Future of Corporate Volunteering

Dr. Kenn Allen, IAVE Senior Consultant and author of The Big Tent: Corporate Volunteering in the Global Age

Kenn Allen, Senior Consultant to IAVE, kicked off the conference with a presentation on the four critical questions about the Future of Corporate Volunteering.

First: How will we respond to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals? On this point he offered that the SDGs are not about “those over there” but about “us here” – that is, they are applicable to all countries, all communities, all people. And that creates a new playing field for our involvement. It means that wherever we are – where we headquarter, where we manufacture, where we sell, where our employees live – there are potential ways that we can address the SDGs.

Second: What impact do we care about the most – on the community, our employees, the company – and how will we prove it is happening? Kenn suggested that the real issue is whether we are going to commit to finding valid, straightforward ways to measure the impact of volunteering on all of the stakeholders – companies, employees, community organizations with which we work, on the specific people we serve and on the community or society as a whole.

Third: Will we be inclusive or exclusive? Kenn suggests that the focus on skills-based volunteering could potentially define skills too narrowly. He asks why not extend the opportunity to volunteer to ALL employees? He advocates choosing inclusivity and increasing the value for community, employees and company.

Fourth: Will we invest in the development of volunteering? Kenn cited a recent study by IAVE on national volunteer organizations and the finding that only a small minority of national leadership organizations for volunteering have active, meaningful partnerships with business. The challenge he suggests is how do we convince those leadership organizations that they need to be reaching out to the business community and supporting its volunteer efforts? How do we convince the business community to recognize the potential benefit to them and to their communities of strong leadership organizations for volunteering? These connections will strengthen the development of volunteering.

About the Speaker

KENN ALLEN is founder and president of Civil Society Consulting Group LLC with which IAVE contracts to provide its Secretariat. He also serves as Senior Consultant to IAVE’s leadership. He is known globally for his research, writing and consulting in support of corporate volunteering and as author of The Big Tent: Corporate Volunteering in the Global Age.

Corporate Volunteering in the Digital Age

Carmen Morenés, Global Head of Volunteer Programs, Fundación Telefónica
José M. Bendito, Innovation Specialist, UNV
Belén Perales Martín, Corporate Citizenship Manager, IBM
Moderator: Bruno Ayres, President & Co-Founder, V2V.net

The session Corporate Volunteering in the Digital Age brought ideas and experiences about how technologies are transforming the way people collaborate and how companies are using their volunteers and knowledge to generate social impact.

Carmen Morenes Giles, presented a timeline of the evolution of technology adoption in history and presented strategies and concrete actions of the Foundation to bridge the digital gap, most of them counting on corporate volunteers contribution. In 2016, their volunteer program contributed 252 thousand service hours of 27 thousand volunteers, in 32 countries, directly impacting 262 thousand beneficiaries.
Jose Bendito presented his initiative of building corporate volunteer programs at the United Nations. He emphasized the need for better vetting and controls to manage such large -scale programs: international cooperation needs to have deep planning to build strong inter-sectoral partnerships at the local level. Jose also pointed to the necessity, sometimes overlooked, to bridge the digital gap on the ground to really involve citizens to overcome poverty and exclusion.

Belén Perales Martín presented practical actions that IBM is executing in the field, mainly in education, involving volunteers, teachers, and family members to digitally include children and young people. Their digital platform, On Demand Volunteers, develops a strong relationship with social institutions and groups, works on capacity building and matchmaking for their corporate volunteers. IBM has mobilized 280 thousand volunteers, who have contributed 20 million service hours in 120 countries.

About the Speakers

CARMEN MORENÉS is the Global Head of Volunteering at Telefónica Foundation. The volunteer program is active in 15 countries and has mobilized more than 27,000 volunteers worldwide in 2016. She developed her career in the financial and real estate sector, previously doing pro bono volunteering before joining Telefónica Foundation in 2015.

BELEN PERALES MARTÍN is the Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager at IBM Spain. She launched most of the current CSR programs in the company at the national level, focusing on community engagement and corporate service programs. She leverages the IBM Volunteering Community with more than 1.600 employees and retirees.

JOSE M. BENDITO is the Innovation Program Specialist at United Nations Volunteers currently working on a modality to bring corporate volunteers into the work of the UN. He is an innovative policy advisor and program developer with more than 10 years of experience at the UN, both at HQ and in the field.

