A Good Force – a GivingForce original series

Summary
Coro Strandberg, President of Strandberg Consulting and co-founder and Chair of the Canadian Purpose Economy Project, traces her path from social work and the Vancity board to more than two decades advising businesses on social purpose. She explains how CSR evolved into sustainability and ESG, why metrics and executive incentives decide whether purpose ever leaves the boardroom, and how the Canadian Purpose Economy Project is working with boards, investors, business schools and disclosure standards to make social purpose the norm. She closes with practical first steps for companies ready to define their purpose and bring it to life.

Keywords
social purpose, CSR, sustainability, purpose economy, purpose governance, corporate governance, social impact, ESG, purpose disclosure, business transformation, social innovation

Key topics
The origins of social purpose and CSR
Transformational company guidelines and leadership
The importance of metrics and disclosure in purpose
The Canadian Purpose Economy Project and global efforts
Practical steps for companies to define and implement purpose

Sound bites
"Aligning those incentives was what drove subsequent innovation and really moved it from a boardroom agenda to, if you will, a management agenda."
"Boards of directors don't know the purpose of the companies that they're stewarding."
"A lot of businesses have an implicit purpose and they need to make it explicit."

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Coro Strandberg and her background
01:28 The start of Coro's journey in social responsibility
02:49 Early moves in community development and credit unions
03:15 The shift from philanthropy to strategic CSR in 1992
04:17 Communicating and embedding social responsibility in organisations
05:34 Incentivising management for social and environmental goals
07:27 The significance of metrics and sustainability reporting
09:16 The frontier ideas of purpose-driven business models
10:58 Transformational company guidelines and leadership qualities
12:54 The evolution from CSR to sustainability to ESG
15:01 The discovery of social purpose within organisations
16:46 The Canadian Purpose Economy Project and its vision
18:15 Gaps in purpose understanding and disclosure
19:27 Purpose governance guidelines and global outreach
23:20 First steps for companies to define purpose
24:41 The motivation behind purpose-driven work
26:07 Mobilising business for societal impact
27:01 Transforming business models to embed purpose
28:09 Operational shifts needed for purpose integration
29:32 Final thoughts and the importance of explicit purpose

Guest links
Coro Strandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corostrandberg
Strandberg Consulting: https://corostrandberg.com
Canadian Purpose Economy Project: https://purposeeconomy.ca

Summary
Christian Bader leads corporate social responsibility at Premium Food Group, in one of the most scrutinised industries there is: meat. He started out in journalism, then spent years farming in Zimbabwe, where he learnt that sustainability only sticks when it pays. He explains what really drives the carbon footprint of a steak, how deforestation-free soy became a sector-wide standard, and why a customer buying a product a second time is the number that tells him a sustainable product has worked.

Keywords
sustainability, food industry, climate action, responsible sourcing, regenerative agriculture, carbon footprint, deforestation-free soy, primary data, vegan food, hybrid food, industry collaboration

Key topics
Christian's career transition from journalism to sustainability
The complexity of environmental metrics and acronyms
The role of economic viability in sustainable farming
Impact of meat production on climate change
Innovative practices like regenerative agriculture and deforestation-free soy
Industry collaboration for sustainability standards
Consumer behaviour and product repurchasing as success metrics
The potential of vegan and hybrid foods as alternatives

Sound bites
"Sustainability and economic viability have to go hand in hand."
"When you are standing on a field in your gum boots, you realise that here sustainability is not a theory. It's about someone's livelihood."
"We're not gonna save the planet by hoping that people are going to become vegan."

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Christian Bader and his background
01:22 The complexity of environmental metrics and acronyms
01:53 Christian's career transition from journalism to farming and sustainability
02:46 The role of economic viability in sustainable farming
04:00 Christian's entry into corporate sustainability and climate action
06:49 Balancing animal welfare and climate impact in meat production
11:59 Exploring alternatives to traditional meat, including vegan options
13:43 Measuring success through consumer re-purchasing and product acceptance
15:34 Industry collaboration and setting sustainability standards
17:17 Collecting primary data and sector-wide sustainability initiatives
20:48 Christian's experience moving back to Germany and cultural adaptation

Guest links
Christian Bader on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-bader-84b43190/
Premium Food Group: https://premiumfoodgroup.de/en/

Summary
Emily Salazar is Director of Social Impact and Advocacy at Lime. She got her start in impact work as a master's student in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when a community garden she ran for local kids was sold to a developer. She organised the community, then went to the city as a partner rather than an opponent, and came away with a bigger garden on better land. From there she moved to HeadCount, where she brought digital tools into a paper-based voter registration operation, and then to Lime. She talks through Lime Access, Lime Hero and Lime to the Polls, and why impact only scales when it's built into the core business.

Keywords
social impact, urban mobility, micromobility, community engagement, advocacy, civic participation, voter registration, food access, sustainability, transport, Lime, HeadCount

Key topics
From community gardening to a career in impact and advocacy
Treating stakeholders as partners instead of opponents
Bringing digital tools to in-person voter registration at HeadCount
Why impact needs tech and marketing to scale
Lime Access, Lime Hero and Lime to the Polls

Takeaways
Advocacy works better when you treat the other side as a partner.
Digital tools paired with in-person organising reach people you'd never meet face to face.
Impact needs tech, marketing and product thinking behind it to scale.
Impact programmes grow fastest when they're tied to the core business.
Expect to fail and iterate. The collaboration lesson has to be relearned more than once.

Sound bites
"Impact is not just impact, it's tech, it's marketing, it's all of these other things, and it can't be siloed into just this impact space."
"Impact and advocacy doesn't have to work against business and development."
"Mobility is such a fundamental part of everyday life for city dwellers."

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Emily Salazar
01:05 Community gardening and food access in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
03:13 The garden sale and grassroots organising
05:02 Shifting from adversarial to collaborative advocacy
07:25 Learning the collaboration lesson again and again
08:24 Scaling civic engagement at HeadCount
10:43 Bringing digital tools to voter registration
12:37 Why impact needs tech and marketing
13:21 Burnout, 2020 and the move to Lime
15:33 Why transport access is social impact
17:47 Lime Impact Lab and Lime Access
20:28 Lime Hero, Lime to the Polls and Lime's impact pillars
22:18 What's next for Emily

Guest links
Emily Salazar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygibbs1/
Lime: https://www.li.me
Lime Impact Lab: https://www.li.me/why/community
HeadCount: https://www.headcount.org

Summary
Richard Donovan shares his journey from being involved in the launch of a new bank to leading global social innovation at Experian, highlighting key projects, challenges, and insights into creating impactful social programmes.

Keywords
social innovation, corporate responsibility, financial inclusion, social impact, Experian, innovation culture, social programmes, debt management, youth employment, systemic change

Key topics
Journey from the launch of Egg to leading social innovation at Experian
The importance of being prepared and creative in crisis situations
Transferable skills from communications to social impact
The process of integrating culture during mergers and acquisitions
Designing and testing social innovation programmes using research and AI
Success stories like the Brazil debt platform and work experience centres
The role of systemic thinking in social programme success and failure

Sound bites
"We realized we were way more successful than expected"
"Over indebtedness is a huge issue in Brazil"
"Using AI to build better customer journeys at speed"

Guest links
Richard Donovan on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/richardadonovan
Experian: https://www.experianplc.com

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Richard Donovan's background
01:12 Starting at Egg and the launch chaos
02:02 Lessons from the Egg launch experience
03:01 Transition from innovation to social impact
04:11 Cultural integration during the Egg and Citi merger
08:27 Focusing social innovation efforts at Experian
11:30 Success and challenges in social programmes
12:41 Brazil's debt platform and its impact
14:08 Personal motivation and career shifts
16:34 The importance of problem understanding in innovation
18:14 Using workshops and AI for social innovation
19:53 Rapid development and scaling of social solutions
20:07 Impact of AI on social programme speed
21:11 Advice for social innovation and corporate responsibility
25:29 Systems thinking and systemic change in social programmes
26:39 Closing remarks and gratitude

Summary
Faith Taylor has built sustainability functions from scratch at Wyndham Worldwide, Tesla, and now Kyndryl. She walks through what actually works — making the business case with small wins, focusing effort where it counts, and staying resilient when progress is slow — and argues that intentionality matters more than ambition in creating change that lasts.

Keywords
ESG, sustainability, CSR, climate change, data centres, renewable energy, resilience, leadership, social impact, innovation, hospitality

Key topics

• Faith's move from brand leadership into sustainability
• Building a global CSR function at Wyndham Worldwide
• Why climate awareness became a strategic issue
• Operationalising sustainability across hospitality and tech
• Measuring impact and applying the 80/20 rule to ESG
• Technology and innovation in the energy transition
• The challenge of embedding sustainability in franchise models
• Resilience and positive vision in climate action
• Establishing and scaling sustainability and citizenship at Kyndryl

Takeaways

• Follow your passion and build your own role inside the organisation
• Prove the business case for sustainability through small wins
• Use the 80/20 rule to concentrate on high-impact areas
• Resilience and a positive vision sustain long-term change
• Global collaboration and leadership are essential to climate solutions

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and career overview
01:11 From brand leadership to sustainability
02:07 The rise of green consumerism and climate awareness
03:25 Creating her own role at Wyndham Worldwide
05:13 Building the business case through operational savings
07:47 Tracking impact and scaling initiatives
10:44 Using the 80/20 rule to focus effort
12:53 Bringing people and environmental goals together
15:24 When sustainability becomes part of everyday business
17:11 Saying no and staying true to your values
21:26 Balancing energy growth and sustainability in data centres
25:34 Global collaboration and leadership in climate solutions
29:52 Getting involved in social impact and human rights

Guest
Faith Taylor, Global Sustainability and ESG Officer, Kyndryl — LinkedIn

Summary
Anthony Sanchez, VP and Global Head of Community Impact at Moody's, traces his path from underserved communities to running corporate philanthropy at scale. He makes the case that volunteering only works when it's a genuine employee benefit rather than an obligation, and shares what he's learned about measuring impact that actually means something.

Keywords
community impact, employee volunteering, corporate social responsibility, nonprofit partnerships, skills-based volunteering, pro bono consulting, Moody's, American Express, disaster relief, impact measurement

Key topics

• Anthony's background and what drew him to community service
• How employee volunteering trends have shifted
• What's worked in Moody's community impact programmes
• Challenges and hard lessons from CSR initiatives
• Measuring success in volunteer programmes
• Adapting as social impact priorities change

Sound bites

• "I always knew I wanted to serve communities."
• "Community impact evolves with the times."
• "Volunteering is a benefit offered to employees."

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Moody's impact strategy
04:43 Anthony's background and motivation for community service
08:27 What actually drives employee engagement in volunteering
10:36 [programme name — verify] and skills-based volunteering
13:02 Lessons from disaster response: Superstorm Sandy
15:33 Balancing volunteer demand against organisational resources
20:05 Measuring programme success and impact
21:31 Where Moody's focus is heading next
23:40 Advice for corporate peers on community impact
26:12 Strategies for increasing employee participation
30:17 Leadership involvement and authentic storytelling
35:29 Overcoming barriers to volunteer programme uptake
40:39 Navigating reputation, risk, and compliance in CSR
44:25 Authenticity and transparency in impact programmes
46:23 Closing thoughts

Augustus Willman shares his journey from retail to tech, and how authentic partnerships and strategic storytelling turn CSR into lasting community impact aligned with measurable outcomes.

Key topics

- Building authentic partnerships in CSR

- Strategic storytelling for impact

- Aligning corporate purpose with community needs

- Scaling community programmes globally

- Overcoming internal buy-in challenges

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Augustus Willman's journey

04:48 Starting in retail and moving to tech

09:29 Myth busting: CSR does not have to be one-off

12:08 Building the Microsoft community programme

16:07 Challenges in showcasing value to stakeholders

19:02 Key supporters and mentors in CSR work

22:46 The future of CSR and corporate investment in social impact

26:50 Effective communication with leadership

30:19 Living in Ireland and building community

34:20 Next steps and building a global network

Resources

Microsoft corporate responsibility - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/corporate-responsibility

GivingForce - https://givingforce.com

content type

Interview

primary goal

Educational

summary

In this episode, Jill Stonberg shares her journey from environmental studies to leading sustainability at Virgin Voyages, highlighting the challenges and successes in decarbonization, community impact, and engaging travelers in sustainability efforts.

keywords

sustainability, decarbonization, cruise industry, social impact, environmental responsibility, Virgin Voyages, corporate responsibility, eco-tourism, community engagement

key topics

Journey from environmental studies to cruise industry

Decarbonization strategies and board engagement

Engaging guests in sustainability activities

Balancing strategy with tangible actions

Overcoming challenges in sustainability leadership

takeaways

Persistence and resilience are key in sustainability roles.

Engage leadership and stakeholders early and often.

Start small with tangible projects to build momentum.

Effective communication with non-experts is crucial.

Authentic guest engagement enhances brand loyalty.

guest name

Jill Stonberg

Titles

From Tech to Travel: Jill Stonberg's Sustainability Journey

Decarbonizing Cruises: Inside Virgin Voyages' Strategy

sound bites

"Decarbonization strategy was the hardest thing I faced."

"You can't do this work on your own, stakeholder engagement is key."

