Developed for 麻豆原创鈥檚 entire global ecosystem of staff, customers, and partners that played their part in helping the world run better, the theme couldn鈥檛 be more fitting as 麻豆原创 CSR announces that a staggering 5 million lives have been impacted throughout 2022, thanks to more than 20,000 麻豆原创 employees who spent 117,000 hours volunteering.

The third edition of our eBook brings 12 months of purpose-led work to our digital fingertips. It showcases flagship 麻豆原创 CSR initiatives, fruitful partnerships, and personal success stories from around the globe. For instance, you can read about our three-year partnership with UNICEF and Generation Unlimited (GenU) that enabled more than 7.6 million youth in India, T眉rkiye, and Vietnam to access critical digital and life skills training 鈥� significantly more than the original goal of 1.5 million.

鈥淚t鈥檚 evident that our massive strides are turning the company鈥檚 vision into reality,鈥� says Christian Klein, CEO and member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE.

鈥淎n imperative and strategic component for strengthening the business, 麻豆原创 CSR set clear 2022 priorities and directed attention under the three focus areas: accelerate social business, build future skills, and collaborate for sustainability. The third edition 麻豆原创 CSR eBook demonstrates that, together, we really can change the way the world operates and create a better environment for people and planet,鈥� adds Alexandra van der Ploeg, global head of Corporate Social Responsibility.

The key education initiatives featured in the eBook include 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to continuing its partnership with UNICEF from GenU. Based on the achievements of the past three years, 麻豆原创 will support GenU and the (Yoma), an online learning platform, to enable young people to find jobs in the digital and green economy. This will also include piloting a new program called 麻豆原创 Educate to Employ. The program supports 鈥榣earning-to-earning鈥� pathways in the digital and green economy for young people deprived of access to the skills they need. These youth can gain on-the-job experience and critical future-oriented skills while also benefiting from coaching and mentorship to help them launch their careers in the 麻豆原创 customer and partner ecosystem.

To accelerate social business, we launched the in partnership with Unilever and MovingWorlds, a global, one-stop, online shop for non-financial, free business support for social enterprises worldwide. Through the hub, these organizations can gain access to pro bono consultants, mentors, and coaches, personalized guidance, introductions to sales and partnership opportunities, and connections to potential funding prospects.

In 2022, we also worked with external partners to validate our intended social impact and business value for our pro bono consulting offering. In the last decade of our , more than 1,400 麻豆原创 employees provided business know-how to over 450 social enterprises. In addition to proven social impact for social enterprises, the program also created significant business value for 麻豆原创 by contributing to our employees鈥� professional and personal growth, as well as their leadership development.

Following their participation, the majority of employees, social enterprises, and their beneficiaries reported a positive impact:

• 74% of the employees experienced a positive long-term career impact
• 96% of social enterprises enjoyed a positive long-term impact
• 77% of beneficiaries of social enterprises saw improvements in their quality of life

Van der Ploeg explains that 麻豆原创鈥檚 evolved CSR strategy powers equitable access to economic opportunity, education and employment, and the green and circular economy: 鈥淲e are continually striving to drive tangible and transformative social impact. Our work over the years has helped us to achieve a leading software industry score for Corporate Citizenship in the most recent聽Dow Jones Sustainability Index.鈥�

鈥淟ooking ahead, with sustainability at the core of everything we do, 麻豆原创 CSR is well equipped for the future. In 2023, we will focus on driving social impact through radical collaboration in our multi-stakeholder partnerships and expanding our portfolio of pro bono consulting opportunities for our employees to support social enterprises to run at their best,鈥� she concludes.

. For further information about 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility, visit .

Maximilian Herrmann is part of Social Impact Measurement & Operations for Corporate Social Responsibility聽at 麻豆原创.

This article first appeared on the 麻豆原创 News Center.

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罢丑别听聽program enables this by giving diverse teams of employees opportunities to dedicate their skills and professional expertise to benefit social enterprises in other countries and their surrounding communities, opening participants鈥� minds to different cultures which, in turn, promotes diversity at home and in the workplace.

Launched in 2012,聽麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical聽has positively impacted the lives of more than six million people, with 麻豆原创 employees contributing in excess of 359,000 volunteer hours to help over 450 non-profits and social enterprises across 52 countries address critical business challenges.

鈥淪elf-empowerment is seeking the solution rather than fixating on the problem,鈥� says Gina McNamara, regional chief financial officer for Asia Pacific & Japan at 麻豆原创. During her 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical in Kenya in 2014, she encountered a phenomenon that she hadn鈥檛 witnessed in her native Australia: women outnumbering men in their quest for professional and personal growth.