BRUNO AYRES is a Brazilian entrepreneur and creator of V2V.net, a social network for volunteers. His research lies in the use of new technologies for citizen engagement. V2V has created innovative ways to engage citizens, organizations, and companies in volunteering. It has connected more than 200,000 people who have created over 20,000 local volunteer opportunities, mainly in the corporate sector.

Working to Reverse Youth Unemployment

Tammy McFeggan, Director, Corporate and Community Affairs, The Waltz Disney Company
Montse Cabré, Directora del Departamento de Personas y Voluntariado, Fundación Bancaria “la Caixa”
Luis Miguel Olivas Torrijos, Global Manager of Employability and Entrepreneurship, Fundación Telefónica
Moderator: Vanessa Lecointre, External Relations Lead, Fundación EXIT

“The unemployment rate for youth in Europe is as high as 40% in some countries; actually the UE has launched a specific program called Youth Guarantee to tackle this problem. Corporate volunteers have an important role to play in mentoring, skills building, supporting and modeling entrepreneurship and providing insights and opportunities in their workplaces.

Corporate volunteer projects to reverse Youth Unemployment are becoming more and more professional and are related to mentoring projects.  Those projects are local and have a direct impact on the community where the companies are based.

It is important to highlight that companies cannot focus on youth as a unique group of people. Unemployment does not affect youth with a university degree in the same way as it does school drop-outs. Corporate Volunteer projects have thus to be adapted to the group they are focusing on.

Companies and NGOs still have to improve their collaboration in measuring the impact of their actions, to define how to select the volunteers and how to build transversal projects.”

About the Speakers

TAMMY McFEGGAN is the Director of Corporate Citizenship, managing Disney’s Community Engagement efforts for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role she has responsibility for Disney’s charitable giving, community relations and employee volunteer programme – Disney VoluntEARS.

MONTSERRAT CABRÉ is the Director of Human Resources and Volunteer Department at “la Caixa” Foundation. Montse has been with the Foundation for 25 years. She is currently sharing responsibility for the coordination of the Volunteer Program in the whole country and the Human Resource’s management.

LUIS MIGUEL OLIVAS TORRIJOS is a telecommunications engineer passionate about innovation, people and entrepreneurship. He joined Fundación Telefónica in 2012 after working in several companies. Currently, he is the Manager of the Employability and Entrepreneurship, seeking to improve the professional and personal opportunities of young people so that they can create their professional life plan.

VANESSA LECOINTRE is responsible for external relations at Fundación Exit. She has over 10 years of experience in volunteer programs, institutional relations, fundraising and CSR, working with organizations such as Fundación Lealtad, Médicos del Mundo Spain and Fundación Exit.

Leveraging the Impact of Corporate Volunteering through Multicompany Collaboration

Ariadna Bardolet Urgelles, Directora del Departamento de Programas Internacionales, Fundación Bancaria “la Caixa”
Leticia de Rato Salazar-Simpson, Head of Global Partnerships, Fundación “Pro Futuro”
Javier Doval, Director, Fundación Pinardi
Tomás Franquet, Corporate Responsibility ́s Director, Melià Hotels International
Moderator: Dr. Juan Ángel Poyatos, Director, Voluntare

The speakers analyzed collaboration in corporate volunteering programs from two perspectives- alliances between companies and between companies and NGOs.

Telefónica and Caixa’s “Profuturo project” was discussed. It is a project that began a year ago with children from vulnerable environments in Angola. The project seeks to help educate children using new technologies. Fundación Pinardi and Melia Hotels’ “First Professional Experience” project was also featured. This project began in 2013 and is based on the social inclusion of young people through employment.

The discussion centered around the difficulties and essential elements of the collaborations. In the case of the alliance between companies and an NGO, the main barriers were a mutual lack of awareness of how to choose the right partner. The speakers said it was difficult to explain internally why they were collaborating with an organization so different from their own. NGOs in particular have difficulty understanding corporate motivations. The key to achieve a real alliance is to build mutual trust and take time to get to know each other well.

In the case of multi-company projects, the main difficulties were to combine the different working styles of each company: management, processes, cultures. These challenges were magnified by the start-up nature of the “Pro Futuro”project.

The keys to a successful partnership are: support from senior managers; creation of mixed teams with employees from each company; incorporating a “get-to-know- you period in the timeline; open communication, and a measurement and evaluation process.

