Business and marketing strategist Patti-Jo Wiese defines the work she does as a “translation service.”
“I explain to senior business leaders what their emerging talent need and vice versa,” the principal of the PJ Wiese Group said.
Mostly, she says, those conversations revolve around values. While an executive team might follow a corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan to give back to a community, those new to the industry will want social impact to be a fundamental part of the work the company does.
So when Wiese had the opportunity to work with Allan Financial to plan a social-impact project, she took it as an opportunity to be innovative. What if she could find a way to bridge the seemingly different values of the older and younger demographics within a company?
Taking Vancouver’s global market into consideration, Wiese pitched the idea of providing microloans through an initiative called Kiva.
“Every business owner understands being undercapitalized,” she said.
Rather than making a one-off donation to charity, Allan Financial took on the initiative with Kiva for two and a half years, financing over 1,200 projects and circulating $400,000 in repaid loans.
Wiese suggests that bigger corporations need to think outside of the CSR box and initiate inclusive projects that every employee can get behind.
“It wasn’t just about giving back; we also started an inter-generational conversation,” she said.
By “personalizing it to the team,” she said, a company can make its social-impact initiatives part of a long-term goal, and plan accordingly.
Wiese said any social-impact initiative should include baby boomers in the conversation.
“Innovate for sustainability, rather than just a one-time impact,” she said.
On leadership for change | “It starts with the mindset of the leader and executives on the team. Are they ready to look at their old systems in a new way?”
This article originally appeared in Business in Vancouver