Summary
Companies are discovering projects can not only help the bottom line, but when done right, they just might make the world a better place. Today, companies are expected to take more responsibility for themselves, for their conduct in society, and for the social and environmental impact they make, says Christopher Pinney, director of executive education at the Center for Corporate Citizenship, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects must offer viable answers to real issues. At Byrraju Foundation's Centre for Rural Transformation, there's a fundamental understanding that poverty, illiteracy and poor health drag down Indian society-and impair the ability of corporations to find the labor pool required to compete in the emerging digital economy. Starting in 2001, the foundation's trustees and leaders have identified major problems in rural villages and looked for innovative ways to help them achieve a sustainable economy and self-sufficiency. Almost everyone would agree working to save the rainforests is a noble and worthy cause, for example. But it also makes good business sense for Chiquita Brands International, a Cincinnati, Ohio, USA-based food grower and distributor operating in 70 countries. Those rainforests, after all, surround the areas where the company produces many of its products. So the company launched the Nature and Community Project in Nogal, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica. The project's goal is to introduce long-term biodiversity, conservation methods and environmental education as well as promote additional local income opportunities in areas where rainforests and natural habitats are threatened in the Sarapiqui region, says Jennifer Dinsmore, project manager.
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Good Citizenship
VERGHESE JACOB WANTS TO CHANGE INDIA one rural village at a The lead partner for Byrraju Foundation will tell you the poverty line in India is $1 day, and yet millions of people still live beneath that threshold. "Indian cities have benefited greatly from the growth and prosperity of Indian companies," he explains. "So, it's important to give something back and improve living conditions in villages."
For Byrraju Foundation, that means launching a barrage of life-altering projects. Hie not-for-profit organization is funded by Ramalin...See the full content of this document
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