The discussion closed with an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to get far, go in a team”.

About the Speakers

JAVIER DOVAL is a General Manager at Pinardi. He is an expert in Leadership and Innovation in NGOs. He is currently a member of the regional Immigration Forum and the Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Madrid and actively collaborates as a lecturer on psychosocial community-oriented intervention at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

ARIADNA BARDOLET URGELLES is the Director of the International Programs Department at Fundación Bancaria “la Caixa”. She is in charge of global health, education and development issues in more than twenty of the world’s most vulnerable countries in which the institution is promoting several projects. Ariadna has been with the foundation for 20 years.

LETICIA DE RATO SALAZAR-SIMPSON is the Head of Global Partnerships at Fundación ProFuturo, a major digital education project for underprivileged children and adolescents, sponsored by Fundación Telefónica and Fundación Bancaria ‘La Caixa’. She has been working with Telefónica since 2008.

TOMÁS FRANQUET is the Corporate Responsibility Director at Meliá Hotels International. He is also a member of the CSR Commission of the Hotel ́s Federation in Mallorca. In the course of his career he spent 10 years in strategy consulting on national and international projects.

JUAN ANGEL POYATOS is the Director of Voluntare, the Ibero-american Corporate Volunteer Network. He has long experience supporting companies and NGOs in their corporate volunteer programs in Europe and Latin America. He has also worked, with public organizations like the European Commission as well as the Colombian and Spanish Governments.

Skills Based and Pro Bono Volunteering

Ana Higuera Garrido, Lawyer and Pro Bono Coordinator, Fundación Fernando Pombo
Antoine Colonna d’ Istria, Co-Founder, Pro Bono Lab
Paul Phillips, Senior Private Sector Engagement Manager, VSO
Marion Kiewik, Randstad-VSO Partnership Manager, Randstad
Moderator: Jeff Hoffman, President, Jeff Hoffman & Associates

Antoine Colonna d’ Istria, Pro Bono Lab
Ana Higuera, Fundación Fernando Pombo
Paul Phillips, VSO International
Marion Kiewik, Randstad
Moderator: Jeff Hoffman,  Jeff Hoffman & Associates

The dynamic session discussion: Skills Based and Pro Bono Volunteering covered the evolution of this work and the relevant best practices of today.  The discussion was divided into three comments.  For many, the first awareness of Pro Bono was through the legal profession.  Lawyers donated their time to organizations and individuals in need.  This remains the case today as Ana mentioned but has become both broader and deeper.  One element that Pombo incorporates into their program is the use of law school students.  They work alongside the lawyers and the clients being served.  It is a strong learning experience for the students and it enables lawyers to focus on the primary points as the students handle the research.     The Pro Bono Lab was set up as a way of connecting organizations that need help with the expertise that they need.  They have helped make many matches over the years.  Randstad has worked with VSO for the last 13 years creating a deep skills-based program for their employees.   The volunteer assignments are from three to nine months in length.  Marion participated in her own program going to Bangladesh where she helped NGOs with human resource programs.

About the Speakers

ANA HIGUERA GARRIDO is a lawyer and pro bono coordinator for Fundación Fernando Pombo. She is a regular collaborator in legal projects with social entities, notably as a Coordinator of the “Study on the care of children with serious illness” which implemented new subsidies to allow working parents to look after their children during temporary periods of illness.

ANTOINE COLONNA D’ISTRIA co-founded Pro Bono Lab in 2011 and developed it into a 15 staff organization that has duplicated social innovation practices in more than 20 countries. He holds a double Masters degree in Corporate & Public Management from HEC & Sciences Po Paris. He is a member of the High Council for Associations in France.

PAUL PHILIPS is a Senior Private Sector Engagement Manager at VSO. He manages the strategic direction of ICV programs with companies like Accenture, IBM, Syngenta and Randstad. He is a seasoned international development professional passionate about engaging the private sector. Paul is a former VSO Education volunteer in Rwanda and South Sudan.

MARION KIEWIK is Partnership Manager at Randstad Holding nv, one of the leading global HR services providers. She is responsible for advancing the Partnership with VSO within the Randstad Group and developing its strategy of expanding employability and entrepreneurship programs, currently focusing on Tanzania and India.

JEFF HOFFMAN leads Jeff Hoffman & Associates, a global corporate social responsibility firm that enables businesses, organizations and individuals to re-imagine a world full of hope, promise and opportunity while strengthening their own enterprise. He is also a member of the IAVE Board of Directors.

