“Making America Financially Fit”
Throughout my time thus far @ GW in the Global MBA program, I have read extensively on Business Responsibility and the companies that perform admirably in that mission. This past Thursday (April 2, 2009), one of our own alumni, Carrie Schwab Pomerantz, came and spoke to the Global MBA Class of 2010 about how her company, Charles Schwab, has embraced the challenges of being a leader in social responsibility.
Mrs. Pomerantz spoke extensively about how she has embraced Schwab’s responsibility mission and subsequently improved and expanded the extent to which the Charles Schwab could have an imapct on the community. During her discussion, I had quite a few “ahah!” moments. I had always thought of Social Responsibility as “community service”, “ethical business”, and “environmentally friendly”. It had never dawned on me to use your strengths in business to your advantage, in terms of social responsibility. I know this may seem short-sighted, but I always thought that every company should stick to the basics or just put more muscle in their approach. Mrs. Pomerantz certainly changed my mind.
We heard about her work on the “Money Matters: Make it Count” project for financial literacy (in conjunction with The Boys and Girls Club). She talked extensively about Schwabs refined and controlled systems of community giving by their own employees. In the end, it became evident that the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been affected by The Charles Schwab Foundation had a much more dramatic effect on the community than I ever could have expected.
Thank you, Mrs. Pomerantz, for opening up my eyes. I am very excited to see how I can use my strengths and experiences to have an effect in my business and personal life.
