Moody's Mega Math Challenge: Wall Street's Strategic Philanthropy

Nov 3, 2009 7:05 PM ET

Moody's Mega Math Challenge: Wall Street's Strategic Philanthropy

"Want to know if the stimulus act will work or whether ethanol is the right choice for U.S. energy independence? Need advice on how to beat Wall Street?" So asked the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) at the annual Moody's Mega Math Challenge. For the past three years, Moody's has awarded college scholarships and summer internships to the high school students with the best answers to these questions. In 2010, Moody's is increasing to $100,000 of scholarships.

What drives a Wall Street firm to such generosity, especially now when every dollar they spend is accounted for to shareholders and the board? I have been working with corporate leaders for the past several years to help them shift their philanthropy and their service programs in order to advance the companies' own purposes while also benefiting the community. This is the only way that corporate social responsibility will actually be effective and sustainable.

And as I reported from the Clinton Global Initiative in

2008

and

2009

here in my posts, the tide has turned.

 

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