GCVC Meeting in Rio de Janeiro and Teresópolis Sept 16-19, 2008: Summary

September 16
Participants arrived in Rio to cool and rainy weather, somewhat unexpected, and made for an interesting start to the event. We did, however, have a lovely lunch at a local (and delicious) restaurant which was arranged for us by LGVentura Events, which also made other arrangements for the G-CVC meeting and the Congress for Voluntarios Vale, being held at the same time. The G-CVC’s guide was Fernanda Ferraz, who accompanied us throughout and was of great assistance to us with translation issues as well as details of our days.

After lunch, armed with newly bought rain ponchos, the participants braved the rain and went to Corcovado National Park, where we viewed the famous statue of the Christ on the mountain. After this experience, everyone needed to rest, warm up and dry off, so we took a break until the evening. Fernanda arranged for dinner at the Rio Scenarium, where G-CVC members sampled the local drink - the caiparinha - and danced to local live music! A good time was had by all!

“It was a pleasure for me to be part of this meeting, meet all of you in my country and to know how many interesting and incredible changes voluntary activities have made in the world with this strong commitment from private companies. Despite the weather, we had amazing days, mixing of knowledge, respect, inspiration and funny moments!”  Christiane Bracco, Monsanto

“The Rio meeting has made a huge leap in the G-CVC evolution, and I must say that I am really proud that Telefonica Foundation, with its Corporate Volunteering Program, is going to be relevant for the G-CVC goals and I am very sure that the G-CVC will also be really relevant for Telefonica Foundation. I am grateful for your support, enthusiasm and for being the “soul” of the G-CVC!”  Samantha Penalver, Telefonica

Attendees (including presenters)

    * Kenn Allen, Civil Society Consulting Group
    * Bruno Ayres, V2V
    * Christiane Bracco, Monsanto
    * Sergio Dias, Vale
    * Monica Galiano, Iniciativa Brasil
    * Oscar Garcia, Argentina
    * Sarah Hayes, IAVE
    * Claudia McNamee, Citi
    * Tommie Monroe, Monsanto
    * Deborah Patterson, Monsanto
    * Samantha Penalver, Telefonica (Sam 1)
    * Milena Ramos, Pfizer
    * Sam Santiago, American Airlines (Sam 2)
    * Alice Santos, Vale
    * Carla Sattler, C&A

“The G-CVC meeting was great and it was reinvigorating for me to be there in such great discussions! It was an awesome opportunity to think about corporate volunteering really outside of the box! It was a great group! Congratulations for such a dense and relevant event!”  Bruno Ayres, V2V

“All meetings are good and different, but this one will always hold a special place for me as a very pivotal time for the G-CVC.”  Sarah Hayes, IAVE

September 17
A breakfast was held at the Pestana Hotel in Copacabana, where local CBVE (the Rio Business Volunteer Council) members were invited to mix with the G-CVC attendees. A warm welcome to all was given by Sergio Dias (executive with Vale) and presentations were made by Heloisa Coelho (IAVE representative for Brazil, and Executive Director of Rio Voluntario, the local volunteer center), Bruno Ayres (Chief Networking Officer of V2V), Claudia McNamee (IAVE board member and Director of Citi’s Global Volunteer Initiatives) and Sarah Hayes (Director of the G-CVC).

Following the breakfast, G-CVC members and invited guests were transported by van to the Le Canton Resort in Teresópolis, which is approximately two hours outside of Rio in the mountains. After checking in, and having some lunch, the meeting officially began.

Meeting Goals

   1. Advanced understanding of each other’s volunteer programs and how these programs are aligned with the company’s overall business strategy.
   2. Share best practices in program development and implementation with limited resources.
   3. Share best practices in input, output and impact measurement tools and procedures.
   4. Identify next steps to foster inter-company collaboration.

2-4 PM
Interactive Discussion on Advanced Preparation Questions One and Two

   1. Outline your company’s strategies for aligning your company volunteer program with the business of your company
   2. Explain how your community programs have changed (or why they do not) in times of limited resources and company turmoil - how do you keep it fresh, thriving and relevant?

Vale - the purpose of the meeting that they are holding in Teresópolis (following the G-CVC meeting) is to work out their five year strategic plan, called “Change without Borders.” They have several representatives from each of 19 volunteer teams from throughout Brazil coming to the meeting. They will also be holding their Transformation Awards (30 of them) for projects that made great impact, as well as for the most active “blogs” between the volunteers on V2V.

Telefonica - They have their corporate foundations where their business is the greatest, and each region keeps its own identity. One of their great successes is their “solidarity sabbaticals”. In Latin America they focus on a program called “Pro-Niño’s” which helps children not to have to work as much, and gives them more of a chance to go to school. They have one volunteer contact in each country, and one vetted NGO that they specifically work with. They also have a professional skills program, which ties into their business. Telefonica does separate out its philanthropic side from its CSR side and its volunteering side. The law in Spain does not allow for philanthropic monies to come from corporate profits.