While volunteering her time and expertise at the African Management Institute (AMI), which delivers workplace learning to equip entrepreneurs and managers with the tools and training they need to succeed, she met female AMI program participants who refused to sit back and let anyone or anything stop them from being successful.

鈥淎fter speaking with these women, I realized that despite, or maybe even in response to, the poverty plaguing the country they are determined to further their careers and personal development. Many said that they were doing the courses to progress themselves, their families, and their businesses,鈥� shares McNamara.

Inspiration Has a Knock-On Effect

At the time of her sabbatical, McNamara held a position in commercial finance for 麻豆原创 Australia and New Zealand. However, these women encouraged her to make a massive shift in her career trajectory. 鈥淚n the Australian business world, there aren鈥檛 as many confident women as there are in Kenya. It is due to these women that I applied for the position of Chief Financial Officer for ANZ and later Regional Chief Financial Officer for Asia Pacific & Japan. They got me thinking about my career and my dream of making an impact in the boardroom and helped me find the confidence to pursue this.鈥�

Additionally, McNamara saw how the Kenyan women she worked with wanted to improve themselves to better serve their communities. This motivated her to think about what more she could do back home. 鈥淚t got me to consider the bigger picture and how we could do good things in the community and not just do business. I believe that if you do good, then the business will flourish as well.鈥� This led to her supporting some very passionate colleagues and the Australian management team in developing the 麻豆原创 Australia Reconciliation Action Plan, which aims to help support the economic prosperity of First Nations peoples.

Equipping Females of the Future

Her journey also spurred her to join the Future Female Leaders mentoring program for females working in finance both as a mentor and mentee. 鈥淭he program entails mentoring multiple women across the global finance community and sponsoring their careers. I get as much out of it as the women I mentor do. We have to help each other and so I encourage my mentees to mentor other women, especially with more and more women joining 麻豆原创 and the聽聽鈥� the largest employee-driven network globally,鈥� shares McNamara.

As for AMI, McNamara and her fellow 麻豆原创 volunteers pooled their skills to support the company in developing a franchise model to deliver training to African managers and leaders, ranging from small business owners to CEOs and CFOs. Together, they developed a handbook to help the company scale and recommended various processes and procedures that could be implemented to achieve this. Now, the program is more accessible to more people, particularly women.

With AMI being co-founded by a woman, McNamara says that there is a need for greater investment in women鈥檚 entrepreneurial ideas, emotionally and financially. 鈥淢en naturally create their own networks and sponsor each other. As women, we help each other emotionally. We need to open our networks and be more focused about doing so.鈥�

She concludes by saying, 鈥淢y 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical experience enabled me to reflect on what more I could do beyond being a finance leader and, for me, that was to help other women and drive diversity and inclusion to make 麻豆原创 an even better place for everybody.鈥�

Feeling inspired? For more information about the 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical program visit:

Hemang Desai is global program director of 麻豆原创 Corporate Social Responsibility.

This article first appeared on the 麻豆原创 News Center.

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Thanks to a higher income, Ngirunwonsanga鈥檚 family of six now lives in a sturdily constructed home in the eastern province of Rwanda, about a two-hour drive from capital city Kigali. The house is built to withstand the heavy rains that hit Rwanda particularly hard between March and May and often cause severe flooding. A solar cell on the roof supplies the family with electricity and they have enough to eat and money for school fees and health insurance.

鈥淚t was as if I鈥檇 started my life over again,鈥� says Faustin鈥檚 wife Beatrice, of the moment she joined the COPRORIZ-Ntende cooperative. Since its foundation in 2003, this community of rice farmers has blossomed into a powerful organization with more than 3,700 members. The fact that they have greater bargaining power means that they can all earn more. But it鈥檚 not just about money; the members help each other when it comes to buying land and finding employees to work that land.

“I was shy and isolated,鈥� Beatrice says of her life before the cooperative. “I lived on land located on a steep slope in a region that wasn’t safe for me and my family.”

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From Farmer to Entrepreneur

Beatrice is now a small-scale entrepreneur. She has increased her annual rice harvest from 1,300 pounds to more than 2,000, and at peak times employs up to seven people for the harvest. She is currently diversifying by setting up a poultry project to help ensure that she is less prone to the vagaries of the weather. Beatrice is also receiving support for this project from the cooperative, which thanks to growing income and membership is investing in tourism projects and operates a hotel.

The success of the COPRORIZ-Ntende cooperative is due in no small measure to (ADC), an organization that works closely with 麻豆原创. ADC is a recent partner in the 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical program, an award-winning pro-bono volunteering initiative that is simultaneously an out-of-the-box leadership development experience for 麻豆原创 employees and a transformative capacity-building program for non-profits and social enterprises.

