Causecast Blog

Volunteering with election polls isn’t what usually comes to mind when we think of corporate volunteering.

As global leaders prepare to gather at the 46th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, I've been musing on the topic of their forthcoming discussion: Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The premise of this anointed age is that human progress is now fully oriented around science and technology, when tools that are small, cheap and more powerful than ever have transformed entire systems of production, distribution, consumption -- "and possibly the very essence of human nature."

The Great Recession delivered a body blow to our country’s financial equilibrium, and only after years of painfully slow recovery have housing prices begun to stabilize and the unemployment rate steadily fallen. But while the economic crisis has abated, it remains a devastating morass for many, especially young adults, ethnic and racial minorities, and lower income families.

In the past three years, America’s Charities has been releasing the country’s most incisive and comprehensive series of reports on trends in employee volunteering and giving. This year’s much-anticipated report was just released, and it’s packed with encouraging - even inspiring - data for anyone who cares about employee-centered corporate philanthropy.  

Empowering women has been held up as an answer to myriad global problems, starting with poverty. According to the Global Poverty Project, women make up half the world's population and yet represent a staggering 70% of the world's poor. As the report notes, “We live in a world in which women living in poverty face gross inequalities and injustice from birth to death. From poor education to poor nutrition to vulnerable and low pay employment, the sequence of discrimination that a woman may suffer during her entire life is unacceptable but all too common.”

It’s an exciting week ahead for social entrepreneurs, nonprofit directors, corporate philanthropy leaders, and anyone playing at the nexus of technology, investment, philanthropy, international development, and business. At the Social Innovation Summit, all of us are coming together to explore the big ideas on the horizon that will disrupt the way we look at the challenges facing us and help catalyze solutions within our grasp.  

I’ve never had a real job.