GCVC SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE FUTURE

At its June meeting in New Orleans, just prior to the U.S. National Conference on Volunteering and Service, IAVE’s Global Corporate Volunteer Council (GCVC) focused much of its time on preparing for its future development.

Sam Santiago, Director of American Giving and Vice President of the American Giving Employee Charitable Fund, Inc. at American Airlines, was formally introduced as the chair of GCVC. Sam was elected two years ago to the IAVE board of directors as representative of the corporate community.

Also announced were the first members of the newly formed GCVC Steering Committee that Sam will lead. They are David Boyd-Thomas of UPS, Cynthia Jones of Kraft, Lisa Cohen of BD and Eileen Sweeney of Motorola Mobility.

Creation of the steering committee and appointment of Sam are intended to strengthen the leadership role member companies play in the wok of the GCVC network.

A portion of the meeting was devoted to initial work on development of a strategic plan that will guide the development of GCVC over the next three years. The Steering Committee will be responsible for completing it over the next several months. This is part of IAVE’s overall strategic planning that focuses on the five core strategies of convening, knowledge development and dissemination, network development, partnership development and advocacy for the value of volunteering.

A primary focus of the meeting was on the roles companies and their employee volunteers can play in preparing for, preventing, responding to and recovering from natural and man-made disasters. Member companies had the opportunity to report on their own activities as well as to talk with representatives of the Red Cross and UNICEF. They also toured the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, the area most devastated by Hurricane Katrina, learning more about the ongoing efforts to rebuild that community.