At
the 2011 Global Corporate
Citizenship Conference yesterday, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic
Leadership Center (BCLC) joined Dow Chemical
Company and Executives Without Borders in
announcing the International Business
Corps. International Business Corps is a
business-led consortium dedicated to
enhancing the capabilities of entrepreneurs
and nonprofit organizations in emerging
markets by mobilizing volunteer business
experts and by leveraging core business
functions in the delivery of social good.
“Fifty years ago, President Kennedy created
the Peace Corps to promote social and
economic development around the world,” said
BCLC’s Executive Director Stephen Jordan.
“The new International Business Corps builds
on this inspiration and helps Chamber
members and their employees leverage the
power of volunteerism to advance global
development.”
International Business Corps’ model does not
require one-to-two-year overseas
deployments; the framework offers corporate
volunteers the ability to contribute their
expertise to international organizations
while working within their typical business
lives. Targeted are four specific areas
through which these volunteers will engage
with charitable organizations to advance
economic opportunity within the communities
they serve. Those areas are: increasing
access to education, stimulating
entrepreneurism, providing vocational
training and creating conditions for
employment opportunities.
A
corporate visit to Haiti in 2010
following the devastating earthquake served
as the impetus for the creation of the
International Business Corps. A year later,
in August 2011, a delegation trip took place
in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to test the
feasibility of the International Business
Corps model. From that trip, International
Business Corps members selected three
nonprofit organizations with which to engage
as pro bono partners in the coming year:
Bola Pra Frente, Saúde Criança and CDI. Information
about each of these organizations and their
pro bono needs, as well as multi-media
footage from the Brazil trip, is available
on
BCLC’s website.
The
International Business Corps founders
include Alcoa, Amadeus, the Chamber’s BCLC,
Dow Chemical Company, Executives Without
Borders, Greif International, HP, IBM,
Merck, Motorola and Tupperware. Michael
Webster from Dow Chemical Company chairs
International Business Corps, while the
Chamber’s BCLC and Executives Without
Borders jointly provide operational,
administrative and technical management.
bclc.uschamber.com
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bclc.chamberpost.com
As a
501(c)3 organization, BCLC serves as a voice
and resource for the business community's
social and philanthropic interests. BCLC is
affiliated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
and works to strengthen collaboration among
companies, chambers, NGO, and governmental
agencies. The U.S. Chamber is the world's
largest business federation representing the
interests of more than 3 million businesses
of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well
as state and local chambers and industry
associations.