Month: September 2011

Teaching 9 year olds about Social Media

Published on by Helen MartinLeave a comment

This week, Fair Chance Foundation hosted its annual Impact Day. This is when every Deloitte employee around the world gets to trade 8 hours of regular work to volunteer in the community. In the Netherlands, we hosted Impact Day on Wednesday, 28th September. We facilitated 38 educational projects with a reach of over 2000 students. All made possible by more than 400 Deloitte employees and excellent community partners. Click here for an impression of the day.

I visited 3 projects on Impact Day, but I have only one favourite and admittedly it’s a project which I wrote about in August. Linda Vonhoff and Thijs van de Reep of Social MediaWijs hosted a social media boot camp for 9 and 10 year olds along with my social media colleagues, Roos van Vugt and Jochem Koole and an enthusiast from our recruiting department, Berend Buitink. The boot camp teaches young kids all the fun things that they can do with social media and the internet as well as highlighting some of the evils.

The primary school, at which this social media boot camp was held, is situated in a less privileged neighbourhood of Amsterdam. The kids that attend the school don’t all own computers at home and they were absolutely thrilled to be able to use an ipad ‘of their own’ for the morning.

What an experience! A classroom full of extremely eager children, learning about the use of Twitter, Facebook, Hyves, Google and YouTube. With funny animal films and Mr. Bean being the hit of the day! The children not only learned about the good, but also about the ugly on social media sites; that not everyone on the web is good and honest and not everything you read is true.

Congrats to Apple though! Ipad is so totally intuitive that the kids all breezed through the lesson with absolutely no problems at all. Some of the kids quickly realized that it wasn’t even necessary to search for a site through Google since the Apps were available on the homepage.

When I was growing up, I never paid much notice to the neighbourhood that we lived in, the schools that I attended or the ‘other things’ that I probably took for granted. It’s my guess, that these kids don’t either. And, let’s face it, you don’t need ‘things’ to be a really bright kid. And, each and every child in that classroom was an absolute gem.

Thijs and Linda are back at the school next week to run through the next module, I have a feeling that the atmosphere may be slightly more subdued since the lessons are sans Apple. However, I’m sure the content will keep them mesmerized. If you want to learn more about Thijs and Linda’s techniques, please contact them through twitter or through their website www.socialmediawijs.nl. Although their program is in Dutch, I’m sure they’d be thrilled to roll it out in English for you.

Many, many thanks go to Anne-Marie de Jeu, the Manager of Fair Chance Foundation. What a project manager!  Due to her total professionalism, Impact Day 2011 was an enormous success again this year. Thank you!

The ‘profit’ in non-profit

Published on by Helen Martin1 Comment

This week I met with one of my peers from a global company based in the Netherlands. She’s been running a community involvement program for the past 5 years and wanted to gain some insights from me as to how we run the Fair Chance Foundation. I was flattered that she’d reached out to me and also thrilled to be able to share knowledge and where possible best practice. Especially since our Foundation has only been around for a year, having launched in September 2010. We parted having shared many stories, some frustrations and numerous highs and lows. In view of this meeting, I’d like to share with you some of my views on how profitable organisations can remain profitable, whilst helping charitable third parties to greater new heights.

During the past year, it has become more and more clear to me that Community Investment and Involvement (CI&I) cannot be seen as something that is separate from the company strategy. Any business strategy includes brand, people and clients and CI&I is no different. What the past year has also taught me is that non-profit activities which businesses invest their time and resources in, are allowed to be ‘profitable’ in the perception of the business, whilst still benefiting the non-profit third parties. When a smart CI&I strategy is defined it will be beneficial for all parties!

Let me explain my thought process and let me use the Fair Chance Foundation in the Netherlands as my example. Fair Chance Foundation is financed by Deloitte and focuses on improving education of underprivileged children (age 6 – 18), predominantly in the Netherlands. We partner with well-known charitable third parties and invest resources (money), time (hours of our consultants) and expertise (knowledge of our employees) to ensure that we have the most impact. We don’t want to ‘window dress’ and buy a clear conscience. We want to really be involved with projects at grass roots level, with our own people.

What I see happening is the following. More and more young talents want to work for companies that invest in the community and students, are now looking at Deloitte as an employer of choice. Clients that hear about our foundation are suitably impressed. A client CEO said, that consultants who are involved in the community, are better at what they do, since they really understand the drivers and limitations of the economy. And, better client relationships, lead to better business and improved brand perception.

But, I’m driven by new ideas and what we’re not doing….so my thought process goes even further than the above.

WIN 1 – Training & development: By working far closer with HR, training and talent, exciting training and development programs can be developed that speak to the learning needs of our talents and professionals, while they are giving something back to the community. So, where CI&I is often seen as a cost, we start turning it around as a long term learning benefit for our talents and professionals.

WIN 2 – Improving client relationships: My next trick is that we include our clients. Not all of our clients run foundations or do they have the time or resources to get suitably involved in the community. However, they would like to become involved. By opening up the doors to our company CI&I program, we can send our own talents and professionals on a community involvement learning journey along with their clients so that they can use the time, not only to learn, but also to forge relationships with their clients. This blows the idea out of the water that CI&I is a waste of time and money. Since when was client face-time a waste of time and money?

WIN 3 – Creating brand ambassadors: I’m often amused to hear how many of my colleagues tell me that they get involved in the community with the idea that they have a lot to teach, however, they come away having learnt so much more. These colleagues are positive, motivated and excited and brilliant brand ambassadors for any company.

WIN 4 – Improving the economy by helping NGOs: Charitable third parties are helped with knowledge and expertise that they may otherwise not have been able to afford. In the case of Fair Chance Foundation, we’ve developed financial literacy programs that we implement in schools by training-the-trainer (the teacher) or by giving lessons in interview skills training, entrepreneurship, etc. Topics that are close to our core business and therefore, easier to teach. My view is that the more we invest in education, the more of a virtuous circle that we create. If more children stay in school longer and get a better education, they will not knock on the doors of social welfare (where available) or be dependent on their families. Instead, they will have enough entrepreneurial skills to start their own businesses or the right education to find work. And when more people work, the economy becomes better, which is automatically better for business.

So Community Investment and Involvement (CI&I) is positive for the brand, talent and leadership development and for improving client relationships. Don’t get involved if you want to make a fast buck. But if you’re in it for the long run, the spin-offs are extremely ‘profitable’ for your business but even more so for the NGOs that you help.

I’m getting off my soap-box now. Food for thought…….. I certainly hope so. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this subject!

Making every day count

Published on by Helen Martin1 Comment

This is my first week back at work, after a two week vacation, and it’s full steam ahead. My week has flown past but, I feel I’ve made every day count.

On Monday, I met with Amor Strauss from Cordaid Urban Matters. Amor focuses on projects in Cape Town, South Africa. Cordaid Urban Matters creates opportunities by bringing together existing initiatives and ideas of civil society, government and the private sector. By joining hands the impact of individual projects can be increased, bringing real change to the lives of the slum dwellers.

On Wednesday, I presented the Deloitte Fair Chance Foundation’s activities at Frismakers. Frismakers offers a platform for innovative managers to share best practice. Since we’ve shifted from corporate social responsibility to corporate social involvement, it’s no longer good enough for companies to just offer money, do some window dressing and buy a clear conscience, where community investment is concerned. It’s now all about investing time, knowledge and funding and reaping what you sow. As, it’s also my belief that there’s a lot to be gained by the corporate world in brand visibility, brand ambassadorship, people development and client relationship building through focused community investment.

I ended my week today, with an inspiring meeting with Cosmas Blaauw from SharePeople. Cosmas exchanged his career for his life’s work in 2004. SharePeople connects social entrepreneurs in developing countries with European corporate professionals. By sharing knowledge locally on specific business cases, the entrepreneur is empowered to strengthen the business and create jobs & livelihoods for the community. Through this experience both parties develop themselves personally and professionally, and inspire each other. SharePeople has supported businesses in Kenya, the Philippines and India, just to name a few countries. How can you or your organisation become involved and share your knowledge?

