CSR IN ACTION: Amid fears that Corporate Social Responsibility could be a casualty of the global recession, an inspiring practical example of CSR was celebrated at Imperial College, London, on 30th July, when a graduation ceremony was held for 27 formerly exploited and trafficked women who had completed an ‘executive’ program led by two IMD professors and supported by mentors from Imperial College’s MBA program and from several London businesses, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Rothschild Bank, McKinsey and EBRD.
Clearly these poorly educated dispossessed women, from all over the world, had much to learn from sessions on personality in business, career development, innovation, basic accounting, presenting a business plan, negotiation, and networking. On the other hand these women came to the program with unique strengths of resilience, toughness, survival skills, language skills and motivation. In fact questions from the floor were said to be more exacting than questions put by MBA students.
Having escaped prostitution, pimps and traffickers a desire for self-sufficiency was of paramount importance. A fear of in-debtedness kept ‘raising finance’, a favorite topic of so many would-be entrepreneurs, off the agenda. The program was firmly focused on practical direct actions to start careers from scratch and establish strategies for personal growth, empowerment and economic independence. Introducing the presentations Professor Maury Peiperl pointed out that “starting something out of nothing was normal for entrepreneurs”.
Whether seeking to enter mainstream work or set up their own businesses the starting point was agreeing a timeline to move from nothing and dependency, into some paid work, to building skills and savings, to eventually creating an independent space to lead successful and fulfilling lives for themselves - and in some cases to help others from their communities to follow them.
In her presentation, a woman from Kenya expressed a universal truth when she said that exploited women needed to remove blinkers imposed by their communities to open their eyes to the potential for economic independence. She said that nothing had changed in her home town since she was born there in 1959. The traditional rules and practices which excluded women from education and work outside the home went unchallenged, yet with the tragic spread of AIDS through her community the dire need for women to see beyond social barriers and seek economic independence was now truly a matter of life or death. In her case she planned to set up an agency in her region to educate and inform exploited women.
These are some of the careers and businesses being followed by this year’s participants:
• Internet Cafe with Computer Repair Services
• Beauty Shop
• Export Business – Suits for African Business Men and Women
• Day Care in Seychelles’ Town
• Tiling with a Woman’s Touch
• Accounting for Small Businesses
• Green Campsite with Low Environmental Impact
• Music and Arts for Children in Hospital
• High Heel Shoe Design
• Food Shop in Kenya and Helping Orphans
• Beauty Salon
• Women and Girls’ Education Centre, Kenya
• Hairdressing Salon
• Bereavement Services
• Pancake Shop
• Going for a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
• Elder Home Care
• Italian Restaurant in Albania or London
• Boutique in Nigeria
• Retailing Clothes
• Fashion Design and Retail
• Writer – Stories for Women
Held at Imperial College Business School, the two-day presentations, followed a program run by HERA’s (Her Equality Rights and Autonomy) a UK based charity who’s goal is to build on the women’s demonstrated survival skills through initial entrepreneurship training and year-long mentoring support so that they may become economically self-sufficient and autonomous.
HERA’s program, which began in 2008 and has grown each year, is not about charity in the usual sense, but is about encouraging business social responsibility, innovation and entrepreneurship to improve economic outcomes. It has been noted that the percentage of women who go on to develop ventures after this program is equal to or slightly above that of MBAs who take Imperial’s entrepreneurship course. Surviving trafficking and other forms of sexual and labour exploitation ironically may foster some of the skills, resilience and determination that are required to start a new business and to market one’s product well.
“The 27 participants, who come from all over the world, were extremely positive and very fast learners,” said Maury Peiperl. “It was a pleasure to be invited to provide a course that underscores IMD’s Responsible Leadership initiative.”
To date, women graduates from the program have opened businesses in website design, accounting services, hairdressing, tailoring and dressmaking (e.g., traditional African wedding dresses in London), catering, floral design, elder and child care and real estate advisory services. Others have continued education in law, business, social services, and management. Thus, supporting HERA women is not just about being socially responsible but about good business as well.
Hera was of course the wife of Zeus, goddess of women and ‘Queen of the Immortals’.
A group of London business women with experience in the Balkans organised the first HERA program in 2004, funded by private investors. Subsequent collaborators have included British Council, European Centre for Broadcast Journalism, EBRD, IFC (World Bank), and IMD, Imperial, Tufts and Northeastern University business schools. Recently a group of HERA trainers have also collaborated with EBRD and a small Swiss fund to organise training and mentoring for vulnerable rural women’s enterprises in regions of high trafficking in Armenia and Georgia.
This year’s program, the third held in London was led by Maury Peiperl, Professor of Leadership and Strategic Change at IMD and Suzanne de Janasz, IMD Professor of Leadership and Organization Development. Monica Piercy, Career Director of Chicago Booth Business School’s London program, also volunteered career counselling and training for mentors. The mentors’ training was hosted and funded by EBRD this year and May Busch (former COO Europe, Morgan Stanley)volunteered her time to coach the mentors.
This year's entrepreneurship training and mentoring was organised by Pamina Bou and Lynellyn D. Long, Ph.D (who also taught some components of the entrepreneurship training).
View IMD's profile here
To learn about HERA visit: www.hera-web.org
Or to get involved: http://www.hera-web.org/get-involved/
HERA contacts:
General inquiries: hera.project@gmail.com
Communications: pamina.bou@gmail.com
