News and Cluster Activities
Current News from EBBF activities at the United Nations, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Rumania, Estonia, Canada, Belgium, and Austria.
EBBF present at Net Impact's first European Conference
Hundreds of MBA students and alumni crowded the halls of Geneva's Conference Centre looking at their future role in making a real positive impact in today and tomorrow's business world.
The excellent relationship with this worldwide organization has allowed EBBF to be present in more ways than one. Offering EBBF publications that quickly sold out at the event and in the practical case study of EBBF members Denise Cumella who offered a workshop on ethical communication based on her own work experience heading a European PR Communication team focused on highlighting and campaigning the strong values of its Lush brand.
EBBF’s gender equality values presented at the U.N.
Wendi Momen shared her experience representing EBBF at a number of high level UN rounds this past spring: Over the years since 1995 the EBBF has participated in a number of UN summits, conferences and events. EBBF core values fit perfectly into the themes of each of these, whether it is social development, sustainable development, habitat or information and communication. But perhaps the place where EBBF values and ideas find the most uptake is at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
The CSW is a functional commission of the UN, made up of 45 governments that serve for renewable terms of office. The CSW develops, rolls out, oversees and monitors the UN conventions and decisions regarding women and their advancement in each country of the world. Each year the CSW meets at the UN in New York for two weeks and debates a cluster of decisions that will affect women around the world. Civil society, non-governmental organisations, attend as observers and advocates, hosting a large number of side events to inform and educate government members and members of other NGOs about the key issues being debated. This year the theme of the CSW was `Budget Financing for Gender Equality’, that is, how governments, civil society, business and other stakeholders can ensure there is adequate money in national budgets to enable women to have equal access to education, health care, participation in democratic processes and so on.
This year EBBF was invited to host two such side events, both co-hosted by UNIFEM-UK and the Baha’i International Community. The first,
`Empowering Women through Meaningful Work’. It was built on the premise that one of the things private enterprise can do to ensure women are mainstreamed in national budgeting programmes is to ensure that women have a fair and equal chance to work at all levels of a company and that their remuneration is on a par with men doing the same job.
The panel, which included EBBF members as well as invited guest speakers, drew attention to the fact that business has tended to work in ways that empowers only a few women, expecting them to adapt to the business as it has always been run. But it is now clear that in many instances women do not want to have jobs that were originally designed for men - they want to shape those jobs and careers in ways that are more friendly to all workers, their families and other stakeholders. By engaging in meaningful work, women can contribute to their own development, lift themselves out of poverty and make significant contributions through the wealth created and the taxes paid to the development of their communities. At the same time, business can be even more successful if it adapts to the needs of women and their families.
The panellists, which came from different business sectors and different countries, offered their insights and practical experience, followed by discussion of the implications. The well-known Gemma Abada (International Trade Union Organization) described the UN’s commitment to `decent work’ and how the ITUO, together with other members of civil society, is advocating for this. Saskia Law (EBBF, Human Rights Trainer) gave the moral and ethical framework for the discussion about `meaningful’ work. Susan R. Meyer (Life-Work Coach) spoke about the effect that poor standards for women has on the personal life of the woman but also on the business itself. Dr Dorothy Marcic (EBBF in the USA, Professor of Business, playwright of the musical `Respect’) drew attention to those things that business can actually do to empower women and, at the same time, make businesses more successful. Nalina Jiwnani (Office for the Advancement of Women, India), gave a fascinating insight into her work with the poorest of the poor among the women of India, using recent examples of women she knows to highlight the debilitating effect of poor working conditions on women and their families and how simple steps can be taken by business to improve the situation. The event was chaired by Roberta Law (EBBF Netherlands), who drew together the many strands to sum up for the standing-room only audience.
The second EBBF event comprised a panel and workshops. Panellists Saskia Law, Susan R. Meyer, Dr Dorothy Marcic and Nalina Jiwnani were asked rapid fire questions on the theme `Business Empowers Women? Who Adapts to Whom?’, outlining the issues but looking beyond the obvious challenges such as childcare for women workers in western countries and into those faced by women in other countries and in other sectors. Respondent, Dr Marie Volpe (New Jersey), adjunct assistant professor of adult and organizational learning at Teachers College Columbia University, drew on her work in Mongolia and China, as well as her thirty-five year career at Exxon Corporation to draw attention to the changes needed in staff development, training and education, and informal learning in the workplace. The panel was moderated by Wendi Momen (EBBF UK).
