Nowhere else have I got such a precise idea of what this expression means as I have at the Boston College Corporate Citizenship Center working with Katherine Smith.
The Center, founded in 1985, combines the power of the globally respected teaching and research of the Carroll School faculty, the insights and experience of more than 420 member companies, and the contributions of the 10,000 people who engage in their leadership development programs and networks every year. This knowledge is synthetized and put into practice through the brilliant engagement of Katherine, a former artist and serious fundraiser for large institutions that have decided to use her talents in leadership education.
We started working together many years ago, when the Center became part of an international network of training organizations that I was pulling together. Subsequently we worked together getting the inputs from US-based companies into the development of sustainability reporting guidelines which I was leading, and again when we designed a project to look into the future trends of sustainability and transparency around the globe, from a multiple perspective.
But it was only when we began to teach together that I really got access to Katherine’s precious knowledge and talents. Her views on the power and limitations of certain frameworks, the critical lessons to be learned from civil society engagement, or from major companies’ crises, were pure enlightment.
It has been an honor and a pleasure to teach with her for almost five years now. It has been really great fun! Together we share a vision of a future where managers and executives are equipped to understand the world where their organizations operate, the trends that are coming, and to promote the changes needed to build a better future for all of us.
To sample her wisdom I recommend you to get her book (written with Davis Stangis, from Campbell Soup Company): http://corporatecitizenship.bc.edu/21st-century-corporate-citizenship-a-practical-conversation.
Enjoy it!
by Nelmara Arbex
