of a hunger problem.

But such widespread hunger is not

caused by a shortage of food. The world

already produces more than enough food

to feed every person on earth.

Food Is Rotting Before It Gets to the Table

Tragically, much of that production—50

percent of all fruits and vegetables, 40

percent of roots and tubers, and 20 per-

cent of all cereals—is lost in substandard

storage or transit, or left on the farm, in

what is called post-harvest loss. And those

staggering statistics do not even take into

account what is wasted on the plate or

tossed away by consumers, nor the waste

of water, land, fertilizer, labor, and other

inputs that went into food production.

The impact of post-harvest loss on

food security has historically received

scant attention; donor focus has waxed

and waned. In the 1970s, the food crisis

helped to put some focus on mitigating

loss in the post-harvest value chain. But

as commodity prices began to improve,

attention returned to economic and tech-

nology-based fixes for enhancing agricul-

tural productivity.

Luckily, that’s beginning to change.

Organizations like the Rockefeller and Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundations are invest-

ing more in understanding the impact of

post-harvest loss and seeking innovative

solutions to the problem that are driven

by the private sector. Multinational cor-

o f a l l spend ing on food secu r i t y i s f o cused on improving cult ivat ion, enhancing product iv i ty, and prov id ing extens ion serv ices to improve farmers’ capacity to grow and harvest more.

%95of al l f ru its and vegetables are lost in substandard storage or transit , or le f t on the farm, in what is today cal led post-harvest loss .

%40

A farmer stands in f ront of h is improved wheat crop in Rajasthan, India .

porations, including Unilever, Coca-Cola,

and SAB Miller, have also implemented

programs to address the issue.

Multinational companies can play an

essential role in transforming post-harvest

loss into food security for the most needy.

They can provide a ready market for pro-

duce, contribute to improved agricultural

practices to ensure good quality, and ad-

just product offerings to take advantage of

local crops prone to heavy loss and waste.

To date, the power of multinationals to

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 546NGC

address food loss has been best demonstrated in the bever-

age industry. SAB Miller, Africa’s leading beer producer, replaced

barley with cassava to make Eagle beer in Ghana and Impala

beer in Mozambique, taking advantage of the presence of a local

commodity rather than using a grain that was not domestically

grown. In both cases, the SAB Miller adjustment sought to create

a market advantage from a high-loss crop. Similarly, Coca-Cola’s

Kenya operation has started to use mango, an underutilized crop

prone to high losses, for its juice production.

Reducing crop loss to make beer and juice are hardly examples

of creating food security. Yet, these innovative, market-based

approaches can provide insight into reducing the loss of staples

and high-nutrition crops. Engaging the private sector in the fight

against post-harvest loss is exactly what is needed.

Innovation Is Needed on Market Linkages and Distribution, Not Production or Storage

Alleviating post-harvest loss requires reevaluating existing

markets for agricultural products, such as hotels, restaurants,

supermarkets, retailers, and processors. While they already handle

a lot of produce in any given country, they could do more to utilize

local foods in ways customers will buy and consume. For example

in Nigeria, more than 50 percent of the tomatoes harvested are

lost every year post-harvest. Yet many Nigerian hotels and super-

markets import nearly half of their fresh

tomatoes from other African countries like

South Africa and Benin, even though do-

mestic production can currently meet close

to 75 percent of domestic demand. What’s

more, the country spends close to $100

million annually on tomato paste imports.

Unfortunately, the inability to connect

producers with consumers exists across a

number of crops in many other countries as

well. Connecting farmers to new markets is

a critical part of reducing waste and spoil-

age, while selling to multiple outlets also

reduces a farmer’s market

risk. A market-led approach,

by definition, means identi-

fying consumer needs and

seeking to profitably meet

those demands. Historically,

market-driven food security

interventions have looked

only at primary markets or

those driven by large, mul-

tinational food and beverage

companies, without much

consideration for smaller, al-

ternative outlets. A focus on

what are sometimes referred

to as “secondary markets”

and harnessing them to provide quality,

nutritious food could make all of the dif-

ference in reducing loss and spoilage in

the value chain.

For instance, in the mangos-for-juice

example above, smaller processors could

invest in equipment to dry mangoes. While

Coca-Cola is buying mangos in bulk, it is

unlikely that all mangos produced will meet

their quality standards, or there may sim-

ply be more than Coca-Cola needs. Local

processors can take advantage of this

abundance by purchasing from farmers

who would otherwise lose those crops to

spoilage and in turn deliver highly nutri-

tious food to consumers, which results in

a win for all stakeholders. Coca-Cola has a

reliable supply of mangos, farmers benefit

from a ready and relatively stable market

for all their produce at the time of har-

vest; the local processors generate jobs and

profits, and the community has access to

nutritious dried fruit.

In fact, without a way to deal effectively

with abundance, a large buyer of produce

can actually make the problem of waste

worse. By encouraging greater production

without an ensured demand for the pro-

duce, many market-led interventions in

post-harvest loss have actually exacerbated

the problem, a classic case of “unintended

consequences.”