The workshops provided an opportunity not merely to air these issues as problems but to examine creative solutions and ways forward that can be used by workers themselves and by employers.
Some of the main conclusions were:
1) that business should consult with women at all levels to create an environment that is conducive to women and to business success
2) that all workers/employees, management and the business itself benefit from family sensitive policies
3) that values other than high profits are drivers of business success, e.g. integrity, service to the community, `a good place to work’, fairness to all stakeholders
4) that the things that women want from their employment are the same that men aspire to, e.g. a fulfilling job that uses their talents, rewards them adequately and appropriately, that gives them an opportunity to serve and recognises that they have important lives outside the workplace which, if allowed to live them, benefit the business.
My personal highlight was meeting and working with women and men who are on the cutting edge of developments in the area of the advancement of women. It is clear that when women are empowered and advance, the whole of society benefits. Persuading governments to invest in women and in the advancement of women is hard work but civil society - including EBBF - is well placed to advocate for this and, more importantly, show the way.
***
EBBF Italy meets the exiting and new national committees of AISEC italia
On the 20th of June, EBBF Italia represented by Beppe Robiati and Denise Cumella met in the home of the Robiati the two AIESEC committees, the one whose terms has just expired and the new recently appointed one.
Some twenty people with whom the 2008/2009 partnership between EBBF and AIESEC was discussed agreeing on the following plan:
EBBF will take part offering its speakers in the three national events of Aiesec Italia and the Acuto full immersion weekend has been moved from its traditional February dates to December 2008. This is due to the world meeting of AIESEC presidents taking place in Rome in February.
EBBF also gave its availability to take part in events organized by the various AIESEC committees in the various Italian Universities. The following dates have been agreed:
1.- Prima Conferenza nazionale aiesec - Catania 1- 5 Ottobre 2008
2.- Full immersion di Acuto 11-14 dicembre 2008
3- Prima conferenza Nazionale aiesec italia : 12-18 Gennaio 2009
4.- Meeting internazionale aiesec a Roma 18-27 Febbraio 2009
5- Seconda conferenza nazionale aiesec 5-12 aprile 2009
EBBF's first annual event in Rumania
From Wargha Enayati
We have tried to show you a different facet of the business world, a facet which is already noticeable in the Romanian business environment too. We are referring to an
alternate way of running a business so that you would be able to find a balance between aggressive business development, ethics and social responsibility.
With the help of a group of experienced speakers we brought to your attention the challenges of creating an efficient work environment. The speakers expertise ranged from Design to the IT business, from Banking to Training and even student organizations and so did their presentation stiles:
• Wargha Enayati, General Manager CMU.
• Kazem Samandari, President Given Imaging Limited - “Challenges of responsible and ethical entrepreneurship: From concept to implementation”
• Steven Van Groningen, Raiffeisen Bank România - “Organizational Culture as a Critical Success Factor”
• Adrian Stanciu, Managing Partner, Human Synergistics Romania – “Value Driven
Management”
• Massimo D’Attoma, Program Management Consultant, SAP Italia - “Innovative ways of bringing values and value to business”
• Paul Hughes, Strategic Director, General Manager and Partner of Lava Graphic Studio, Netherland - “Design Thinking; You can analyze the past but you have to design the future”
• Oana Ţoiu, Communication Vice President, AIESEC Bucharest - “The value of balance for youth, when 24 are never enough”
We received positive feedback from those that stayed until the end of the event, despite the heavy snow outside and this can only determine us to invite you to our future events!
A lively networking day in The Hague
Last spring members and friends of E.B.B.F. in the Netherlands gathered in The Hague for a lively networking day. The participants looked at the theme of the day, which was “Work and Ethics”, from several different perspectives.
Mrs. Marga Martens, entrepreneur and academic, gave an introduction to the subject by defining “Ethics” for us. “Ethics” is not a vague feeling of right and wrong, it is way of making moral choices throughout one’s life. She asked us what are your ethics based on? She gave us some fascinating case studies to debate.
Mrs. Marieke Kersten told us about her development from young academic to young entrepreneur. Her company currently employs five and is growing. She wrote her graduation thesis on “Moral Leadership” and after graduation has tried to put that which she learned into practice. The primary tool of “Moral Leadership”, she said, is consultation, a mode of collective decision-making.
After a break for coffee we heard Mrs. Margre Wiarda, also an entrepreneur, tell about her work with the group “Business and Professional Women”. She told us about a course on “Leadership” she gave and shared many examples from the lives of the participants.
