In a year during which we’ve experienced so much strife, natural disaster, and gun violence, Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on what has gone right in 2018, the sparks of hope that remind us that we are actually progressing as a society. For me, the light of this year lies in the real, broad and meaningful ways in which businesses are using their capital and influence to positively impact society.
This year has been a tipping point. While the corporate social responsibility movement has been growing for more than 10 years, and in fact was founded more than 30 years ago, 2018 has shown us that companies really understand they must use their capital as a force for good and that society cannot rely on the government or nonprofits to make the sort of social change that is necessary to solve major issues like climate change, mass incarceration, and social injustice.
Here’s a quick look at ways in which companies stepped up in the past year.
- In Dec. 2017 Patagonia filed suit against the U.S. government for failing to protect conservation land and national parks. The company took a step not taken before, holding itself and the government responsible to public land. And it has continued throughout the year to stick with the legal battles of the movement, all at its own financial cost.
- Then, at the start of the New Year, Blackrock Investors, one of the premier Wall Street institutions, announced it gives investment priority to companies that operate with a purpose in addition to being profitable, primary because purpose is proving to be good for profits. This is a giant step primarily because a company that is solely focused on making money said that purpose makes money, thus giving other companies permission and encouragement to include purpose in their corporate missions as well.
- One month later, after the murder of 17 teenagers and teachers in Parkland, Florida, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart stopped selling assault rifles and increased the purchase age for all guns to 21. Rather than hoping and waiting for the government to act, these corporate giants took responsibility for their potential part in the increasing devastation that gun violence is having in our country.
- In the spring, JP Morgan, Morning Star and other investment giants said ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing is moving into the mainstream because companies that manage their environmental, material and social issues effectively “hold up better during market turbulence.” This was great news, again, because statements like these lead to increasing corporate responsibility.
- In 2018, we’ve seen businesses taking it upon themselves to solve major issues, like healthcare. Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Jaimie Diamond have come together to revolutionize healthcare and named Atul Gwande as the CEO of the initiative. Gwande is a speaker of truth and the companies behind him have clout and capital. Together the equation leads to hope for improved healthcare in our country.
- There is such a hunger for corporate social responsibility that employees are demanding their companies address major issues within 24 hours of news breaking. When the government was separating families at the border, airlines refused to fly children away from their parents. A few weeks ago, Google employees staged a walk out to protest the large pay outs given to executives charged with sexual misconduct. For the first time in the 30 years that I’ve been working, sexual harassment in the workplace is now something of which to be ashamed, and an act that can be penalized, rather than what it had been: just a regular part of any day at the office.
Let’s toast to this at Thanksgiving. Corporate Social Responsibility is no longer just a marketing tool; it’s an effective change agent during a time when large issues may feel unchangeable.
