Denver, Colorado

CH2M Hill


This morning I drove out of Denver with the Rock Mountains in the distance, to hunt down Patty Keck at CH2M Hill in a business estate about 30min away.I was mildly affected by the altitude as the 'mile high' status of this city takes a while for the lungs to adjust! With 23,000 employees (mainly engineers) across 220 offices in many countries, CH2M Hill faces many cultural challenges similar to that of WorleyParsons, and has been very successful in branding itself as a leader in Sustainability, bother internally as a role of corporate citizenship, and externally as a business consulting service. It also have a strong position in disaster relief.

Who I met: Patty Keck, Director, Community Investment

website: www.ch2m.com/ <http://www.ch2m.com/>

About CH2M Hill: Motivated to achieve the "triple bottom line" benefits of environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic progress, CH2M HILL's professionals apply sustainability principles to practically every design, construction, and operations challenge our clients face.

CH2M HILL possesses both the culture and the talent to deliver lasting results for complex, multi-disciplinary, long-term projects. We promote the technical interaction required to create robust, system-based, and integrated sustainable solutions, producing tangible benefits for the environment, communities, and our clients' business success.

Key Messages:

Patty explained the selection process as what gets corporate support by CH2M Hill (i.e not funded out of location operating budgets). Last year 2 global themes/initiatives were selected 

1) Environmental Sustainability

2) Science & Technology Education

These are intended to be supported by all offices, and represent ~80% of funding, 20% to locally selected and implemented community initiatives.

There is a high level of staff voluntary involvement (unpaid) and the company is considering a paid structure for some Pro Bono type work.

Other points made:

- The annual Sustainability report ties together many pieces of work being managed by selected managers who sit within a range of business units (distributed model). There is no central Governance committee or equivalent.

- Awards like Catalyst (women's / diversity) are applied for. Top 100 most Ethical companies

- Partners with Engineers Without Borders ~100 participants pa.

- Participates in World Economic Forum "Disaster Resource Network" (Gary Craft) setting up structure and resources in a co-ordinated manner

- CEO attends CECP forums

- Challenges around volunteerism, becomes low priority when busy or harder economic climate.
- Transparency around link between core business and community work is sincere and open

 Engineers Without Borders (EWB) USA

Dubbed the “Blueprint Brigade,” by Time Magazine, EWB-USA grew from little more than a handful of members in 2002 to over 12,000 today.  EWB-USA has over 350 projects in over 45 developing countries around the world including water, renewable energy, sanitation and more.  These projects are completed in partnership with local communities and NGOs.

Who I Met: Art Ens. Business Development & Strategy

Art's role is to provide overall strategic leadership and management for implementation of EWB-USA's fundraising efforts. Our goal is to create numerous, efficient, and compelling opportunities for donors to support EWB-USA and to make the experience of giving satisfying and rewarding. Responsibilities include annual giving, major gifts, foundation giving, planned giving, and all fundraising support functions.
EWB-USA helps create a more stable and prosperous world by addressing people's basic human needs by providing necessities such as clean water, power, sanitation and education.

EWB-USA’s strength comes from its over 250 dedicated chapters, including university chapters on 180 campuses in the United States.

New York High Line in Sunshine

New York exploration with Maggie from KPMG

Wall St & Midtown Corporate Citizenship Hunt

AccountAbility

Who I met: Karl Pfalzgraf    Director at  AccountAbility

web:   http://www.accountability.org/

Bio on Karl Pfalzgraf:

http://www.accountability.org/about-us/our-people/karl-pfalzgraf.html

Key themes discussed: We explored successful models of corporate social responsibility and learn how buy-in among shareholders, employees and clients is obtained.

AccountAbility is a leading international organisation providing innovative solutions to the most critical challenges in corporate responsibility and sustainable development. Since 1995 we have been helping corporations, non-profits and governments embed ethical, environmental, social, and governance accountability into their organisational DNA. Our unique value proposition brings together leading-edge research, widely-recognised standards and strategic advisory services to deliver practical solutions for our clients.  

Key Messages:

- Young company providing services

- Practical models / guidelines ready to use for CSR at companies

- Keen to expand into Australia

- Further communications and collaboration expected

This was a  really fun experience, and I especially enjoyed spending lunch on Madison Ave with 4 of the team discussing a range of relevant issues. 