During the networking lunch, and thereafter in the “World Café”, participants shared their personal stories and told how they wrestled with ethical dilemmas in their work and business life. Everyone agreed that, although the specifics are different, we all face these dilemmas in our working life.
Generally people agreed that there are not enough places where these subjects can be discussed. Neither is there enough opportunity to hear about successful solutions and good examples. Participants expressed their gratitude for this day, where this could be done, and their hope for another such day in the future.
Roberta Law
EBBF - AIESEC Finland co-organize Arthur Dahl lecture: "Sustainable development in business and Individuals' opportunities"
2 May, 2008, Helsinki University of Economics, Finland
Arthur Dahl gave a memorable speech in Helsinki on Friday. The session was hosted by Ms Kira Anttila, AIESEC KY, Helsinki. There were about 20 AIESEC students listening to his words about the sustainable development. The topic is quite serious because there are lots of things to do for everybody to save this planet. Mr. Dahl's presentation gave a good insight how the world is now running and what we need to do to make it better. After the speech, lots of questions were raised and Mr. Dahl's answers were very informative. The most important thing on this session was the message that we as each individual have opportunity to make the changes to act more sustainable. The world changes when we change.
submitted by: Janne Lemettinen, EBBF Finland
***
EBBF members assist envisioning AIESEC’s future in Belgium
Reporting by Marc Avanzo
I had arrived on Friday evening and met Graham to attend to a free online workshop on emotional intelligence. We then had a meeting with Wim and Shoghi. We came to the conclusion that I would come back to Brussels to give a workshop there to youth from AIESEC and local community... I kept on discussing at their place until 1H30 am that night!
Saturday went quite smoothly; the aim was for AIESEC to define a new strategy for the future as well as to find a strategy for it. Around 80 students from all over Belgium attended. The day started with my workshop enabling them to understand their own personal values and to inspire to go further. Then Graham went on using appreciative inquiry in a very organised way (using the 4 stages as well as new group dialogue methods) to go from " what was your best experience in AIESEC, to "what would be your dream AIESEC" and to finish with "What would be the first steps to implement the vision?".
I think Andreis (current president) and Vishal (next president) really appreciated our backing them up. They are really pure souls trying to leave their positive mark at AIESEC. We had a very good connection.
***
Canadian Bahá’i Business Forum’s 2nd annual Conference a Success
Submitted by Samantha Fowlds, CBBF/EBBF National Liaison:
Yesterday was CBBF's second annual conference and it was our second AGM. The event "Doing Well By Doing Good: Applying Values-Driven Leadership" was held at the newly renovated Toronto Baha'i Centre in downtown Toronto. The event was a success in that:
a) The participants were engaged in the content
b) The speakers were impressed with the venue (asked if they could rent it) and did some networking themselves
c) Our keynote speaker, David Patterson, set a high-end, professional tone for the day and gave us glimpses of what EBBF/CBBF core values look like in practise by using his organization as an example. The other conference content was beneficial for us as a group, as some of the break-out sessions were aimed at our improvement. Maureen McKenna from the SuMo Experience provided an Appreciative Inquiry exercise that looked at "CBBF: What are the possibilities?" and Lorraine Smith from Canadian Business for Social Responsibility worked with our participants during an Open Space forum facilitating a CBBF stakeholder engagement exercise (the subject of her talk earlier in the day).
d) As was the case last year, we had one keen walk-in participant who put up his hand to join EBBF/CBBF and become actively involved. He works in the investment industry and his name is W…. You will likely see his application soon. I have known him for many years.
e) The Conference Planning Committee, our Chair, and our Open Space facilitator were top notch and provided us all with a seamless, enjoyable, and memorable day (and delicious food!). The members at the AGM were impressed and excited to see how our membership has increased two-fold from last year. This keeps us hopeful that we will reach our goal of 50 paid members by 2010. …
Our new Board was created, and our Chair and Secretary were elected. I'm happy to report that our new Board members are: Francois Couillard, Chair, Wesley Gee, Secretary, Valerie Davis, Samantha Fowlds, and David Parker
We thanked Garth very much for his participation on the Board last year. He assured us he wasn't going far and that we would still see him at our meetings!
***
EBBF and AIESEC collaborate with seminar in Vienna
Reported by Arthur Dahl
I am just back from an excellent EBBF/AIESEC seminar in Vienna, organized by Sarvenas Enayati and the AIESEC Austria MC, and held in the conference room at Partner Bank. Friday night I gave a lecture on "Sustainability for a Globalizing World: adding an ethical dimension" for an overflow crowd of over 40 AIESECers, AIESEC alumni and some other friends. Many joined us for dinner afterwards. Saturday was an all-day seminar for about 20 AIESECers on "The Human Element of Sustainability". … Most of the AIESEC Austria MC was present, with both present and incoming presidents who had heard me at the IPM. Afterwards the AIESECers spent two hours planning their activities for the next year based on what they had learned.