"Follow your passion and start small to build momentum."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Warm Welcome

00:00 The Journey into Sustainability

05:28 Transitioning from Tech to Travel

09:28 Balancing Strategy and Hands-On Work

16:28 Challenges in Decarbonization

22:53 Advice for Newcomers in Sustainability

resources

Virgin Voyages Official Site - https://www.virginvoyages.com/

Presidio Graduate School - MBA in Sustainable Business - https://www.presidio.edu/

Jill Stonberg - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillstonberg/

guest links

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillstonberg/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jillstonberg

content type

Interview

primary goal

Educational

summary

In this insightful interview, Smruti Govan, Legal Director at PepsiCo, shares her unconventional career journey in human rights and corporate responsibility. She discusses effective strategies for integrating human rights into business operations, overcoming resistance, and scaling impactful programs across supply chains.

keywords

Human Rights, Corporate Responsibility, Supply Chain, ESG, Sustainability, Leadership, Impact, CSR, Business Strategy

key topics

Integrating human rights into corporate strategy

Scaling impact programs across supply chains

Overcoming resistance and building stakeholder buy-in

guest name

Smruti Govan

key frameworks

Business and Human Rights Framework

Impact Scaling Model

action items

Build relationships and trust with stakeholders early

Use data and case studies to demonstrate impact

Celebrate small wins to maintain momentum

Titles

Scaling Human Rights in Global Supply Chains: Smruti Govan’s Journey at PepsiCo

How to Influence Corporate Human Rights Strategies: Lessons from Smruti Govan

sound bites

"Patience is key in driving sustainable change"

"Celebrate small wins along the impact journey"

"Inspire others to lead in human rights"

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Human Rights in Business

01:33 Smruti Govan's Unique Career Path

04:25 Implementing Effective Programs for Women

07:13 Challenges in Supply Chain Engagement

10:16 The Importance of Supplier Relationships

12:42 Navigating Internal and External Resistance

15:29 Lessons Learned and Reflections

18:12 Advice for Aspiring Human Rights Professionals

21:07 The Growing Importance of Human Rights in Organizations

22:34 Conclusion and Future Directions

resources

Givik Force - https://givikforce.com

PepsiCo - https://pepsico.com

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) - https://www.bsr.org

Amnesty International - https://www.amnesty.org

PACE Program (by Gap Inc.) - https://www.gap.com

RISE Program (by Gap Inc.) - https://www.gap.com

guest links

LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/smruti-govan

Twitter - https://twitter.com/smruti_govan

content type

Interview

primary goal

Educational

summary

In this engaging interview, Cheryl Rosario shares her extensive experience in nonprofit, corporate philanthropy, and DE&I initiatives. She discusses her career journey, impactful projects, and insights on building sustainable CSR and DEI strategies that resonate beyond corporate cycles.

keywords

CSR, DEI, corporate philanthropy, nonprofit, community impact, leadership, strategic planning, social responsibility, inclusion, corporate social responsibility

key topics

Career journey in nonprofit and corporate sectors

Impactful community projects and partnerships

Strategies for sustainable CSR and DEI initiatives

Managing diverse teams across global communities

guest name

Cheryl Rosario

key frameworks

Sustainable Impact Model

Community-Centric CSR Strategy

action items

Reflect on your organization's core mission and stay committed.

Engage communities early and often to ensure impactful projects.

Foster diversity and inclusion to strengthen team performance.

Build resilient programs that can withstand political and economic changes.

Titles

Building Lasting Impact: Cheryl Rosario's CSR & DEI Journey

From Girl Scouts to Global Corporations: A Leadership Story

sound bites

"Arts support can solve societal issues."

"Diverse teams think better and perform stronger."

"Stay true to your mission, even if it takes longer."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Warm Weather Discussion

00:00 Cheryl's Journey into Philanthropy

02:12 Early Career and Leadership Development

04:48 Impact at American Express

07:33 Transition to Wyndham and Unique Challenges

10:05 Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Engagement

12:43 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategies

15:33 Managing Global Teams and Local Needs

18:00 Opportunities for CSR and DEI Leaders

resources

Munich Re - https://www.munichre.com

American Express Foundation - https://about.americanexpress.com/our-story/american-express-foundation

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts - https://www.wyndhamhotels.com

Habitat for Humanity - https://www.habitat.org

National Trust for Historic Preservation - https://savingplaces.org

Learning Ally - https://learningally.org

guest links

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylrosario

Twitter - https://twitter.com/cherylrosario

Website - https://cgrconsulting.com