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Amway hosts global corporate citizenship conference
When Amway’s corporate citizenship department recently hosted its first ever Amway Global Corporate Citizenship Conference, it was accurately referred to as a “mini United Nations” by UNICEF speaker David Anthony.
The event drew more than 50 affiliate staff from more than 20 Amway markets around the world. Guests at the conference included representatives from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, UNICEF and Microsoft. The ultimate purpose of the conference was to advance corporate citizenship throughout Amway by demonstrating the company’s continued commitment to corporate citizenship, equipping affiliates to implement corporate citizenship initiatives and identifying next steps to strengthen the company’s corporate citizenship global impact.
Boston College Center faculty member Ron Brown facilitated a discussion to assist participants in understanding the scope, business case and key drivers for corporate citizenship at Amway. It was the continuation of a discussion Ron started with Amway headquarters just a few years ago when Amway created a separate corporate citizenship department and a strategic plan to enhance and build upon the company’s efforts. Amway headquarters has come a long way since that initial conversation and affiliate markets are catching up as well. To chart their progress, associates participated in a global assessment to determine the company’s stage of corporate citizenship, reviewed the process for the company to achieve exceptional performance in corporate citizenship and developed strategies to remove obstacles to achieving exceptional performance.
Amway is a company with a history of giving hope through its business opportunity and its philanthropic efforts. Amway’s founders and top executives are highly committed to corporate citizenship and Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel spoke at the conference to reinforce why. “Corporate citizenship is something Amway has always done,” said Amway Chairman Steve Van Andel, “just long before there was a name for it.” Amway’s corporate giving is a testament to the founding DeVos and Van Andel families’ belief that businesses need to share their resources with the communities where they do business. Amway’s commitment to community is reinforced though its corporate vision of helping people live better lives.
Dan Bross, Microsoft’s Senior Director of Global Citizenship, could relate to Amway’s commitment to being a global corporate citizen and shared about Microsoft’s journey through a corporate citizenship transformation.
Microsoft’s change from a naive local community effort to a robust strategically focused global program was not by accident, it was very intentional. They created ‘Microsoft Unlimited Potential’ to focus corporate citizenship efforts on transforming education, fostering local education and enabling jobs and opportunity – anytime, anywhere. However, Dan warned, any good intended program will fall flat without end to end accountability, from country managers to the board of directors. “Corporate citizenship needs to be a horizontal line through a vertical business,” said Dan. Another crucial element: focus, focus and focus.
Amway’s primary expression of its corporate citizenship efforts is through its One by One Campaign for Children. Continuing to build on the program and increase non profit partners was a key topic throughout the conference. David Anthony, editor of UNICEF’s ‘State of the World’s Children’, reinforced with the following child survival statistics why a focus on children is so important:
- 3 million children die each year within 24 hours of birth
- 1 in 6 children in Africa die before age 5
- 9.7 million children under age 5 die each year in Africa
With the help of companies like Amway, UNICEF was able to positively impact those numbers and, in five years, reduced measles in Africa by 90%. Amway has a pan-European partnership with UNICEF through its One by One Campaign for Children and has provided 90,000 life saving immunizations over the past five years. “It is not them and us, but we,” said David, “There is as much to gain as there is to give, and as much to learn as there is to teach.”
Conference participants had more to learn as Ron Brown facilitated discussions around alignment of corporate citizenship activities into development, operations and community support that create greater impact for society. “A corporate citizenship issue is strategic when there is a convergence of social and business interests,” said Ron.
Amway’s One by One Campaign for Children is a perfect example. The program focuses on providing children with the resources they need to LIVE, ACHIEVE, LEARN and of course, PLAY. Each market has the ability to build partnerships with local non profit organizations that address issues specific to children in their communities. And Amway has proven its commitment to addresses children’s critical social issues over the past five years. Since Amway launched the One by One Campaign for Children in 2003, they have impacted more than 5.5 million children worldwide, contributed more than 839,000 volunteer hours, and shared more than $52 million.
“Amway is to be commended for its commitment to advance corporate citizenship globally,” said Ron Brown. “The progress of the company’s One by One Campaign, its dedication to sustainable business practices and the investment to hold a global conference to advance these efforts, are all clear illustrations of this commitment.”
Amway is focused on deepening the impact of its corporate citizenship strategies and this conference was one way to share insights and best practices in reputation management, corporate citizenship and environmental impact programs – and of course strengthen One by One programs around the world!
A post conference survey shows Amway’s Global Corporate Citizenship Conference was a great success. The demonstrated corporate commitment, the learning experience and the relationships developed provided the momentum to both embrace and implement a true global initiative.