This was the first event under the new agreement through which EBBF has become a formal learning partner of AIESEC Austria. It should be another strong and fruitful collaboration.
***
EBBF inspired CSR workshops in Germany
Reported by Léonor Gimelfarb
Last Saturday our CSR workshop took place and 15 people attended. We had two very interesting presentations and lively discussions. Ana Dujic (from a Berlin communication agency) presented various theses on the state of CSR "between philantropy and hard business". EBBF member Peter Spiegel presented M. Yunus' concept of social business. We are planning another workshop in May on SA 8000
***
Strong EBBF presence at AIESEC SUCCESS seminar in Finland
Reported by Mika Korhonen
"The AIESEC SUCCESS 2008 in Helsinki, Finland, 28-30 March 2008, was held at a high school premises on the outskirts of city of Helsinki. EBBF was invited to give two workshops in the conference by AIESEC Vice President of External Relations and Finance Jouni Peppanen.
There were 180 participants mainly from Finland but also from Germany, Norway, India and China. The conference was mainly targeted for students to get ready for their next leadership year within the local chapters of AIESEC in Finland. The sessions and workshops were designed to give practical advice in being successful in those upcoming tasks.
Workshops given by EBBF Finland representative Mr. Mika Korhonen and EBBF member Mr. Janne Lemettinen were titled "Group decision-making" and "In search of a meaningful career".
The workshops had 17 and 24 attendees, respectively. Both of the themes were well received by the audience. The discussion in the workshops was lively and it felt that the topics were timely and giving concrete tools to take back home. Other lectures and workshops were given by representatives from Mercuri Internatioal, SHL Group, Helsinki University, Junior Chamber of Commerce International, to mention few.
In the unofficial discussions there came up many new ideas for collaboration in the future, both with AIESEC and with the other organizations participated the conference."
***
EBBF presence at Estonian Conference
Léonor Gimelfarb reporting:
My week-end in Tallinn was wonderful, I had the best time. The AIESEC team was very inspiring. They did a great job and were so relaxed and friendly, I came back home flying on a cloud. The conference was good, the programme was interesting and well run, with professional moderation from a famous Estonian journalist. The minister of social affairs sponsored and opened the conference.
About fifty students (and a few young professionals) attended - less than expected but motivated, smart young people. They did me a lot of good, I'm so grateful for this gift. I left the RE [Responsible Entrepreneurship] anthology and the CSR publication with them, along with a CD of the last Annual Conference.
***
EBBF Vibrant in Italy
Reporting by Beppe Robiati:
l'inverno e' una stagione piena per EBBF in Italia - Infatti le universita' ci invitano a tenere corsi e ovviamente EBBF accetta di portare la sua visione- I tre piccioni del titolo sono 3 Universita che nell'ultimo mese ci hanno permesso di portare la visione di Baha'u'llah dello sviluppo, dell'economia. In tutte queste università l'inizio degli interventi EBBF e' sempre dedicato alla Bellezza Benedetta ufficialmente - Nelle presentazioni in Power Point si mostrano anche la tomba di Baha'u'llah a Bahji e la prigione di Akka nel mentre si parla di Lui.
1.- Universita di Urbino:
In dicembre si è svolta all'Università degli studi di Urbino l'attività organizzata da AIESEC con la partecipazione di 3 docenti, Unicredit ed Ebbf. Erano presenti una cinquantina di ragazzi.
Dopo aver illustrato cosa è EBBF e perchè si ispira agli scritti di Baha'u'llah, e' stata offerta la visione baha'i esplorando i temi dello svilluppo, ruolo e responsabilità delle imprese, crescita sostenibile ed importanza delle nuove generazioni di economisti, manager ed imprenditori. Vengono poi introdotti i principi dell'unità del genere umano e dell'unità nella diversità per spingere oltre la ricerca in tutti i campi all'insegna della interdisciplinarietà.