“In the words of Diane Ackerman, “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

I hope your week was as inspiring as mine! Namasté.

Hungry for life

Published on by Helen MartinLeave a comment

2011 is a year to revisit many beautiful places I’ve been before. Places that I love. Cape Town, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Umbria and Tuscany. Revisiting places I’ve been and love is liberating. There’s no rush to explore the sights, to photograph the vistas and stop at every village en route. It’s all about enjoying the moment, taking in the sights with your eyes (not through a camera lens) and stopping to smell the roses. Or in my case, the smell of lavender, red African dust or Asian spices.

Whether travelling for business or for pleasure, I always find the time to really enjoy where I am; to get to know the locals; understand the customs; practice my, less than proficient, language skills; visit spots off the tourist map; delve deeper into the culture and the history.

Revisiting countries also gives me the time to chat to fellow hotel guests and hear how they are changing the world. For me, the UN’s World Food Program now has a face. Two inspiring ladies, passionate about the work that they do. “Developing simple solutions that have far reaching impact.” Josette Sheeran, executive director at the WFP told me about her recent visit to drought-stricken Somalia and the lives that are being saved; the programs being rolled out by the WFP to ensure that girls can remain in school until they are 16 years old and their father’s don’t marry them off much younger for a dowry; and she spoke about her visit this week to just some of the WFP’s partners in the Netherlands, TNT, DSM and Unilever. Because, without partners and funding a number of projects just wouldn’t get off the ground.

My most common saying on a really busy day is, “I’ll be doing all of this, and I’ll be solving world hunger before breakfast.” Said in jest of course, as for me this is unattainable. Having met Josette, I’m thrilled that she’s with an organisation that stops at nothing to ensure that this happens. Josette recently presented at TED in Edinburgh where she spoke about why, in a world with enough food for everyone, people still go hungry, still die of starvation, still use food as a weapon of war. Her vision: “Food is one issue that cannot be solved person by person. We have to stand together.” Watch her talk about “Ending hunger now” on TED.

Travelling helps me regain my equilibrium, to reset my brain and to appreciate all that I have in my life. I travel to beautiful places, I meet extraordinary people and I get to eat culinary delights. I eat regularly and I seldom feel hungry, unlike many people that the WFP helps around the globe. I doubt I’ll ever be able to ‘quench my thirst’ for global travel or ‘still my hunger’ for new experiences. But, whereas I’m hungry for life, there are still too many people around the globe that are just plain hungry. Since every penny counts, please read about the WFP’s initiatives and see how you can help.

You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough.

Published on by Helen MartinLeave a comment

If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll not be surprised to read that for me, absolute bliss is driving on the German autobahn (highway). A country where speed limits are determined by the driver and the fast lane has been ‘bought’ by Audi, Mercedes and BMW, as these are the only cars that you see speeding along in this lane. This is where my love for very loud music can be paired with high speeds without the concern of speeding fines. My ‘other half’ is now deaf but he’s convinced that I was a racing driver in a previous life or that I’m in training.

‘Hurry, hurry, hurry, now quick, quick, quick…just step on the gas ‘cos I don’t wanna miss this.’ We’re not speeding because we’re in a rush to get somewhere. We have all the time in the world. We’re driving at high speed because we’re having fun. I guess, it’s not about the speed of the activity, but whether you’re actually taking the time to enjoy what you’re doing.

The old addage, ‘charity begins at home’, has taken on a new meaning for me. Perhaps it really means that if you start with yourself, have fun and enjoy your life, then you’re in a better position to be nice to the world around you.

So, start enjoying those magic moments in your life. Be nice to yourself, spoil yourself and when you’re sufficiently happy, take the time to:
listen……yes really listen…..to the people that you meet;
enjoy the silence;
say something nice to someone and actually mean it;
look into someone’s eyes when you’re talking to them;
take in the view around you;
do something for someone without expecting anything in return…..unconditional giving;
donate time or knowledge or money to a charity of your choice;
etc……..

And remember, “You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough.”