Your Organization and Your Community

Jun 10, 2021 | Board of Trade Staff

In communities struggling with racial, social, and economic division, there are likely active community-level organizations working hard to build bridges and opportunity. Can you identify those groups in your surrounding community and do you know how to support them? Is your corporate giving strategy aligned with your organization’s diversity and inclusion commitments? How else can you use your capabilities to support social justice movements at critical junctures? Watch this session to explore these questions and more, and to learn how you can leverage the influence of your organization to serve your community on its journey towards greater equity.

Moderator: Jack McDougle, President and CEO, Greater Washington Board of Trade

Speakers:

Christine Hoisington, Head of Community Impact + Philanthropy and Executive Director, Booz Allen Foundation
Shelley Sylva, SVP and Head of Social Impact, TD Bank

Webinar Recording

Summary

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is changing for many companies, particularly as it relates to racial equity issues. Shelly Sylva at TD Bank pointed out that companies are now more likely to go beyond expressing empathy for Black and Brown communities and take tangible action to benefit those communities. There is an increased willingness to focus on the needs of Black communities and to have uncomfortable conversations that many people have traditionally avoided. Christine Hoisington from Booz Allen Foundation added that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and CSR have become more integrated into how businesses operate, rather than being sidelined into an independent department.
Shelley Sylva explained that TD Bank has organized its CSR efforts around the “three C’s”: colleagues, community, and customers. Leaders and employees are asked to examine how the bank’s capabilities can benefit people in these three categories. This integrates the bank’s core business function into its CSR efforts.
One important lesson learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is that speed is critical in a crisis. Shelley Sylva explained that TD Bank’s existing CSR framework and partnerships allowed it to deliver help quickly.
Partner nonprofit organizations need philanthropic support, but the best partnerships go beyond giving and include capacity-building activities and pro-bono work as well. Booz Allen has a large employee pro-bono program to provide business assistance to nonprofit partners and keep their employees engaged in their CSR efforts. Shelley Sylva from TD Bank added that multi-year support is also important; nonprofits need long-term stability to make real change and build their own capacity.

About the Racial & Social Equity Webinar Series

The Greater Washington Board of Trade’s Racial and Social Equity Webinar Series will provide business leaders across the region the knowledge and tools they need to build more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organizations. It will help leaders identify drivers of inequity and injustice and take concrete steps towards being agents of positive change.

Presenting Sponsor and Knowledge Partner