A second critical focus area for food

loss is storage. According to a study from

the World Food Programme that reviewed

maize production and storage in Uganda in

2013 to 2014, after 90 days of storage, 60

percent of all maize traditionally stored in

granary or polypropylene bags had spoiled.

In comparison, maize stored using five dif-

ferent new storage technologies (metal-

lic silos, plastic silos, super grain bags,

zero fly bags and grain safes) experienced

negligible spoilage. Appropriate technolo-

gies exist, and they are all relatively low

cost, particularly when compared with the

cost of food loss, and yet they are rarely

deployed.

In other words, two misconceptions

seem to waylay efforts to address the glob-

al food crisis: the first is the idea that we

need massive amounts of additional food

production; the second is that we need

to innovate for better storage to reduce

spoilage. There is enough food grown every

year to feed our growing planet, and cost-

effective, tested technologies are readily

available to improve storage. It’s time to

put them to work, and focus our innovation

effort on how best to get that saved food

into the hands of the hungry.

Is it possible to end world hunger in

15 years? That’s Sustainable Development

Goal 2, set to be ratified by the United Na-

tions in September. Recent

research into the scope of

the loss and spoilage issues

confronting agricultural

value chains suggests all the

pieces exist to achieve this

lofty goal; they just need to

be put in place. If 98 per-

cent of the world’s hungry

people reside in developing

countries, and most of the

food lost between field and

table occurs in these same

places, it seems only logical

to focus on saving food that

is already being produced,

rather than producing more.

This is a relatively simple statement,

not to be confused with an easy solution.

Challenges in infrastructure, logistics, mar-

ket access and information, food process-

ing practices, access to finance, and tech-

nology plague the food value chains around

the world. However, engaging the private

sector to address this challenge holds enor-

mous promise. When coupled with second-

ary market considerations, multinational

interventions have the potential to move

the needle on world hunger. By recouping

the more than 30 percent of food lost every

year around the world, perhaps those one

billion people suffering from chronic hunger

can instead experience the joy of going to

bed well fed.

There is enough food grown every year to feed

our growing planet, and cost-effective, tested

technologies are readily available to improve

storage. It’s time to put them to work, and focus

our innovation effort on how best to get that

saved food into the hands of the hungry.

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 548NGC

Architects of a better working worldAt EY, we believe that business can be a force for social good. That’s why we focus our corporate responsibility activities to grow the positive effects of entrepreneurs, develop future generations of talent, and build a more diverse and inclusive society. A better and brighter future starts with all of us.

Visit ey.com to learn more

S p o n s o r e d C o n t e n t

Culture and Climate: Getting the Social Science Right for Change

Science is standing in the way of ac-

tion for climate change–but maybe

not the way you think. In his lat-

est book, How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate, Andrew Hoff-

man, Ph.D. makes the case that it is

not a lack of physical nor biological

science preventing concerted action in

combatting climate change, but social

science. It turns out the “soft” stuff

is the “hard” stuff. Again.

Hoffman asserts there is scientific

consensus that the global climate is

changing and that humans, in part, are

causing it. He demonstrates that point

in several ways, including reports from

the United Nations Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change, endorsed by

nearly 200 scientific agencies around

the world including the scientific agen-

cies of Canada, France, Germany, Italy,

Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom,

and the United States.

However, there is no social con-

sensus on climate change. Couple that

with a demonstrable political divide

and what we have is gridlock. Hoffman

notes, “The challenge in improving the

form of public and political debate is

not simply scientific in nature; at this stage

it is as much about the communication of

science as it is about the science itself.”

Hoffman isn’t arguing for less scientific

research, but he is making a broad call to

recognize that it is insufficient. At its heart,

the great divide is the product of contrast-

ing, deeply entrenched worldviews, through

which science is viewed. In his book, he

calls for a holistic approach. This includes

understanding the “cultural schism before

us” and the organized movements which

seek to resist change, including the role

of media. Most interestingly, he gleans

lessons from two examples of significant

historical cultural change. Hoffman exam-

ines the debate over cigarette smoking and

cancer, which was also marked by a strong

difference between scientific consensus

and social consensus. The second analogy

is the debate over the abolition of slavery,

as a way to demonstrate the sheer magni-

tude of the cultural shift required to deal

with climate change.

The key point is this: the gulf we face

with regards to positive movement with

regards to climate change cannot be over-

come with simple logic or more scientific

evidence. We cannot beat—by words

or deed—people into changing their

point of view. “Trust is the subtext

you will read throughout the book,”

he writes. “Before asking people to

consider changing their worldview, you

must begin by gaining their trust.”

The following is an excerpt of the

book.

Climate change has been trans-

formed into a rhetorical contest more

akin to the spectacle of a sports

match, pitting one side against the

other with the goal of victory through

the cynical use of politics, fear, distrust

and intolerance. No wonder the public

is confused. But how did an issue like

climate change become so toxic, so

caught up in what we call the culture

wars? Why has it joined sex, religion,

and politics an issue people try not to

discuss in polite conversation?

