Monthly Archives: November 2011

New Year’s Resolutions on Human Trafficking

I take New Year’s resolutions seriously, which is why I am hard at work on my 2012 resolutions now. As I think about changes I’ll make in 2012, I wonder what resolutions we’ll see from business leaders as the new year begins. In particular, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act takes effect on January 1 and will require business leaders to communicate what they are doing to address slavery and human trafficking. Many do not realize that this is still a 21st-century problem. However, through violence, threats and coercion, victims are forced to work in, among other things, the sex trade, domestic labor, factories, hotels and agriculture. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are an estimated 600,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year. Of these, approximately 80 percent are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are children. California has been reported to be one of the top four destination states for trafficking victims in the United States.
Posted on Monday, November 28th, 2011 By Leela Stake
Catogories  CR in North America What's Next for CR | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Debate Over School Lunch

Normally, we think of the government stepping in to regulate business when corporations overextend their reach in one way or another. When it comes to school lunches, however, it looks like the opposite may be happening. The U.S. government was on the right track when the President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act nearly a year ago, followed by the announcement of new dietary guidelines earlier this fall. Just this week, however, Congress proposed new rules that would consider pizza a vegetable in school lunches. This comes on the heels of the potato lobby (yes, Virginia, there is a potato lobby) and other groups fighting for starchy vegetable allotments to remain unchanged in school lunches, leaving little to no room for healthier options to make their way onto cafeteria trays.
Posted on Friday, November 18th, 2011 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration CR in North America Health | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

BSR Conference Highlights

Two colleagues and I attended the 2011 BSR Conference a few weeks ago in San Francisco. As usual, the conference provided inspirational speakers, engaging sessions and thought-provoking ideas to consider. This year’s theme was “Redefining Leadership.” The BSR team effectively organized the presentations and discussions around this topic, and participants were able to address leadership from a variety of angles. There were a few items that jumped out for the APCO team that we want to share with SP readers. You may also want to scroll through our tweets from the conference.
Posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 By Tara Greco
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration Communicating CR CR in North America | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Secret to America’s Success

We spend a lot of time talking and thinking about the business benefits of employee volunteerism. What we’ve spent less time talking about is the benefit of prospective employee volunteerism. In this age of high unemployment in the United States, this is something we need to spend more time looking at. LinkedIn got the value of showcasing volunteer experience to potential employers and recently added functionality that lets users add their community engagement to their profiles. This week, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former Senator Bob Graham eloquently made the connection in an op-ed in USA Today: Jobs and civics go hand in hand.
Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 By Andrea Shatzman
Catogories  Community Engagement Volunteerism & Service | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment