Corporate Responsibility

Jeremy Grantham, the co-founder of Grantham Mayo Van Oterloo, only one of the largest asset managers in the world recently stated, “We are racing to protect more than our portfolios from stranded assets and other climate change impact…But for those portfolio managers who happen to be human, we have a much more important job. We are racing to protect not just our portfolios, not just our grandchildren, but our species. So get to it.”

FY18 was a significant year for CSR in many ways – Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink came out strong in his annual letter titled, “A Sense of Purpose,” emphasizing the importance that business considers their impact on society and the environment. Companies continued to take a public stand on issues such as equality, immigration and more. At Cisco, we recognize we cannot solve the world’s problems on our own, but we have an opportunity and a responsibility to do our part. Last week we launched our 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, celebrating our achievements to date as well as how we are addressing the areas where we can do more. Here are highlights from this year’s report across our three CSR pillars of People, Society and Planet; your “cheat sheet” to CSR at Cisco in FY18.

A lot happened in 2018. The U.S. made some notable progress with the first Muslim and Native American women elected to Congress, and SpaceX, the world’s most powerful rocket, launched. (I also became a first-time dad! And remember Yanny vs. Laurel?). And we experienced some major lows, with hundreds of innocent lives lost to multiple mass shootings and families torn apart due to the current administration’s troubling immigration policies. Now, with 2018 coming to a close, attention is being redirected to the year ahead.

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, concluded its Season of Giving, the company’s annual holiday initiative that encourages its employees to engage in charitable activities in their local communities, with a community holiday party near the company’s global headquarters in Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE and the Los Angeles Convention Center on December 18, 2018.

Families and nonprofit organizations on six continents received donations from Arrow Electronics and its employees during the 2018 holiday season.

“Arrow serves more than 80 countries, and we are grateful for the opportunity to support our neighbors in need during the holiday season and throughout the year,” said Chief Marketing Officer W. Victor Gao.

The Global Reporting Initiative's draft Standard on corporate tax makes a pioneering stride in tax transparency by combining management approach disclosures on tax strategy, with country-by-country reporting of an organization’s business activities and taxes paid.

GRI CEO, Tim Mohin, rang the closing bell at Nasdaq last month, showing that non-financial reporting with the GRI Standards is becoming more relevant to investors in tech and beyond.

AEG Ogden’s Suncorp Stadium in Queensland is joining in the festive spirit this year by hosting lunch on Christmas Day in conjunction with Communify, a local Queensland organization helping deliver a diverse range of services in the community, and a number of corporate partners, to feed more than 100 disadvantaged, homeless and those living without relatives or living in emergency accommodation. The event will take place in Suncorp Stadium’s Paddington Room.

The United Nations Global Compact was today encouraged to continue engaging the private sector in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals with a renewed resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly.

Action for Children became CBRE’s new UK charity partner, after a UK-wide vote in February 2018. Action for Children is a truly inspiring charity that helps thousands of disadvantaged children across the UK.