Climbing The Green Ladder: The Power of Partnerships

There is no one route to sustainability and, as the old adage says, two heads (or three, four or five) are better than one.

Many businesses and individuals within them are making progress in sustainability because these employees have started meaningful conversations with those who come from “across the aisle.” They have engaged in conversations with colleagues across disciplines and departments, joined forces with competitors and co-created solutions with customers. Forward-thinking business leaders have sat down with groups who are concerned about social and environmental issues – such as NGO’s, non-profits and social entrepreneurs to develop meaningful solutions.

The great news for business leaders is that partnering with NGO’s, non-profits or social entrepreneurs doesn’t just salve your conscience, it can help to strengthen business.  It’s important to find effective ways to work together.

A great example is College Summit and Deloitte.  J. B. Schramm from College Summit teamed up with Deloitte to roll out a mentoring and support service that helps underprivileged high school students obtain college degrees and improve career prospects.  In US high schools, close to 50% of African-American and Latino students drop out between 9th and 12th grade. College Summit, run by social entrepreneur J. B. Schramm, wanted to help disadvantaged American high-school students to graduate from high school, go to college and get good jobs through his College Summit program.

As a leader in the professional services field, Deloitte is focused not only on recruiting high quality graduates but also on increasing diversity as their teams work in every corner of the US and around the world. Deloitte believes that an educated, diverse workforce is fundamental to business competitiveness. By these organizations working together, it allowed the program to ratchet up its impact in a way that neither organization could have achieved on its own.

These kind of partnerships lead to beneficial back scratching --business needs the talents, passion and understanding of the social entrepreneur and nonprofit professional to help them become more sustainable.

Guidelines to effective collaborations:

• Be open
• Identify your goals
• Identify potential collaborators
• Expand your networking
• Check your “fit”
• Work out your strategy

• Assign tasks and responsibilities and be clear about ownership
• Retain your independence

Questions:

• Have you fully explored companies that might be a good match for needing your expertise and talents?
• Do you approach your business meetings in a way that is professional and business-like yet open and honest, sharing your goals and aspirations?
• Have you established adequate benchmarks and metrics to keep your work focused and objective?
• If a previous relationship with a business organization didn't work out, do you assume that none can work and therefore have given up trying?  Is it time to revisit your strategy and start to reach out again?
   

Join sustainability and market research experts Amy Fetzer and Shari Aaron in the conversation.