We do not believe customer service is enough to satisfy client’s expectations, it takes a team. Indeed, a partnership is so key to our approach we deliberately choose the name ‘Client Success’ versus the more commonly used ‘customer service’.

Walmart today released its ninth annual Global Responsibility Report, entitled “Using Our Strengths to Help Others,” highlighting the company’s progress and milestones during fiscal year 2016 in social and environmental responsibility. The report also outlines Walmart’s “whole systems” approach to continue to advance global responsibility in the key areas of opportunity, sustainability, and local communities.

We have all seen corporate community engagement undergo a transformation in the past 20 years. Through the 1990’s a company’s engagement strategy was largely driven by compliance, aligning to policies that ensure that business does the least harm to consumers and the environment. In the early 2000’s, companies started to develop more intentional investment in their communities with the goal of being a strong corporate citizen in what we now think of as traditional corporate social responsibility. Most recently, companies have stopped thinking about the community as an external and separate actor and are integrating pro-social initiatives into their operations to drive value to their business and society at once.

When it comes to the innovation economy, access and opportunity are not always equal. Across the nation, rural students often fall behind their urban peers in developing the skills they need to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The opportunity-gap is even wider for rural students of color and English-learners seeking to break into a tech career.

A creative economy is quintessential to building a sustainable future.

Yesterday morning eight intrepid Timberland volunteers, including president Stewart Whitney, dove into a dumpster and sorted through the contents to identify key strategies for Timberland to reduce waste at its global headquarters in Stratham, N.H. Wearing polypropylene coveralls, gloves and protective eyewear, the volunteers sorted through 13 trash bags from the dumpster and assigned their contents to piles of recyclable waste, compostable waste, reusable waste and trash bound for the landfill.

As the president and owner of two General Motors’ Green Dealer facilities – Sunshine Chevrolet in Arden, North Carolina and Don Elliott Autoworld in Wharton, Texas – I believe the smart thing to do today is embrace energy conservation.

Sometimes all it takes is a spark: that one class, that one teacher, that one project which makes a difference. It can change the lives of young students who may have had little opportunity to excel, or perhaps even to complete high school, to enable them to become successful engineers, entrepreneurs or computer scientists. This is the inspiration behind our global YouthSpark initiative.