“The growth of
socially responsible
investments
has been huge.”
Beyond Being Benefactor
Effective CSR begins inside the corporate walls, and then moves outward, explains Judy Ford, chair of the Association of Black Foundation
Executives, which works with corporations to promote effective and
responsive philanthropy in black communities.
“But it takes more than cash to address the problems we find in our
communities,” Ford says. “You need to build bridges in the area of policy and broker access. You can partner to create a full package of contributions to a community, an issue area or an organization—making
your contribution that much stronger.”
Corporations also need to be sure they are walking the walk. That’s
because socially responsible investing (SRI) is gaining popularity. Such
investors recognize that companies that have a sense of obligation to
society tend to have a better quality of management, better financial
results and better yields on their stock prices. The 2006 DiversityInc Top
50 Companies for Diversity®, for instance, which includes 42 publicly
traded companies, outperformed the NASDAQ by 28 percent, the S&P
500 by 25 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 23 percent.
All of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity sponsor community-investing
efforts in black, Latino, Asian-American, Native-American as well as gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
“The growth of socially responsible investments has been huge,”
says Hessekiel. “There have been a lot of corporate catastrophes. That
has contributed to a desire to see that the company is being run in an
ethical way, so investments won’t be destroyed.”
During the past decade, SRI mutual-fund assets grew 9 percent faster
than all other managed assets, up to $2.29 trillion in 2005, according to
the Social Investment Forum (SIF), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes SRI. And many of these fund managers are demand-
AstraZeneca—Committed to More Than Medicines
AstraZeneca is dedicated to understanding and recently expanded its Patient Assistance Pro-responding to the diverse needs of the com- gram, bringing the total uninsured population
munities in which its employees live and work, that may qualify for the program to 33 million
as the company looks for ways to put the per- people. In addition, AstraZeneca introduced a
sonal touch back into healthcare. “Producing program that Medicare Part D enrollees can use
critical medicines to help people feel better is at their local pharmacies to receive immediate
only the start, ” says Tony Zook, President and savings on their AstraZeneca medicines—right
CEO, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, U.S. at the pharmacy counter.
The company also strives to help people The company also supports communities
understand how lifestyle choices affect their through charitable contributions. When disaster
health. For the past two years, AstraZeneca has Tony Zook struck New Orleans last year, AstraZeneca con-partnered with the Congressional Black Caucus tributed nearly $5 million in cash and free med-Foundation to educate African Americans about the rela- icine to Gulf Coast hurricane victims, and made a $1 million
tionship between obesity and chronic health conditions contribution to the Medical Center of Louisiana at New
that disproportionately affect their communities. In 2006, Orleans to help build a telemedicine system for six commu-AstraZeneca facilitated the first multi-city cardiovascular nity medical sites. In May 2006, nearly 1,000 AstraZeneca
screening and comprehensive media campaign for the employees rolled up their sleeves for a day of community
Hispanic community, in partnership with Telemundo and service to benefit several charities in New Orleans.
the National Latina Health Network. The company’s long- “AstraZeneca remains committed to discovering medi-standing relationship with the National Medical Associ- cines that can help to improve the lives of people suffering
ation includes significant monetary donations for key initia- from cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal ail-tives addressing health awareness, education and literacy. ments, mental health disorders and respiratory disease, ”
AstraZeneca knows that people can face financial pres- says Zook. “We encourage new ideas and diverse per-sures from time to time, and that its medicines will be of spectives as we look for ways to make healthcare a more
no use if people can’t afford them. That’s why the company personal experience.”
