#BCLCAwards

By Katie Loovis, Director of U.S. Community Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, GlaxoSmithKline

What do Sanlin Town, Shanghai China and Nairobi’s Kibera slum in Kenya have in common?  They are two poor communities where GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) employees are deeply committed to local partnerships and both partnerships were recognized last week as gold standards in global corporate citizenship. 

CSR continues to become more sophisticated, more strategic, and undoubtedly, more effective. From American neighborhoods to the most remote villages in emerging markets, business is tackling core issues such as economic empowerment, community investment, and health & wellbeing.  This work adds significantly to the positive changes and improvements in our society.

On December 6, the Business Civic Leadership Center will host its 13^th annual Corporate Citizenship Awards, where BCLC will recognize businesses who have found creative and effective ways to make a positive difference in society.

What corporate citizens do for society really matters.

Over the summer and fall, as I’ve come to know the 2012 Corporate Citizenship Awards finalists better, several thoughts kept returning:

//Editor's Note: Watch Carolyn premiere her video live at the Citizens Awards on December 6.//

It’s time to bring the inaugural Finalist Lightning Round to an end – here’s the final question for the respondents: How has your personal involvement in this partnership changed your outlook or provided you with a lesson that will remain with you through the years?

Great partnerships take a long time to build up. Today, on Day 4 of the Best Partnership Finalist Lightning Round, we learn what it means to be a good partner. Meet the respondents.

It’s Day 3 of the first-ever Best Partnership Finalist Lightning Round, and today’s question is:

This is the second post in our 2012 Best Partnership Award "Finalist Lightning Round" week-long series. This series brings you the opinions of the people who make the Best Partnerships work. (Read: Day 1)

Great partnerships are a natural fit between the two parties. When partnerships work, they leverage the capacity of each team member to a surprising degree. That’s what I see in the Intel/World Vision partnership. It has the hallmarks of a great relationship: it uses pre-existing capacities in innovative ways to create new value, and it uses the core competencies of each organization to ensure this its impacts are targeted and mutually beneficial.