Volunteering and Personal and Professional Development

Ana Gómez, Head of Vol+ Program, Plataforma del Voluntariado de España
Eva Halper, Director, Global Citizens Program, Credit Suisse
Federica Lamma, Internal Communication and Community Involvement Manager, Mondelēz International
Javier Santoyo, Corporate Relationships Manager, National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Moderator: Kylee Bates, World President, IAVE

About the Speakers

ANA GÓMEZ is a psychologist and is currently responsible for the Vol Plus Program, leading all projects concerning the recognition of volunteering on the Spanish Volunteering Platform. She has spent most of her career in the Third Sector, from career guidance to gender equality.

EVA HALPER leads Credit Suisse’s Global Education Initiative, building and managing partnerships with international not for profits. In 2010 she conceived and subsequently rolled out the Bank’s flagship international skills-based volunteering program, The Global Citizens Program.

FEDERICA LAMMA is the Internal Communication & Community Involvement Manager at Mondelēz International. She is responsible for the company’s employee engagement agenda and manages community involvement initiatives such as promoting volunteering activities, supporting the business in creating ad-hoc CRM projects and maintaining strong relationships with NGOs.

JAVIER SANTOYO is the Corporate Relationships Manager at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) where he promotes and supports partnerships between businesses and voluntary and community organizations that create positive change, and is NCVO’s in-house specialist in Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.

KYLEE BATES is the World President for the International Association for Volunteer Effort. She is currently the CEO of Ardoch Youth Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on education support for children in disadvantaged communities. She previously served as the State Director of Service Delivery for Mission Australia, and was also the Deputy CEO of Volunteering Australia.

Cross Border Volunteering

Eva Halper, Director, Global Citizens Program, Credit Suisse
Paul Philips, Senior Private Sector Engagement Manager, VSO
Ana Enrich Milá, Coordinator, Ashoka
Moderator: María Jesús Pérez, Deputy Director, Fundación CODESPA

Cross border volunteering refers to programs that send teams of skilled volunteers across national borders. It requires a significant corporate and employee investment of time and resources. In these programs, normally employees devote days or weeks to participate in an international mission to provide their knowledge to solve different social challenges in developing countries.

Companies undertake these programs for different reasons and justify them with Return on Investment (ROI) calculations. Companies with supply chains engaged in developing countries sometimes use employee volunteering in activities that make their operations more inclusive and sustainable. Others use corporate volunteers to strengthen social programs. This builds stronger partnerships between local partners and the company and also builds the trust of the employees in CSR activities. Most companies recognize that these programs build the capacity and competencies of their employees, and also provide a unique learning opportunity.

Management processes should be clear and streamlined if programs aim to become larger. Local partners should participate in key elements of the process such as selection of volunteers, preparation and training, definition of the work plan (based on real needs), etc. Top management support is also essential.

About the Speakers

EVA HALPER leads Credit Suisse’s Global Education Initiative, building and managing partnerships with international not for profits. In 2010 she conceived and subsequently rolled out the Bank’s flagship international skills-based volunteering program, The Global Citizens Program.

PAUL PHILIPS is a Senior Private Sector Engagement Manager at VSO. He manages the strategic direction of ICV programs with companies like Accenture, IBM, Syngenta and Randstad. He is a seasoned international development professional passionate about engaging the private sector. Paul is a former VSO Education volunteer in Rwanda and South Sudan.

ANA ENRICH MILÁ is the Coordinator of Ashoka in Catalonia, working to consolidate Ashoka’s Everyone a Changemaker vision in the region and working on international strategic alliances. Previously she has been leading projects at the Department of Innovation and Education of the Spanish technological company, BQ.

MARÍA JESÚS PÉREZ is the Deputy Director of CODESPA Foundation and Director of the Research, Social Innovation and Consulting Services Department. She led the expansion of CODESPA´s pioneering Corporate Volunteering program, Professionals for Development, working with over 20 companies on international skills based volunteering activities.

Volunteering to Help Refugees

Suska Dreesbach-Bundy, Founder, Volunteer Vision
Belén Perales Martín, Corporate Citizenship Manager, IBM
Moderator: Gabriella Civico, Director, CEV/EVEN

The session on Volunteering to Help Refugees concluded that corporate volunteering actions are important not only for making change on the ground, in providing direct assistance for refugees and the NGOs seeking to support them, but also in contributing to maintaining, and even increasing, positive attitudes towards refugees in society as a whole.