Citi - In addition to their expansive financial education programs, they are focusing on capacity building for NGOs, and are working with the Taproot Foundation on these goals. They also focus a great deal on skill-building as well as skill-utilization. They are also working to focus more on engaging middle management to help support the volunteer program. They have three sources of funding for community work - sponsorship, the foundation, and the corporation itself. No matter whom their CEO is, the volunteer program is driven by the employees, so it is always seen as relevant.

Disney - in Disney Latin America they are trying to move away from the “one-day-project” mentality, into a more comprehensive approach to the volunteer program.

American Airlines - their program is rather new, launched in 2007 - but their program is already helping employees to feel acknowledgement of volunteer work they had been doing for years. They are aligning with their employees’ interests, AA’s business strategies, internal customers and stakeholders. They have found that even when the companies receive bad press, the volunteer program makes their employees feel proud of them no matter what. The volunteer program brings them together, and even the executives roll up their sleeves. They generally do not donate actual cash, but airline miles - that is their currency. The volunteer program is now working together with HR on union issues, in order to have that be as little of a problem as possible. Sam said “If you think you are in a time of need, take a look at those people in the world who really have need.”

4:30-6pm
Specific Discussion on Middle Manager Engagement

Monica shared two slides (will be either attached or forthcoming) from a study done by G-CVC member, State Street Bank. One of the main points is really engaging HR to be your business partner in this effort. If they really “see it”, they will help promote and support it.

A presentation was made by Carla Sattler of C&A (presentation is attached, but is in Portuguese!)) on different strategies they use to engage all their managers. C&A is a privately owned retail department store chain in Brazil, throughout Latin America and Europe. They promote “full citizenship” for all their employees, so this includes volunteerism amongst other things like family, education, politics, community involvement, work ethics, etc. Some of their strategies include:

• A mural in each store location showing their volunteer activity. They invite shareholders to visit the store, and a volunteer will be their guide and show them the mural and explain what they do.
• A monthly newsletter to managers which includes stories of volunteering.
• Every three months the manager’s council meets and the volunteer program is on the agenda each time.
• They use volunteerism in their trainee programs.
• They ask each manager, twice a year, to draw a timeline of their lives - including their family, education, citizenship, professional sides. They are asked to formulate goals for the next 20 years and envision the change they can personally make.
• Extremely forward-looking and future oriented; not just considering “here and now”.
• Manager’s Volunteer Program Guide available.
• Annual convention for volunteers in Brazil to recognize their activities.

“It was not only a pleasure to get to know the participants, but was also invigorating to bond as a team with a common vision and to make plans to move closer to realizing it!”  Claudia McNamee, Citi

September 18
8:30-11am

First, comments from yesterday:

• True dialogue, comfortable connection
• Great sharing of creativity - we can take the concepts and adapt for our companies
• Refreshing discussion!
• Nice to see we are not alone
• We are hearing not only what the challenges are, but how have companies fixed them!
• I have a big bag of new ideas! I want to make big changes!
• It is nice to see some problems are common
• Good to see examples of adaptation to company culture as well as cultural differences
• It is important to have a time like this to “stop and think - where do we want this to go?” We are always do-do-doing, with little time to reflect.
• This will help us “shake it up”!
• The discussions were really “honed in”, not the usual way of discussing these things.
• This group is really a team!

Presentation on V2V Technology, as well as discussion on the Performance Indicators (PI’s) of High Impact Corporate Volunteering

Bruno Ayres presented on V2V (attached or will be forthcoming), and indicated that Brazil has been a very early adaptor of the concept of social networking, which is why V2V has done so well here. Eleven Brazilian client companies represent the DNA of V2V, as they are the early adopters. Now with Starbucks launch of V2V, they are going global. Starbucks V2V is growing organically - not announced from the top. By next G-CVC meeting we should have a great deal to share about our learnings from Starbucks, and also Nike Brazil. V2V has been developed on the premise that people want to get involved in making their communities better, but just do not know how to get started, as well as the fact that “lots of things are happening under the water line of our visibility”. Research studies indicate that 45% of 1 billion people surveyed in 12 countries want to do more or are interested in getting started. V2V is all about mobilizing people to have social impact through information sharing which then leads to collaboration. The more tools available to connect people to each other and their respective engagement activities, the greater possibility for more volunteer opportunities, the more collaboration between volunteers, the greater the positive impact in our communities around the world. The social networking “viral factor”, i.e. individuals wanting to promote what interests them - wanting to tell their family and friends - is a critical factor to V2V’s overall success in Brazil. V2V is nationally available in Brazil with the national portal being funded by the private sector.

Monica shared about the progress of the PI’s. The PI’s are a tool for evaluating stakeholder perceptions of volunteer programs based on performance indicators. They have a new partnership with Volunteering Australia, and discussions have begun with the National Volunteer Center of Singapore (NVPC). Panama’s national brewery to adopt the PI’s by the end of the year. Telefonica ran a pilot with 10 employee groups and plans to broaden reach in the next usage phase.

