Time | Monday, August 31 |
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8:00-9:15 AM | Welcome Drinks & Registration |
9:15-11:00 AM |
Zahra Darvishi, Credit Suisse |
11:00-11:30 AM | Coffee Break |
11:30-1:00 PM | Forums Session #1 |
1:00-2:00 PM | Lunch |
2:00-3:30 PM | Forums Session #2 |
3:30-4:00 PM | Coffee Break |
4:00-5:30 PM | Forums Session #3 |
5:30-6:00 PM | Wrap Up |
6:00-6:30 PM | Free time |
6:30-7:30 PM | Aperitif (Reception) |
7:30 PM |
Dinner |
Time | Tuesday, September 1 |
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7:30-8:30 AM | Welcome Drinks |
8:30-8:45 AM | Opening Convening |
8:45-10:15 AM | Forum Session #4 |
10:15-10:45 AM | Coffee Break |
10:45-12:15 PM | Keynote Plenary Dr. Michael Hastings: LORD HASTINGS of SCARISBRICK CBE Global Head of Corporate Citizenship KPMG International |
12:15-1:00 PM | Lunch |
1:00-2:30 PM | Forum Session #5 |
2:30-3:30 PM | Closing Plenary & Wrap Up |
3:30 PM | Adjourn Closing Drinks |
Executive Coordinator
United Nations Volunteers
Global Head of Corporate Citizenship
KPMG International
Focusing Our Volunteer Efforts on the World’s Most Pressing Problems: The Sustainable Development Goals
Richard Dictus leads off the conference with the challenge – for companies to contribute in a major way, through their volunteer efforts, to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Changing the Way We Do Business: Building Our Impact, Demonstrating Our Value
Lord Hastings is known throughout the world for his inspired and inspiring leadership – from his work on behalf of children in Africa to his efforts in crime reduction to the creative energy he has brought to corporate social responsibility.
Opening Plenary Response Panel
Sue Stephenson
Vice President, Community Footprints
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
Dr. Jürgen Brokatzky-Geiger
Global Head, Corporate Responsibility
Novartis
Markus Mader
General Director
Swiss Red Cross
Zahra Darvishi
Head of Corporate Citizenship Switzerland
Credit Suisse AG
The conference Forums are designed to:
Topics for the forum were chosen based on input received from 30+ companies either headquartered or with major operations in Europe.
Responding to emerging challenges. How will the Sustainable Development Goals enhance or expand how companies are already addressing many of the world’s most difficult challenges? This dialogue-focused session follows up on the opening plenary by exploring what companies are learning from their existing efforts.
Moderator:
Corporate volunteering as a strategic asset to support corporate goals for employee engagement and development. There is broad agreement that volunteering helps build employee commitment & morale, develop leadership, strengthen teams, enhance business-related skills and recruit new employees. Leaders in the field explore how to maximize that benefit by building strong internal partnerships with human resources units.
Moderator:
Crossing borders to volunteer. Steadily growing interest in programs that send teams of skilled volunteers across national borders, particularly to the Global South, raise issues for companies, for their volunteers and for the places they go to serve. What works? Is it a good investment? Share experiences with those who are doing it.
Overcoming barriers to effective partnerships with NGOs. Once thought of as “nice but not necessary,” partnerships with NGOs are now seen as critical to the success of employee volunteer efforts. But not all partnerships are created equal. Learn what works and what doesn’t – and see how you are doing as a partner.
Doing more with less: working with intermediaries. As staffing and budgets grow tighter, as expectations for growth and impact increase, how do we cope? Many companies are turning to intermediary organizations for assistance. Explore the pros & cons and how to make it work best for everyone.
Corporate volunteering in the digital age: the opportunities and challenges presented by social media and online volunteering. From connecting employees with volunteer opportunities and tracking their involvement to online volunteer opportunities to micro-volunteering to social media to energize and mobilize – there is a digital revolution underway in the volunteer community. Find out here to be part of it through innovation and adaptation.
Addressing youth unemployment through corporate volunteering & other actions. This session explores how corporate volunteers can contribute to the impact of sustained high unemployment among young people – whether through mentoring or skills building or support for entrepreneurship, or by helping youth become volunteers as a way of building their workplace skills and creating a record of successful workplace experience.
Moderator:
Kathleen Dennis, IAVE (US)
Developing internal “champions” to lead your volunteer effort. One way to address a shortfall in staffing resources is to build networks of internal champions and leadership teams that will take operational responsibility for the company’s volunteer program. Learn what works from companies that are doing it.
Pro bono programs. Are pro bono programs volunteering? Does it matter? What are the best practices that inform its development and implementation by a company? How do we build effective partnerships with NGOs to ensure maximum impact? There and many more issues will be discussed by companies with successful programs and by the NGOs that help them do it.
Moderator:
Armin Pialek, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt (Germany)
Disaster-related corporate volunteering. More natural and man-made disasters; greater expectations from our employees for meaningful response; the need to act before and after the “CNN moment” to build community resilience through preparation and prevention and to remain engaged through reconstruction. Companies that are leading the way share their experiences as prelude to discussion of the realities of engagement.
Moderator:
Measuring impact. There is no more often discussed topic than how to measure the impact of our volunteer efforts. But there often is more talk than investment. Evaluation experts and companies debate the pros and cons of what can and should be done…or not.
Implementing a global volunteer program across multiple European markets. Headquarters identifies the strategic priorities, creates a “signature” volunteer program, distributes it through the system to…you. Now, how do you make it happen throughout Europe? Talk with companies that have faced that challenge and hear what they have learned.
Skills-based volunteering. It is what’s “hot.” But how do we recognize and put to work the skills of all of our employees, not only high-level professionals and “fast trackers”? What is an appropriate balance between skills-based and ‘traditional” (“hands-on”) employee volunteering? What are the limits in bringing it “to scale”? Join the discussion with companies that have world class skills-based volunteer programs.
Building internal support & overcoming resistance. Strategies, programs & policies are fine. But what happens when there is resistance from those closest to the work. Work with colleagues to build effective approaches to address that challenge.