The potential for corporate volunteers providing capacity building actions to NGOs working to meet the needs of refugees, as well as offering direct assistance to refugees, was highlighted, as was the need for more awareness about this potential amongst companies and NGOs alike.  The group acknowledged that simply adapting existing programs in order to meet the needs of refugees is not always enough and that in order to have the necessary and desired impact it is likely that tailor made actions need to be developed. It was also determined that cross-cultural aspects should not be underestimated or neglected and that this was also the case for language differences.

The management of expectations, both on the part of the volunteers and the refugees, was stressed, as was the need to deliver any actions through existing NGOs working with refugees. In this way it can be more likely that any assistance offered from corporate volunteers can truly meet identified needs, be complementary to existing support and services already being provided by other stakeholders, and the impact be maximized.

About the Speakers

SUSKA DREESBACH-BUNDY is the founder of Volunteer Vision, a social business offering online mentoring programs that take place completely digital via video chat and is based on embedded eLearning materials. Volunteer Vision enables corporate volunteers to mentor in the areas of work, training and language.

BELEN PERALES MARTÍN is the Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager at IBM Spain. She launched most of the current CSR programs in the company at the national level, focusing on community engagement and corporate service programs. She leverages the IBM Volunteering Community with more than 1.600 employees and retirees.

GABRIELLA CIVICO is the Director of CEV (European Volunteer Centre). At CEV, Gabriella launched the Employee Volunteer European Network (EVEN) and The European Volunteering Capital Competition. She represents CEV in the European Economic and Social Committee Liaison group and is a member of Civil Society Europe Steering Committee.

Partnering with the Community and Public Sector

Ciara Herity, Manager, Sligo Volunteer Center
Daragh Fallon, Global Citizenship Manager, Abbot Ireland
Vadim Kovalev, First Deputy Executive Director, Russian Managers Association
Conchita Navarro, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mutua Madrileña
Moderator: Iraida Manzanilla, Board Member, IAVE

During this session three different models of corporate volunteer programs partnerships were presented: partnerships with a Volunteer Center; partnership with the community and public sectors; and partnerships with NGOs.

The highlights of the session included the need to focus on the reasons for the partnership, manage expectations, listen to each other carefully, look for win-wins, evaluate results together and plan for the long term together. It was also determined to be important to matching community needs with local business, educate NGOs on how to approach and work with businesses, and involve companies in joint social projects. Participants talked about the importance of engaging a range of stakeholders including bloggers, celebrities and the media to bring attention to the projects.

About the Speakers

CIARA HERITY is the Manager at Sligo Volunteer Centre, a member of Volunteer Ireland and the National Network of Volunteer Centres. She has been managing the Sligo Volunteer Centre since 2007. The Sligo Volunteer Centre promotes volunteering and offers training and support to local not for profits.

DARAGH FALLON is the Global Citizenship Manager at Abbott Ireland. He has been with Abbott for nine years, mainly in a Human Resources and communications capacity. He graduated from the Institute of Technology, Sligo with a Bachelors in Business and Marketing.

VADIM KOVALEV is the First Deputy Executive Director at Russian Managers Association. He is also a member of the Civic Chamber of Moscow and the Federal Expert Council. He has organized several volunteer assistance projects for flood victims, refugees and pilgrims throughout Russia and Eastern Europe.

CONCHITA NAVARRO is responsible for CSR of Mutua Madrileña, taking charge of the coordination and development of the CSR strategy of the Group. She is also responsible for social projects of the Mutua Madrileña Foundation and coordinates the corporate volunteer program.

IRAIDA MANZANILLA is a founding member of the consulting firm Iniciativa Latinoamericana C.A., consulting in strategic planning, corporate social responsibility, volunteering for social development organizations and corporate volunteering. She is a member of IAVE’s Board of Directors.

Aligning Volunteer Programs to the SDGs

Jordi Sala Serra, Human Resources Director, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company
Jesús Martín Vidal, Communication Manager, Nutrition Without Borders
Audrey Guibat Demont, Global Engagement Philanthropy Lead, Medtronic Foundation
Aurelia Takacs, Global Delivery Partner Manager, Cisco
Moderator: Jonathas Barreto, Senior Director-Global, Points of Light

The SDGs cannot be achieved without people’s engagement at all stages, and without new partnerships and ways of collaborating. The effective implementation of the United Nation’s Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, no matter how ambitious, will remain limited without well-facilitated corporate action. Corporate volunteering is a highly effective and valuable mechanism to strategically foster collaboration, complement the capacity of government institutions to deliver essential services, and make a lasting impact.