Sam (2) said that while American Airlines is not using the tool yet to analyze their program (as it is so new), they are using it as a planning tool - to help set their goals based on what is necessary to have in a successful program.

All G-CVC members should seriously consider taking advantage of the PI “benefit” afforded them through G-CVC’s involvement with the Civil Society Consulting Group. If we all conducted at least a pilot survey, we’d have material for further discussion at the next G-CVC convening in San Francisco, June, 2009.

Everyone agreed we would like to see a full presentation on the PI’s and the different ways they can be utilized, for the next G-CVC meeting.

11-12:30pm
Interactive Discussion on Advanced Preparation Discussion Question No. 3: G-CVC Company Collaboration Ideas

• Sharing good practices with the world
• Our volunteers taking training courses together
• Our volunteers offering to present together at appropriate occasions
• Participate together in regional projects - i.e., invite G-CVC company volunteers to join in special service days
• Have a “G-CVC blog” - perhaps V2V can help us with this
• Feed “specific” G-CVC projects through the website
• Do an “action” for IYV+10 at the conference in Singapore
• One-pager on G-CVC to be developed that can be shared within the company - making G-CVC membership known throughout the company and appreciated
• Work on Impact Measurement Together
• A “how to” guide book and toolkit on starting and growing a global program. Nothing like this exists at the present time, and we should do this before some other group gets to it!!
• G-CVC Signature Project - one possibility discussed is a G-CVC sponsored Research Project. Qualitative research and report or publication on global companies/global programs - realizing that global companies share things in common that national or regional do not. Civil Society Consulting Group (Kenn Allen) is an obvious first choice for discussions on how to take this forward.
• A Communications Sub-Committee to help build awareness of G-CVC and IAVE (initial sub-committee members are Sam 1, Sam 2 and Monica)

1:30-2:30pm
Presentation (attached) by Oscar Garcia, former IAVE board member and professor at University in Buenos Aires, on a comparative study between Vale and Telefonica Argentina

Both Vale and Telefonica Argentina have started their employee volunteer programs at approximately the same time, but have followed different paths to success. Some main differences include:

Structure

• Telefonica is strongly structured with more oversight, pre-selected projects and NGOs
• Vale operates more openly, allowing volunteers to connect with each other and choose projects together

Training

• Telefonica operates a big training program in conjunction with the University of Buenos Aires, which includes 1) corporate volunteering, 2) corporate social responsibility, and 3) how to put together a volunteer project. They also do across-the-board video conferences and trainings for volunteer coordinators. Telefonica will also pay for employee volunteers to go to the University for the courses on Volunteer Management.
• Vale will do trainings in the locations where employees are, and the trainings are related to volunteer projects that are coming up. The NGOs involved in the project are also invited to participate in the trainings.

Communications

• Telefonica communicates through their website and through company-wide bulletins.
• Vale concentrates mainly on the blog communications between volunteers.

Funding

• Telefonica supplies money to support volunteer projects as part of their partnership with designated NGOs.
• Vale Foundation does not supply money for volunteer projects, but do support by funding the V2V system and organizing the annual Congress for volunteer leaders.

3-5pm
Discussion on Advance Preparation Question No. 4 (around IYV+10) and the development of the G-CVC Resource Directory.

Ideas around IYV+10

• G-CVC Research Project and Publication
• Special logo - or seal to affix to G-CVC company letterhead, etc.
• Media blitz (Communications sub-committee to consider)
• Special Service Day - all companies participate
• Reach out to customers/consumer base
• Launch the G-CVC Award for Volunteering

G-CVC Resource Directory

Sarah shared the draft of what will become the G-CVC Resource Directory, and everyone commented on it. This will be something that will be available for G-CVC members only as a benefit, and will be in the G-CVC Members Only section of the new IAVE website. Members are asked to contribute the organizations that they work with globally and regionally in order to build the directory.

Next Steps

1. Input on IAVE website content and usability
2. Individual meeting summaries from attendees
3. Send EVP materials to SH
4. Input for Resource Directory
5. SH to send presentations and summary of meeting
6. January ’09 - Communications Sub-Committee to begin developing marketing and communications ideas/materials
7. lobal Volunteer Program Research Project (CM, SH, KA)
8. PI’s - fuller body of research for next G-CVC meeting
9. Annual Calendar of G-CVC Events
10. One-pager for companies to share internally/externally on G-CVC (SH)

“As a novice in the field of volunteerism I feel I learned a lot, but more than that I feel I have knowledgeable colleagues to call upon for council. I miss all of you already!” Deborah Patterson, Monsanto

September 19
G-CVC members participated in the opening of the Voluntarios Vale Annual Congress during the morning of the 19th, and presented a panel discussion to the Vale volunteers, sharing the similarities of our work with the work they are doing in their cities and communities. It was well received by the attendees, and fulfilling to our members.

NEXT G-CVC MEETING TO BE HELD IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A. - JUNE, 2009 (TENTATIVE DATES JUNE 21, 22)