These days I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about consumers and the brands they love.
I’m taking a Branding class this semester, and each week we do a case study of a different company and the branding challenges it faces.
Perhaps the biggest insight I’ve gleaned from the first couple of months is this:
Consumers own brands, [...]

I wrote a post last week on The Changebase that seems to have hit home for some readers.
It was about the value of storytelling in CSR reports  as a way for companies to not only connect with various audiences but also to bring their sustainability stories to life.
Obviously, I’m a big believer in storytelling – [...]

Picture this:
Four MBA classmates and I are sitting in a large, somewhat imposing corporate conference room at one of the world’s largest chemical and gas manufacturers.
In front of us sit 12 Director and C-level executives from our client company, and they’ve come here specifically to hear what we think – as MBA students, as potential [...]

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Marcus Chung, director of corporate citizenship at McKesson (To learn more about Marcus, check out his blog and follow him on Twitter).
My purpose for sitting down with Marcus was twofold. First, I wanted to get his take on corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts at McKesson, as well [...]

As I mentioned in an earlier post on The Changebase, one of the projects I’ve been working on this semester is a CSR Reporting Directed Study for a Fortune 300 company.
This company (who will remain nameless since the project is still ongoing) contacted the Boston University School of Management and asked if the school would [...]

Perhaps one of the best parts of being a second year MBA student is getting to pick my schedule. Unlike first year, where all of the core business classes were chosen for me, as a second year student I get to decide which electives I want to take.
Not only has this been a relief (since [...]

So Ferocious!

What’s your opinion on the purpose of corporate philanthropy?
Is it an example of the powerful partnership that can be created between business and nonprofits?
Or is it simply about writing a check – and checking a box?
I mentioned in an earlier post on The Changebase that I recently attended the 2009 Net Impact Conference at [...]

This past weekend over 2,400 MBA students, CSR professionals and social entrepreneurs congregated on the campus of Cornell University for the 2009 Net Impact Conference.
For those of you not “in the know,” Net Impact is an international network of people looking to use their business skills to create global social change.
I’ve been a member of [...]

I’ve often spoken on The Changebase about social entrepreneurs who’ve chosen to radically reinvent how business creates social change in our communities and around the world.
Organizations like Kiva (microfinance), Carrotmob (conscious consumerism), and Frontline SMS (information access through technology) have literally re-drawn the lines when it comes to creating sustainable, empowered and effective change through grass-roots social [...]

When I was a freshman in college, I rallied a group of new friends from my dorm to go volunteer one afternoon. It was early in the school year, and I wanted to prove to my hall-mates that community service was a fun, easy, low-impact sort of way to give back and feel good. Minimal [...]