AccountAbility team lead by Karl Pfalzgraf - Madison Ave lunch after a great meeting 

 Recognise the street sceene from Mad Men TV series?

 The Roosevelt Hitel, Madison Ave

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy. (CECP)

 

Who I met: Ms. Margaret Coady, Director at the The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy. She was told that you are interested in learning more about the work of the organization as well as to explore its philosophy on the best strategies to maximize the impact of donations.

A bio: http://www.corporatephilanthropy.org/about-cecp/staff.html

 

What they do:

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy is the only international forum of business CEOs and chairpersons focused exclusively on corporate philanthropy.

 

CECP's mission is to lead the business community in raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. We offer our members essential resources, including a proprietary online benchmarking tool, networking programs, research, and opportunities for best-practice sharing.

 

CECP believes that discipline applies to philanthropy, like any other business function. When companies demonstrate programmatic effectiveness, fiscal accountability, and good stewardship in their philanthropic programs, society and business both stand to benefit greatly. Through innovative programs like those aimed at eradicating disease or raising childhood literacy rates, companies can also improve employee retention and heighten brand recognition.

 

Key Messages –

-          Important for senior manager to debate the role of business involvement in solving social projects

-          Learn from others: Open discussions at a peer level can be very productive to simplify complex themes

 

 

 



New York New York

Roof & city skyline from Susie & Mat's place in Midtown-Chealsea area of Manhattan

 Susie & Mat

 Susie & Maggie at The Met roof overlooking Central Park

 Bamboo art sculpture on roof of The Met

Harvard - more

Marni making a statement ....

 Harvard Yard architecture

Harvard University - Kennedy School

I am still in Boston. This week doing a one week course on "Leadership for the 21Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage" at Harvard ....so this baby is going to be highly educated before it is even born! The 68 'executives' are from 19 countries and are an impressive group.

What is the course about?

"In our daily lives, we all operate from a certain set of assumptions by which we make decisions. Whether we know it or not, we are often guided by our gut. Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage is an executive education program offered at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government that delves into why we lead the way we do. The program offers a personal, stimulating, and challenging week that invites you to learn how to act courageously and skillfully when exercising leadership.

The program is different from the average leadership development programs that focus primarily on building a distinct set of skills and tactics. Leadership for the 21st Century does more by pushing you to reflect on your deepest assumptions and most strongly held values, and encouraging you to consider how your values and beliefs may have limited you in the past. It challenges you to look beyond formulating quick technical solutions that act as band-aids to deeper organizational challenges, and instead asks you to examine yourself and the competing commitments and loyalties in your organization or community.

The five-day course requires participants to be actively engaged on several levels - in the classroom, in small groups, and in individual reflection. You will discuss issues like creating and claiming value, understanding the relationship between leadership and authority, exercising influence, and managing the individual and institutional dynamics of change. We will explore a wide range of leadership strategies and practice new ways of exercising leadership, whether in a position of authority or just one member of a group. We will confront the dangers and risks associated with exercising leadership – the chaos and conflict – and explore how you can build up your capacity to navigate unpredictable waters.

Where is your leadership taking you? Do you have the courage and skills to exercise leadership for the purposes you care about most? Leadership for the 21st Century is a provocative seminar that introduces a set of conceptual frameworks and a unique teaching method designed to challenge your fundamental assumptions about how you can courageously and effectively exercise leadership and authority during hard times."

 

The Boston Intellectuals

MIT Sloan School of Management: Dr Jason Jay

Boston College (Centre for Corporate Citizenship): Dr Chris Pinney  & Sandra Waddock

New England (gorgeous) achitecture houses the centre

Paula Bennett (NZ) and Dr. Chris Pinney

Key Messages:

Boston and the 30degF Temperature Drop

Tufts Gordon Institute:

I rugged up in my winter coat and headed off on the train to outskirts of Boston to Tuft's University. I wandered through downtown Boston and Boston Common to catch the Red line train to Davis Square....which passed by MIT, Harvard to get there....there is a lot of 'grey matter' in this part of the world. I suppose that is why I came to Boston. Some of the train stations are named after business strategy gurus like Porter (of 'Ports 5 forces' fame). Only a geek like me would notice.


Who I met: Nancy Buczko, Associate Director of Tufts Gordon Institute
About Tufts Gordon Institute:
"Inspiring a new generation of leaders"

The mission of Tufts Gordon Institute is to educate and develop its students to become engineering and entrepreneurial leaders on the world stage. We prepare students to serve in leadership positions ranging from technical project leaders to leaders of entrepreneurial startups, technology-driven companies, non-profits and Fortune 500 corporations.