Gli studenti hanno recepito forza e chiarezza logica, e hanno tratto incoraggiamento ad agire ed innovare le realtà esistenti, mettendo al centro il fattore umano e spirituale , in modo da offrire il proprio contributo per edificare una società più giusta. La responsabile PR di Aiesec, Chiara, la sera ha scritto un sms speciale: "la tua passione è travolgente e tutti ne sono rimasti colpiti". In effetti, anch'io mi sentivo travolta dal vento che spira dal nome della Bellezza Benedetta
2.- Universita' di Palermo :
Il 16 di Gennaio EBBF ha tenuto banco in un'aula ricca di studenti e alla presenza del responsabile di Confindustria, della Price WaterHouse Cooper, della UN-Guru , ambedue societa di consulenza, su un tema caro agli Scritti di Baha'u'llah " Economia e Unità nella diversita' : dov'è si trova l' Italia ": Il delegato di Confindustria che ha parlato per primo mi ha dato l'aggancio per parlare apertamente di Baha'u'llah perche' ha dichiarato che Confindustria sin dagli anni 60 ha nei suoi programmi questo obiettivo della diversita'- Infatti ho detto che proprio 100 anni prima di Confindustria uno straordinario personaggio noto con il titolo di Baha'u'llah , non solo rivelava questo principio ma dava i principi innovatori del nuovo ordine mondiale dove " la terra e' un solo paese e l'umanita i suoi cittadini " e " l'unità nella diversità" sono solo quelli di base- Gli studenti, tra cui ho intravisto due giovani baha'i, sono rimasti affascinati delle citazioni dagli Scritti di Baha'u'llah e Abdul'Baha e il lungo applauso finale ne e' stata la testimonianza ,- Anche qui il nome della Bellezza Benedetta pronunziato in modo altisonante ha aperto menti e cuori dei ragazzi, alcuni dei quali verranno a meta' febbraio al full immersion di Acuto organizzato da EBBF-
3.- Master Universita di Roma
Sempre in gennaio, a Roma, EBBF ha partecipato alla nona edizione del Master in Gestione delle Risorse Energetiche organizzato da SAFE, “Sostenibilità Ambientale Fonti Energetiche”, offrendo ai partecipanti, laureati provenienti dalle più svariate facoltà sia scientifiche che umanistiche, un intervento su “Le imprese responsabili davanti alla sfida dell’energia”.
All’interno del modulo iniziale del Master, EBBF ha quindi creato un’occasione di riflessione sui temi dell’etica nelle imprese, del nuovo paradigma strategico e gestionale d’impresa, della Responsabilità dell’impresa sia nei confronti della società che verso l’ambiente naturale e, infine, sul ruolo fondamentale che le imprese ed i soggetti economici possono giocare per accelerare il processo già in atto di unificazione del pianeta e di governabilità mondiale, al fine di affermare la giustizia ed un vero progresso.
I presenti si sono pertanto trovati a considerare la possibilità di affrontare anche temi specifici quali l’energia, la scarsità delle risorse e le fonti rinnovabili, con un approccio interdisciplinare ed integrando aspetti sia spirituali che materiali, nel rispetto della realtà del mondo e della realtà dell’uomo.
***
EBBF Berlin Workshop
Reporting by Léonor Gimelfarb
Yesterday we had our EBBF Berlin Workshop. 17 People came, giving 4 hours time of their week-end. Many of them had been at the 1st meeting in December and some new people came. We had students, young professionals, managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and NGO sector, a good mix!
Topics of interest were: CSR/ business ethics; Networking (collaboration with like-minded organisations); Environmental protection; Social entrepreneurship; Value-based leadership; CSR / ethics for Students/ aiesec
We split into small groups to develop activities around the three topics: CSR, networking and environment. All groups came up with concrete plans. Our next meeting will be on April 5th and the CSR group is planning a seminar on that day. After that we will meet again at the national conference on 20-22 June.
***
EBBF Austria Workshop
I am just back from an excellent EBBF/AIESEC seminar in Vienna, organized by Sarvenas Enayati and Alexia Eremia and Nora Toennis, the AIESEC Austria MC, and held in the conference room at Partner Bank. Friday night I gave a lecture on "Sustainability for a Globalizing World: adding an ethical dimension" for an overflow crowd of over 40 AIESECers, AIESEC alumni and some other friends. Many joined us for dinner afterwards. Saturday was an all-day seminar for about 20 AIESECers on "The Human Element of Sustainability". The flyers for both events are attached. Most of the AIESEC Austria MC was present, with both present and incoming presidents who had heard me at the IPM. Afterwards the AIESECers spent two hours planning their activities for the next year based on what they had learned.
This was the first event under the new agreement through which EBBF has become a formal learning partner of AIESEC Austria. It should be another strong and fruitful collaboration. Arthur Dahl
