Impact Audio

Carolyn Berkowitz, President and CEO of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals, dives into the pressing issues facing CSR professionals today. She highlights the challenges of shrinking budgets while expectations remain high, emphasizing the need for corporate leaders to recognize the true value of social impact work. Berkowitz discusses the importance of aligning CSR with company missions and attracting younger talent. She also addresses the critical need for diversity in CSR roles and the tools necessary to foster meaningful change.

Lever for Change has embraced a challenge model, which allows them to give big dollar prizes to community organizations. In addition to the funding, they’ve created the Bold Solutions Network which provides ongoing support to the winners and finalists from their challenges. Representatives from four different organizations within the Bold Solutions Network join us to share how Lever for Change’s holistic approach has unlocked their most transformational work.This episode covers how to: • Redefine the funder-grantee relationship• Integrate multiple world views• Lift up and co-create with the community• Build programs around systemic changeFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/bold-solutions

The ‘S’ in ESG encompasses everything from DEI initiatives to community investment programs and employee volunteering. For social impact practitioners, the big question is how you measure the impact of this work. Carmen Perez has spent her career helping teams get clarity about the short and long-term outcomes they want to achieve.This episode digs into how to:• Build the right measurement frameworks for your team• Understand the nuances of outputs versus outcomes• Capture the complexities of social impact• Leverage the data you already haveFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/carmen-perez

Learn how Lever for Change is revolutionizing philanthropy by offering challenge prizes to empower community organizations and drive systemic change. Discover the importance of redefining risk, building partnerships, and providing holistic support to create long-term impact.

Without employee support, CSR programs don’t stand much of a chance. But employees aren’t just looking to get involved, they want to be inspired. At Splunk, Patricia Toothman has made it her mission to strengthen the connections between teams and give everyone a sense of ownership in the company’s social impact work. This episode covers how to:• Lead without formal authority• Meet employees where they are • Develop a cohort of mission-focused peers• Align efforts across your companyFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/patricia-toothman

Social impact isn’t something you can measure on a quarterly basis. To understand the value of CSR programs, you have to take the long view. From her vantage as managing director of corporate insights & engagement for Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas sees a lot of companies making this mistake. She advocates for a paradigm shift in the corporate sector.This episode digs into how to:• Adapt to rapid change and new expectations • Tap into employees’ unique expertise• Adopt a long-term view of social impact• Tie individual efforts to systemic changeFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/kari-niedfeldt-thomas

Whether you’re at the beginning of your career or you’re decades in, working in CSR requires a unique ability to balance conflicting priorities. At a time when there’s more urgency than ever around social impact, Angela Parker believes that practitioners have a golden opportunity to redefine the value of their work. This episode covers how to:• Better understand your role as a facilitator • Apply a strategic framework to social impact• Find the organizations that align with your values • Connect DEI and CSR initiatives across teamsFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/angela-parker

At Okta, social good has been a priority since the beginning. But over time, the CSR team has shifted its understanding of what should drive these programs. It’s not just about taking the solutions the company has on hand and offering them to nonprofits. It’s about identifying the problems out in the world that Okta is uniquely positioned to help solve and then committing time and resources to run at them. This episode explores how to:• Identify your company’s superpower• Get grassroots support from employees• Take an ecosystem approach to supporting nonprofits • Build integrated CSR programs around what communities needFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: www.submittable.com/impact-audio/erin-baudo-felter

Google.org shatters the traditional CSR mold in a variety of ground-breaking ways. Their ability to do so is rooted in their unique approach to innovation and connecting social impact to personal experience. Though many companies don’t have the global presence and technical resources of Google, there’s a lot to learn from how they approach social problems—lessons that can guide CSR programs of any size and scope. This episode digs into how to:• Tap into every employees’ unique potential • Take concentrated risks to spur large-scale innovation • Build solutions for the long-term• Collaborate directly with impacted communitiesFor additional resources, visit our episode notes: submittable.com/impact-audio/jen-carter-future-of-CSR

What are the factors that encourage charitable giving and how should people decide where to focus their efforts? Effective altruism is a social movement and research initiative with unique (and controversial) responses to these questions. In this episode of Impact Audio, you’ll hear Luke Freeman, Executive Director of Giving What We Can, discussing the guiding principles behind his organization. Luke also talks about motivational psychology, CSR, impact measurement, the pandemic, and criticisms of effective altruism. Listen in to learn about:• What actually motivates people to give back • How businesses can support employee giving and lead by example• Giving What We Can’s process for choosing charities and measuring impact • The movement’s responses to trust-based philanthropy and criticism about causality• How US philanthropy sets itself apart from global giving We hope you enjoy the conversation.