ADC was founded 13 years ago by three people, including Rebecca Ruzibuka, who now leads the company. 鈥淥ur objective is to support businesses and grassroots initiatives in developing, financing, and executing projects,鈥� she says.

ADC has already assisted with more than 500 projects and made a lasting difference in the lives of over 50,000 people. The support it offers often begins with basics such as good management and efficient accounting, then progresses to helping with designing marketing concepts and business plans as well as finding the right talent for jobs.

Ruzibuka鈥檚 motto is 鈥淟et them own it!鈥� In her experience, it makes a huge difference whether cooperatives take responsibility for their projects themselves. And once they taste success, they tend to be inspired with all kinds of creative ideas for follow-up projects.

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Economic Boom in Rwanda

Rwanda is one of and is often held up as a model country for its willingness to reform. In 1994, genocide and civil war had brought the country to its knees both socially and economically. Rwanda鈥檚 new government, however, has succeeded in reconciling ethnic groups, revitalizing the economy, and lowering corruption and crime.

Although 39 percent of the country鈥檚 population is still , Rwanda is a sought-after partner for foreign investment. In the 2019 , which ranks countries on how easy it is to do business there, Rwanda was the only country with a low per-capita income to appear in the top 30. The government has also set targets on equality and better opportunities for women. The proportion of women in the (60 percent) is the highest in the world. In business, however, that figure is much lower.

Lack of Confidence Undermining Equal Opportunities

This is where enters, with a mission to boost self-confidence of women and girls and prepare them to be leaders. 鈥淥ne of the big obstacles to creating a level playing field for men and women is the confidence gap,鈥� explains Norette Turimuci, executive director of Resonate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a global phenomenon and one that exists as much in the board rooms of New York as in the remote villages of Africa.鈥�

鈥淩wanda operates plenty of programs that focus on communicating hard skills and educating women,鈥� she adds. 鈥淏ut without a belief in their own abilities, women often don鈥檛 manage to take that vital step and start a business, demand a promotion, or tackle the problems in their families.鈥�

Resonate offers workshops that teach self-confidence, where women share their personal stories, explain their problems, and learn from others about how to overcome them. To show that it is possible for everyone to make an impact, every workshop begins with the fable of the little hummingbird. Rather than giving up in the face of a forest fire, it did everything it could to put it out, which meant carry a few drops of water.

This story was an eye-opener for Odette Nyirankundimana. For a long time, she had doubted her ability to care for her four children all alone when her husband left her. She came into contact with Turimuci鈥檚 team through a partner organization of Resonate. 鈥淚 learned that I was the only one who could change my life and my family鈥檚 lives,鈥� she says. “I, and I alone, am responsible.”

Ruth Iradukunda also confidently describes herself as a leader. After a workshop at Resonate in partnership with , she decided to find herself a better-paid job at a shoe factory. Iradukunda became a mother while still a teenager and now advises women on family planning, talks to them about contraception, and educates them about HIV.

鈥淩esonate gave me the courage to knock on doors and take the chances that came my way,鈥� she says, looking back. 鈥淭oday, I speak in public and lead meetings, and I was also selected to be a health advisor in my community.鈥� Her goal now is to train as a nurse.

Resonate has already helped more than 7,000 women and girls and works with 17 partner organizations. But that鈥檚 just the beginning. 鈥淲e want to extend our work to the rest of the region,鈥� says Turimuci. 鈥淲e鈥檝e made it our mission to unlock the leadership potential of women in East Africa.鈥�

Resonate and 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical

Resonate received help for its plans last year through the 麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical program, an initiative close to the heart of Alexandra Van der Ploeg, head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at 麻豆原创. :鈥淥ver the last eight years, the program has brought private sector know-how and the expertise of 1,250 麻豆原创 employees to over 400 non-profits and social enterprises in almost 50 countries, solving their strategic business challenges and enabling them to run at their best. But it鈥檚 not just about social impact. Participation in a social sabbatical assignment has proven to be a unique way of developing employees into more empathetic global citizens as well as business leaders embodying 麻豆原创鈥檚 values and leadership principles.鈥�

麻豆原创 Social Sabbatical began with three pilots in 2012 and has expanded to more than 20 assignments annually. Collectively, participants have delivered an in-kind contribution of 鈧�18.8 million and roughly 320,000 service hours, impacting nearly 5 million lives around the world.

Video by John Hunt and Rana Hamzakadi. Top image via 麻豆原创 TV.

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