The panel was a unique opportunity to listen first-hand from sector leaders such as Medtronic, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Cisco on how they are using the SDGs as a framework to report initiatives and above all guide their employee volunteering program and philanthropic giving.

• Jordi Sala Serra from Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company shared about the importance of developing long-term and win-win partnerships with intermediary organizations (NGOs / NPOs) and highlighted their successful experience with Nutrition without Borders.
• Audrey Guibat Demont from Medtronic Foundation shared with the audience about their efforts and challenges t map their current initiatives according to the SDGs and highlighted how the company is communicating about this new mindset and focus on employees and other stakeholders
• Aurelia Takacs from Cisco shared about Cisco main employee volunteering programs and shared focused on how the company is working to address specifically SDGs.

At the end of the session, the facilitator and panelists talked about the challenges and potential solutions to measure impact and success, and the power of storytelling as a mechanism to build more awareness to the SDGs and also encourage participation of other employee and broadly other companies of the sector.

About the Speakers

JORDI SALA SERRA is the Human Resources Director at Hotel Arts, The Ritz Carlton Barcelona. He worked in Ritz Carlton properties in Hong Kong and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is member of several NGOs including Red Cross Spain, Doctors without Borders and Support in Action.

JESÚS MARTÍN VIDAL is based in Nutrition Without Borders’s headquarters in Barcelona, where he coordinates the communications department. There he designs and implements communication strategies to accomplish the organization’s mission: to protect the universal right to food.

AUDREY GUIBAT DEMONT is the Global Engagement Philanthropy Lead at the Medtronic Foundation. She supervises the deployment of the Foundation’s philanthropy programs in the EMEA region. She also leads a global program that recognizes patients who are contributing in communities all around the world through charitable service and volunteerism.

AURELIA TAKACS is a Global Delivery Partner Manager in Cisco’s Technical Services organization. She is a ‘Cisco Citizen’ CSR Ambassador, with a focus on volunteering programs geared towards children and young girls, encouraging them into STEM. She is also the Co-Lead for her organization leading and driving all Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.

JONATHAS BARRETO is a Senior Director at Points of Light, an organization with a global focus to redefine volunteerism and civic engagement for the 21st century, putting people at the center of community problem solving. He has almost 10 years of experience promoting social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility and sustainability in the private and social sectors.

Intrapreneurship and Corporate Volunteering

Daniel Nowack, Director, Yunus Social Business
Iñigo Blanco, Co-Founder, DOT S. Coop
Moderator: Kylee Bates, World President, IAVE

About the Speakers

DANIEL NOWACK is the co-founder and the international business developer of the design & social innovation studio DOT S.Coop. He is also the co-founder and president of the center for social entrepreneurship Impact HUB Donostia – San Sebastián. He is an international lecturer and business team-coach at Mondragon Team Academy.

IÑIGO BLANCO is the co-founder and the international business developer of the design & social innovation studio DOT S.Coop. He is also the co-founder and president of the center for social entrepreneurship Impact HUB Donostia – San Sebastián. He is an international lecturer and business team-coach at Mondragon Team Academy.

KYLEE BATES is the World President for the International Association for Volunteer Effort. She is currently the CEO of Ardoch Youth Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on education support for children in disadvantaged communities. She previously served as the State Director of Service Delivery for Mission Australia, and was also the Deputy CEO of Volunteering Australia.

Partnering in Disaster Response

Olaug Bergseth, Manager Strategic Partnerships, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Andrea Debbané, Executive Director, Airbus Foundation and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility
Manuel Hernández Vázquez, Ericsson Response Volunteer
Moderator: Francisco Moro Gutiérrez, International Projects Manager, Fundación Telefónica

Andrea Debbane talked about the challenge of engaging employees in disaster response volunteering. They now involve employees in every stage of the disaster – from preparedness, to immediate response and rescue, to reconstruction. In designing a program, employee volunteers asked the IFRC about their challenges and then worked on solutions.

Olaug Bergseth of the IFRC talked about the importance of communication in a disaster explaining the situation and the need on an on-going basis.