TGI’s vision is to be a nationally recognized center for education, research, and service at the boundaries of engineering, business, and public policy. We will be thought leaders in the areas of engineering leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation. In accomplishing this vision, Tufts Gordon Institute will be a prominent and important asset to Tufts University and society as a whole.

Key topics discussed:
1.Leadership across boundaries of engineering, business and public policy.
2. Instead of generic MBAs, what do future leaders of technology businesses need to prepare them for success. i.e business case development, entrepreneurial skills etc etc
3. Women participation.

Nancy came to the rescue and led me to a local hospital to get some pregnancy related blood tests done - and provided a great tip to take the ferry to Salem on the weekend....Thanks!

Capitol Hill, ExxonMobil & BCLC

The last day of 'team events' kicked off with a super-stretch limo ride from hotel to Capitol Hill for tours of key buildings and breakfast with some active lobbyists and chief of staff for Congressman. We were hosted by a number of ExxonMobil representatives who lead us to The State Department (which I learnt is the US version for Foreign Affairs).

We visited Sewell-Belmont house which is the oldest residence on Capital Hill - http://www.sewallbelmont.org/ it houses the oldest feminist library and historical information on women's movements that lead to women in the US being given the right to vote in the 1920s.

Sewell-Belmont House:

Me heading to Congress...

We then headed to the State Department - which is a VERY impressive building and are the offices of Hillary Clinton's staff who work in diplomacy & foreign affairs. We had a lunch discussion with a team looking into international projects to support 1) Women & Girls 2)Heath care entrepreneurship etc

ExxonMobil office I visited in Virginia



ExxonMobil

Who I met: Noa Gimelli, Corporate Citizenship, ExxonMobil Corporation

Company info:
The Exxon Mobil Corporation, or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company,[3] and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are located in Irving, Texas.

ExxonMobil is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world, having been ranked either #1 or #2 for the past 5 years. However they are currently 4th according to Forbes Global 2000. Exxon Mobil's reserves were 72 billion oil-equivalent barrels at the end of 2007 and, at then (2007) rates of production, are expected to last over 14 years.[4] With 37 oil refineries in 21 countries constituting a combined daily refining capacity of 6.3 million barrels, Exxon Mobil is the largest refiner in the world,[5][6] a title that was also associated with Standard Oil since its incorporation in 1870.[7]

ExxonMobil is the largest of the six oil supermajors[8] with daily production of 3.921 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent). In 2008, this was approximately 3% of world production, which is less than several of the largest state-owned petroleum companies.[9] When ranked by oil and gas reserves it is 14th in the world with less than 1% of the total.[10][11]

Key messages: Discussed a range of issues including

1) The model/structure of Corporate Citizenship within ExxonMobil (link to core business vs work of Foundaation). Annual report drives metrics and active assessment. 19 internal interviews and 250 reviews of the report. http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/Imports/ccr2009/pdf/community_ccr_2009.pdf


2) The focus areas of Corporate Citizenship (Women's economic opportunity, Careers in Maths & Science, Community development, Malaria etc)...example of Supply Chain responsibility and potential to work with contractors

3) Engaging change in a 'Texas' culture - tapping into those with influence & authority to be change agents.

Useful tips -
1) 'Materiality assessment' template to assess the priority of issues facing internal and external stakeholders
2) CATALYST group for gender policy in private sector - New York conference

US Chamber of Commerce: Business Civic Leadership Centre (BCLC)

Who I met:  Stephen Jordan, Executive Director and Senior Vice President of the Business Civic Leadership Center.

Topic: The role of businesses in sustainability and community involvement and improvement programs.

The Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) is a 501(c)3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation. BCLC is the U.S. Chamber's resource and voice for businesses and their social and philanthropic interests.   

BCLC's vision is for the positive role of business in society to be understood and advanced. Our mission is to promote better business and society relations and improve long-term social and economic conditions by:

BCLC works with leaders from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to address and act on shared goals.  Our overarching goal is to help build good will, good relations, and good markets by focusing on issues that affect businesses from a social and economic standpoint.

