Career Resources: Corporate Social Responsibility

"Orange County United Way has over 90 years of experience leading Corporate Social Responsibility and consulting with major corporations and businesses to solve our most difficult local challenges."

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

" We believe that rationally regulated free enterprise capitalism is the most powerful economic system for social cooperation and human progress ever conceived – when practiced consciously. Conscious Capitalism produces businesses that are good, ethical, noble and heroic. Our organization helps companies become more conscious with transformational experiences that inspire, educate and empower them to elevate humanity through business. By joining or supporting Conscious Capitalism, Inc. you can help create a world in which business is both practiced and perceived as the greatest force for good."

According to investment expert Audrey Choi, individuals own almost half of all global capital, giving them (us!) the power to make a difference by investing in companies that champion social values and sustainability. "We have more opportunity today than ever before to make choices," she says. "So change your perspective. Invest in the change you want to see in the world."

Sustainability is pretty clearly one of the world's most important goals; but what groups can really make environmental progress in leaps and bounds? Chris McKnett makes the case that it's large institutional investors. He shows how strong financial data isn't enough, and reveals why investors need to look at a company's environmental, social and governance structures, too.

You might not expect the chief operating officer of a major global corporation to look too far beyond either the balance sheet or the bottom line. But Harish Manwani, COO of Unilever, makes a passionate argument that doing so to include value, purpose and sustainability in top-level decision-making is not just savvy, it's the only way to run a 21st century business responsibly.

Most of us want to do the right thing when it comes to the environment. But things aren’t as simple as opting for the paper bag, says sustainability strategist Leyla Acaroglu. A bold call for us to let go of tightly-held green myths and think bigger in order to create systems and products that ease strain on the planet.

Your company might have donated money to help solve humanitarian issues, but you could have something even more useful to offer: your data. Mallory Freeman shows us how private sector companies can help make real progress on big problems -- from the refugee crisis to world hunger -- by donating untapped data and decision scientists.

Why do we turn to nonprofits, NGOs and governments to solve society's biggest problems? Michael Porter admits he's biased, as a business school professor, but he wants you to hear his case for letting business try to solve massive problems like climate change and access to water. Why? Because when business solves a problem, it makes a profit — which lets that solution grow.

Every day, we use materials from the earth without thinking, for free. But what if we had to pay for their true value: would it make us more careful about what we use and what we waste? Think of Pavan Sukhdev as nature's banker — assessing the value of the Earth's assets. Eye-opening charts will make you think differently about the cost of air, water, trees ...

At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional "take / make / waste" industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce.

Management theorist Simon Sinek suggests, it's someone who makes their employees feel secure, who draws staffers into a circle of trust. But creating trust and safety — especially in an uneven economy — means taking on big responsibility.

The big blue buildings of Ikea have sprouted solar panels and wind turbines; inside, shelves are stocked with LED lighting and recycled cotton. Why? Because as Steve Howard puts it: “Sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do.” Howard, the chief sustainability officer at the furniture megastore, talks about his quest to sell eco-friendly materials and practices — both internally and to worldwide customers — and lays a challenge for other global giants.

In a data-packed talk, Woods shares a fresh way to assess the impact all parts of business can have on all parts of society, and then adjust them to not only do less harm but actually improve things. Learn more about how executives can move beyond corporate social responsibility to "total societal impact" -- for the benefit of both a company's bottom line and society at large.

It illustrates the key role of the millenial Generation in today's new social economy.

A documentary film about the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, in which more than 1100 people died and 2400 were injured making clothes for many Western retailers. Through a series of compelling interviews and unseen archive footage, the film gives a voice to those directly affected, and provides an insight into how the incredible growth in the garment industry has transformed Bangladesh, in particular the lives of women.

In a sleepy lagoon off the coast of Japan is a highly guarded secret. During the night, Taiji fishermen engage in an unseen hunt for hundreds of dolphins.

The inside story of one of history's greatest business scandals, in which top executives of America's seventh largest company walked away with over one billion dollars, while investors and employees lost everything.

DVD Call #: TD348 .F56 2008
Investigates the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply from the perspective of politics, economics, pollution and environmental issues, human rights, public health, and the effects of corporate greed and apathetic governments. Features interviews with scientists and activists, who discuss the water crisis at both the global and human scale. Also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies to address the problem.

Lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing how our nation's food supply is controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profits ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it's produced and who we have become as a nation.

Provides an analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008. At a cost of over $20 trillion, it caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, this film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia.

Monsanto Company is the world's leader in agricultural chemicals, seed and genetically modified crops, as well as being one of the most controversial companies in industrial history. This film uses hitherto unpublished documents and testimonies of victims, scientists and politicians to expose Monsanto's lack of care in protecting the environment and the health of those exposed to their products. Shows how the company promoted such products as Roundup (glyphosate), bovine growth hormone, and genetically modified plants.