The Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR),
co-organized by the Asian Institute of Management - Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr.
Center for Corporate Social Responsibility (AIM - RVR CSR Center) and the Asia
Inc Forum, with the theme, "Unleashing Social Entrepreneurship: New
Partnerships for a Better World", opened today at the Shangri-La Hotel,
Bangkok, Thailand.
"The 14th AFCSR takes place, as Charles Dickens would
say, '(at) the best of times and (at) the worst of times'. These are the best
of times, because human ingenuity, entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic
advancement have transformed the lives of many millions of people for the
better, in a way that previous generations could not imagine.
These are also the worst of times - because millions of people
continue to live in poverty, without access to health, and education; because
inequalities continue to grow between and within nations; because environmental
degradation continues unabated; and because violence and extremism continue to
displace millions of people, resulting to a humanitarian crisis, which we see
on television every day, almost without precedent," stated Dato Timothy
Ong, AFCSR Conference Chairman and Chairman of Asia Inc Forum.
Recognizing the Knowledge and Abilities of Communities
Leading the discussions was Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, founder of Barefoot
College in India, who shared his experiences working with rural communities in
his home country. Since its founding in 1972, Barefoot College harnessed rural
knowledge and skills to provide housing, education, and adequate water supply
to communities.
"A professional who has the combination of competence,
confidence, and belief," shared Roy, who has been training illiterate
grandmothers to become solar power engineers. "The illiterate of the 21st
century is not someone who cannot read or write, but someone who cannot learn,
unlearn, and relearn."
Roy emphasized that the Barefoot Model of partnerships
between the government, community, and businesses is an alternative model that
has generated significant impact, transforming grandmothers from 70 countries
to be engineers and establishing 150 night schools powered with solar lanterns.
"Social enterprise is about building peoples' capacity to solve their own
problems. The Barefoot Model promotes growth from below and within," he
said. "We have to value people who work with their hands, not just those who
work with their minds."
Roy further underscored the spirit of risk-taking in order
to create impact. He also called on young entrepreneurs to work with
organizations whose values resemble theirs to understand what it is like to be
at the bottom.
Going Out of Your Comfort Zone
This mindset of going out of a business' comfort zone was
further echoed by Anna Meloto-Wilk, president and co-founder of Human Nature
Philippines, who shared, "Businesses are in a more comfortable position to
address society's challenges, but they need to overstep their boundaries and
define their purpose."
"How can we be innovators in doing social good? To be
innovative, you have to think like an entrepreneur. You need to do whatever it
takes, and you don't quit," Meloto-Wilk added, who used her corporate
background to build a popular Philippine brand whose products are developed by
communities. "Businesses need to embrace inconvenience. Businesses like to
be efficient and systematic, but we need to be willing to take some pain, whether
it be our profits or having a longer conversation with our stakeholders in
order to make really meaningful changes in our society."
Establishing the Foundations for Innovative Thinking
Meanwhile, Anjan Ghosh, Regional Director for Corporate
Affairs, Asia-Pacific and Japan of Intel Corporation, illustrated how
businesses could expand the boundaries of corporate social responsibility
(CSR).
"Development is not just about propelling economies.
It is also about promoting strong societies," stated Ghosh. "Innovation
and inclusion seem to be two sides of the same coin. What you are essentially
doing is creating opportunity and empowering people."
The sweet spot, however, as Ghosh pointed out, is creating
shared value - how can companies do good in such a way that it goes back to the
bottom line?
"How do you take what you're doing outside of your
company," asked Ghosh, explaining that Intel Corporation is now moving
toward CSR 3.0. "This is more transformative, as it shifted from being
business-centric to user-centric. We help society by empowering individuals
through skills and tools to innovate."
"The question we're asked is, 'Why do we do
this?'" continued Ghosh. "We're widening the pipeline for innovation.
The world is essentially your research laboratory. You have access to
multiplicity of ideas, and you create diversity. Putting diversity goals is
adding to your ability to innovate."
-Making Financing Accessible
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