…

Social scientists view the public

understanding of climate change not as

a lack of adequate information but as the

intentional or unintentional avoidance of

that information. That avoidance is rooted

in our culture and psychology and can be

summarized in four central points.

We all use cognitive filters. While physi-

cal scientists explore the mechanics and

implications of a changing climate, the

social scientist explores the cultural and

BOOK EXCERPT

T h e N e w G l o b a l C i t i z e n | S u m m e r 2 0 1 550NGC

cognitive reasons why people support or reject their conclusions.

What social scientists find is that physical scientists do not have

the final word in public debate. Instead, we interpret and vali-

date conclusions from the scientific community by filtering their

statements through our own worldviews. Through what is called

motivated reasoning, we relate climate change through our prior

ideological preferences, personal experiences, and knowledge. We

search for information and reach conclusions about highly complex

and politically contested issues in a way that will lead us to find

supportive evidence of our preexisting beliefs.

Our cognitive filters reflect our culture identity. We tend to

develop worldviews that are consistent with the values held by

others within the groups with which we self-identify. In what Yale

University lawn and psychology professor Dan Kahan calls cultural

cognition, we are influence by group values and will generally

endorse the position that most directly reinforces the connections

we have with others in our social groups. It is not necessarily that

we reject scientific conclusions in this process, but that they are

weighted and valued differently depending on how our friends,

colleagues, trusted sources, or respected leaders value and frame

these issues. We are the product of our surroundings (both cho-

sen and unchosen) and gravitate towards opinions that fit with

those of the people with whom we identify. As such, positions

on topical and controversial issues like climate change become

part of our cultural identity.

Cultural identity can overpower scientific reasoning. When

belief or disbelief in climate change becomes connected to our

cultural identity, contrary scientific evidence can actually make us

more resolute in resisting conclusions that are at variance with

our cultural beliefs. Research by sociologists Aaron McCright from

Michigan State University and Riley Dunlap from Oklahoma State

University found that increased education and self-reported un-

derstanding of climate science corresponds with greater concern

among those who already believe in climate change but less con-

cern among those who do not. Kahan and colleagues have found

that “members of the public with the highest degrees of science

literacy and technical reason capacity…were the ones among whom

cultural polarization was greatest.” In short, increased knowledge

tends to strengthen our position on climate change, regardless of

what that position is. Instead, the key to engaging the debate is

addressing the deeper ideological, cultural and social filters that

are triggered by this issue.

Our political economy creates inertia for change. We cannot

discuss the social processes that guide our thinking without also

considering the economic, political, and technological realities

that are both the enactment of our values and a source of inertia

to changing them. First, there is a vast physical infrastructure

around fossil fuels and the lifestyle they create, which cannot be

replaced easily. Second, there are strong economic and political

interests that are threatened by the issue of climate change (many

of them controlling the infrastructure just mentioned). As a result

they have adopted strategies to confuse and polarize the debate

in order to protect their interests. Efforts to change cultural views

on climate change must include changing the vast institutions

and infrastructure of our economy and must be prepared to deal

with resistance from those who benefit from them.

These four points form the central thesis of this book. The

debate over climate change in the United States (and elsewhere) is

not about carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas models; it is about

opposing cultural values and worldviews through which that sci-

ence is seen. Those cultural values create a pattern of shared basic

assumptions that tell us the correct way to perceive, think and feel

in relation to problems and situations we face. They furnish us

with the guidelines for practical action, providing us with a road

map, if you will, a way of understanding how the world works,

how it ought to work, and how we behave within it. As a result,

when different groups view the same science through opposing

cultural lenses, they see something very different.

…

Battle lines drawn, the social debate around climate change

is now devolving into a “cultural schism” in which opposing

sides do not debate the same issues, seek only information that

supports their position or disconfirms the other’s and begin to

demonize those who disagree with them. With time, our positions

become relatively rigid and exclusive, thickening the boundaries

between cultural communities. In essence, we begin to identify

the members of our group (or tribe), and therefore those whom

we trust, on the basis of their position on specific issues, like

climate change. In his book, The Honest Broker, Roger Pielke Jr.,

professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado,

compares the extremes of such schisms to “abortion politics,”

where those opposing abortion frame it as an issue of “life,”

those favoring as an issue of woman’s “choice,” and where each

side invokes broader logics around religion, family, and freedom

to support its views. With time, Pielke warns, “no amount of

scientific information…can reconcile the different values.” Extreme

positions dominate the conversation, the potential for discussion

or resolution disintegrates, and the issue become intractable.

This book seeks to avert this outcome by calling attention to

its reality, to the process that make it happen, and to the tactics

that can be used to change the discourse.

From HOW CULTURE SHAPES THE CLIMATE CHANGE DEBATE by Andrew J. Hoffman. (c) 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. All rights reserved. By permission from Stanford University Press, www.sup.org. Published in paperback and digital formats.

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