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March 2012
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Seeking Insight for Innovation
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This guest blog article, by Laura Asiala, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Dow Corning, originally appeared on Dow Corning's Citizen Service Corps website. “Discover; Serve; Innovate” became our theme for the Citizen Service Corps as we developed and launched our first group in 2010. I’ve mentioned before the importance of understanding the order of that priority, and for us, it was driven by innovation. With that clarity, it was easy to see that we would need a direct link to our business development group, known at Dow Corning as the “Business & Technology Incubator,” and we had it, in the person of Chip Reeves, manager of Discovery in the B&TI. Read More >>
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ICV Conference Preview: Key Components of Learning Development Part 1
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This guest blog article by Matthew Farmer, keynote speaker at CDC Development Solutions’ 3rd Annual International Corporate Volunteerism Conference and Managing Director of Emerging World, is the first in a three-part series. Emerging World works with global corporations to design and manage learning experiences across Africa, Asia and Latin America. I‘m really looking forward to April 12th and being part in CDC’s International Corporate Volunteering conference. Emerging World works with global corporations to design and manage learning experiences across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Making sure we gain maximum business benefit for these experiences is out top priority. At the conference, I will be outlining Emerging World’s six steps to achieving impactful learning from an international corporate volunteering program, based on the experience we’ve had with clients such as Microsoft and Ernst & Young... Read More >>
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George Washington University Capstone Adventure - Part 2
International Corporate Volunteerism | March 20th, 2012
This is Part 2 of an on-going series of guest blog articles written by a group of students at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, who are completing their capstone project with CDS in India. Click here for Part 1.
Namaste from Mumbai! Our team has spent a busy few days interviewing client organizations and exploring the lasting impacts of international corporate volunteer (ICV) assignments. In our short time here, we’ve met with a striking diversity of Indian organizations working in a variety of sectors:
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An Important Lesson About Relationships: Never be Surprised by Surprises
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This guest blog article, by Laura Asiala, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Dow Corning, originally appeared on Dow Corning's Citizen Service Corps website. It turns out Dr. Phil Mirvis was right: relationships are one of the most important things we gain through an international corporate volunteer (ICV) program, like the Dow Corning Citizen Service Corps. In 2010 we were just getting started, and I had written a brief for CDC Development Solutions for our first program that was very broad.. As a specialty materials manufacturer, we were looking to immerse ourselves in under-served markets: no desk jobs for us! No teaching (well, at universities anyway). No information technology system or data base development. We wanted to be in the field. And, we wanted to work on projects that would lend us the greatest amount of insight for our future business: renewable energy, affordable housing, sustainable agriculture, and/or sustainable transportation. Read More >>
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Our Story: Starting an International Corporate Volunteer Program
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This guest blog article, by Laura Asiala, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Dow Corning, originally appeared on Dow Corning's Citizen Service Corps website. I am often asked how the Citizen Service Corps got started at the Dow Corning Corporation. The truth is that there isn’t one answer. While many individuals have answers and worked hard to finally bring this idea to fruition, these are my recollections. In the summer of 2009, then Dow Corning CEO, Stephanie Burns, returned from a meeting at GlaxoSmithKline where she was a member of the board energized by a presentation she had heard regarding their new international corporate volunteer program, PULSE, presented by Ahysia Posner Mencin, Ph. D. We sat discussing the program and its approach with vice president Marie Eckstein, and I mused, “I’ve often thought a service-learning approach would help us to see opportunities at the ‘Base of the Pyramid.’” Stephanie turned to me, pointed, and said emphatically, “I want that.” Read More >>
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International Women's Day: Empowering Women in Business
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In celebration of International Women’s Day CDS would like to highlight the work of two organizations in Morocco that are empowering women in business. “This is a place where women can come – and celebrate themselves – openly and have other women celebrate them.” Manal Elattir, a young and ambitious social entrepreneur from Morocco, tells us as we sit and listen to describe why her and a group of dedicated women were working tirelessly afterhours as volunteers to help build L’Association du Réseau de femmes pour le Mentoring/ Networking (MWM). Read More >>
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George Washington University Capstone Adventure - Part 1
International Corporate Volunteerism | March 8th, 2012
Quantifying impact is the bane of many industries' existence - CSR, impact investing and development NGOs striving for more rigorous program assessments come to mind. Until two months ago, we had only vague ideas about how difficult it is to turn anecdotes and output measurements into impact values.
We're four graduate students in international development at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. During our final semester, we complete a capstone project that is essentially pro bono consulting for a development organization. Having formed a team based on our mutual interest in private sector engagement in development, CDC Development Solutions (CDS) was top on our list of organizations to approach with our proposal.
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