Francisco Moro of Telefonica and Manuel Hernandez, an Ericsson Response Volunteer, talked about the important of proper, professional training for volunteers. Ericsson uses simulations in their training. Francisco talked about athe difficult and importance of volunteer selection.

About the Speakers

OLAUG BERGSETH is the Manager of Strategic Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). She manages global relations and partnerships with the private sector, for the benefit of IFRC’s 190 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide.

ANDREA DEBBANÉ is head of Airbus Corporate Social Responsibility and the
Executive Director of the Airbus Foundation. The Airbus Foundation has been closely collaborating with global NGOs to support humanitarian causes and to inspire youth development through contact with the aerospace industry.

MANUEL HERNÁNDEZ VÁZQUEZ has been an Ericsson Response Volunteer since 2002. He has been in two field operations: first in Liberia where he installed the UN offices that had been destroyed by civil war; then in Tanzania, collaborating with the demine UN program.

FRANCISCO MORO GUTIÉRREZ is responsible for various educational projects of the Telefónica Foundation. He works with Telefónica Volunteers, where he is responsible for international coordination in the 27 countries where the corporate volunteering program is present. He also leads several global projects.

New Perspectives on Impact Measurement

Jorge Mayer, Sustainability Expert, EDP
Sarah Ulrich, Social Impact Consultant
Carme Artigas Brugal, Founder & CEO, Synergic Partners
Moderator: Kenn Allen, Senior Consultant, IAVE

About the Speakers

JORGE MAYER is the founder of EDP’s corporate volunteering program and has managed it for over five years. He has vast experience in volunteering and social innovation in Portugal. Since October 2016 he started working on the Sustainability, Environment and Community Relations Division of EDP Produção.

SARAH ULRICH is a social psychologist specializing in research methodology. She has developed and implemented a range of impact management methods and tools for various NPOs, foundations, public institutions and companies. The main characteristics of her approach are target group orientation, participation and outcome transparency.

CARMEN ARTIGAS BRUGAL is the Founder & CEO of Synergic Partners, a strategic and technological consulting firm specialized in Big Data & Data Science, founded in 2006 and acquired in 2015 by the Telefónica Group. She has more than 20 years of expertise in the telecommunications and IT fields and broad experience in several executive roles in both private companies as well as governmental institutions.

KENN ALLEN is founder and president of Civil Society Consulting Group LLC with which IAVE contracts to provide its Secretariat. He also serves as Senior Consultant to IAVE’s leadership. He is known globally for his research, writing and consulting in support of corporate volunteering and as author of The Big Tent: Corporate Volunteering in the Global Age.

Planning a Volunteer Program within a wider CSR Strategy

Estelle Roth, Global Project Leader, Corporate Volunteering, Novartis International AG
Jeff Hoffman, President, Jeff Hoffman & Associates
Moderator: Jeff Hoffman, President, Jeff Hoffman & Associates

Novartis has developed a very strategic volunteer program that clearly aligns with not only their CSR strategy but their overall company goals. It is a metric driven program with strong identification with the brand. “We apply our expertise in science and innovation to society’s biggest health challenges. Responsibility is a core part of our business strategy. Reimagining medicine starts with providing space for our associates to do more of what feeds their passion. For many, volunteering is one such activity.” Jeff Hoffman discussed the trend toward alignment with CSR and in particular focused on the transactional versus the transformational aspects of volunteering in both “helping hands” and skills based volunteering. Both have their place and what matters is ensuring that the recipient organization is receiving value for the work done as well as the employee and employer. As employees seek more purpose in their job, flexibility is key. Companies are realizing that their societal investments have a positive impact on business. Employee volunteering is an increasingly important bridge between the company and the employees’ needs relative to the communities.

About the Speakers

ESTELLE ROTH is the Global Project Leader of Corporate Volunteering at Novartis. She joined Novartis in 2007 with increasing responsibilities in HR and ComOps Asia, Middle East, Africa and W/E Europe. Previously Estelle worked for a non-profit-organization “International Board on Books for Young People” and as Head of Legal Services DHL Management AG.

JEFF HOFFMAN leads Jeff Hoffman & Associates, a global corporate social responsibility firm that enables businesses, organizations and individuals to re-imagine a world full of hope, promise and opportunity while strengthening their own enterprise. He is also a member of the IAVE Board of Directors.