Stephen Jordan is the founder and executive director of the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC), the corporate citizenship affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.Stephen leads BCLC's engagement with a broad spectrum of companies, chambers of commerce, government agencies, and non-profit organizations in the United States and overseas. He has worked on numerous U.S. and global development and disaster recovery challenges including Katrina, Cedar Rapids, the Southeast Asia Tsunami, and the Haiti earthquake.

In addition to his work at BCLC, Stephen currently serves on the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Board of Governors of the Corporate Responsibility Officers' (CRO) Association and the New World Institute.  Stephen is also a Caux Round Table fellow.

Key Messages: NGO partnerships a realistic option for global disaster response work, their 'global corporate citizenship' partners would be great to tap into and learn more.

Lockheed Martin visit - Maryland

On a warm 30C day, a black limousine picked 4 of us up at hotel and before breakfast we drove from Washington DC to Maryland via Virginia to visit Linda Gooden and some senior VPs at Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a United States aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Lockheed Martin employs 140,000 people worldwide. Robert J. Stevens is the current Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer.
Lockheed Martin is among the very largest defense contractors in the world, and in 2008 70% of Lockheed Martin's revenues came from military sales.^[1]
The company has received the Collier Trophy twice - in 2001 for being part of developing the X-35/F-35B LiftFan Propulsion System,^[2][3][4] and again in 2006 for leading the team that developed the F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

Who we visited: Linden Gooden, Executive VP of Information Systems & Global Solutions;  Richard Johnson, VP Chief Technology Officer; Thomas Oles, VP Business Development ;Shan Cooper, VP Human Resources

Who from EF visited: me (Australia), Shen Bing (China), Matha Rivera (Mexico), Aysegul Ildeniz (Turkey)

Key learnings: 

Discussed leadership model that has resulted in 3 of of 4 business unit operational managers as women in a male dominated industry. Emphasis on integrity, ethics and opportunity across full spectrum of leadership: 1)Share the vision 2) Energise the team 3)Build effective relationships (customers & CSR), 4) focus on performance & results. 30% female staff, 15% minority staff. Mandatory female and minority representation at job interview which feeds the pipeline of talent and has proven successful over 10 years.

Corporate Social responsibility funded by $100m pre tax profit each year, focus on employee volunteerism, school education of maths & sciences, sponsorship at universities.

Personal tips from Linda's success - create an internal and external brand for self in company & industry - participation on boards etc.

Washington DC in Sunshine

The weekend in Washington DC was a chance to relax and prepare for a busy week ahead of many interviews in DC and Boston. Sunshine drenched the city as many tourists took to the Smithsonian museums, memorials and historic sites.

On Saturday I soaked up Georgetown and shared a feast with the EF group at a Lebanese restaurant, while on Sunday I saw both the Newseum and National Art Gallery which were two places I missed out on last year. A highlight at the Newseum (history and reflections of the media and freedom of speech) was me getting in front of the news camera and teleprompter so see if I cut it as a journalist. I also particularly liked the sculpture gallery at National Art Gallery - the Degas and Rodins....

Marni the Journalist.....


Dinner in Georgetown....

Pennsylvania Ave between White House and Capitol Hill - view from Newseum

A 6 months pregnant Marni in Washington DC - 10/10/10

Breast cancer fundraiser walk ...  

 Finished up the weekend with dinner with friend Rosie at Dupont Circle's famous Kramerbooks bookstore cafe.

Meetings and Birthday Cake End to a Great Week

Group visit: to Comcast (100,000 employees across 49 states of USA. National broadband and cable TV company)...national headquarters in Philadelphia

Who went: Me (Australia), Shen Bing (China), Svida Alisjahbana (Indonesia), Paula Bennet (New Zealand),   Ayesegul Ildeniz (Turkey), John Wolf (USA), Anne McNiff (USA)

Visited: Charisse Lillie....who provided great insights and advice on  1. Corporate-Community programs 2. Leading diversity & change 3. Career transition (sponsors, mentors and creating a brand)

Wikipedia info:
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA and NASDAQ: CMCSK), founded in 1963, is the largest cable operator and the largest home Internet service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers^[3][4][5][6] in 39 states and the District of Columbia.^[7] Comcast also has significant holding in networks (including E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and Versus), distribution (ThePlatform), and related businesses. As of August 2010, Comcast's proposed acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal is pending government approval.
.

High up on the 52nd floor in what is Philly's answer to The Empire State Building - AMAZING VIEWS

After a debrief, it was time to celebrate my own and 4 others birthdays that will be while we are on Fellowship.....