Recently, the editors sat down with three overseers of CR at Verizon who explored c-suite buy-in, philanthropic metrics, and the pursuit of diversity.

Kathryn C. Brown is Senior Vice President of Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility at Verizon.

CR: What are your top CR priorities?

Brown: To understand why our CR priorities are our priorities, we need to start with the understanding that at the heart of our company is a passionate belief in the power of technology and innovation to make lives better. We believe deeply that what we do makes a positive difference for people and society as a whole.
So we’re acting on that belief by doing two things: investing billions in the new broadband and wireless technologies and bringing the benefits to as many places as we can. Our investments in this infrastructure are important to local economies and, we believe, will be a critical factor in creating the new technology-centric jobs that will drive our 21st Century economy.

We’re also committed to using our technology platform to tackle the big issues confronting our society—challenges that are made more urgent by the economic problems around the world.

That’s why we’re using the Internet to empower teachers through thinkfinity.org—our free, award-winning educational website. We’re working hard to change how health care is delivered through electronic medical records and wireless monitoring devices. We’re exploring how greater use of broadband can reduce energy consumption and create a greener world. We’re moving forward with the next generation of products and services to people who have been slow to benefit from the digital revolution because of age or physical limitation. And we’re working on all fronts to keep our customers safe—whether it’s through safe driving initiatives, parental controls for the Internet or mobile devices, or safeguards to protect individual data and prevent cyber-attacks.

I must add that, while we’re big believers in the power of technology and innovation to improve lives, nothing beats the power of good old-fashioned volunteer spirit. That’s why Verizon also gives strong support to employees who volunteer in their communities by encouraging their participation and matching their donations of time and money.
The grassroots energy of our people is astounding. The history of volunteering goes back decades in our company; more than 700,000 volunteer hours were compiled last year. We’re very proud that this legacy is part of our DNA.

CR: What is the biggest CR success to date?

Brown: The biggest success for any corporate responsibility function is when company leadership demands that it deliver results and be managed like any other aspect of the business—with consistency, accountability, and discipline. And at Verizon, it does.

Verizon is fortunate. We have a strong culture and great employees, and we work in an industry with immense—and largely untapped—potential to create new communities and empower people to live more fulfilling lives.
I’m proud to say that we’ve done some pretty terrific work on this score so far. Teachers tell us that thinkfinity.org is the best online educational resource. Cell phones with TALKS technology are proving to be wonderfully helpful for our wireless customers who are blind or visually impaired. We’re consistently acknowledged for our efforts to encourage diversity and make our workplace better.

There’s always more to do and more to learn, of course, and our corporate responsibility process is helping us do that. What began as an implicit part of our ethical code is now a formal program overseen by our board of directors and engaging our senior-most executives. In this way, our corporate responsibility process is functioning as an early-warning system, helping us view ourselves from the outside in, and making us a learning organization that can adapt quickly.

CR: How would you describe the role of CEO and board in CR?

Brown: To put their respective roles into context, you have to understand our philosophy. Having senior leaders serve as champions of corporate responsibility, delivering the message loud and clear, is incredibly valuable. But instilling CR can’t be a unilateral effort, top down or bottom up. It must be woven into the fabric of the company, a part of the culture. Our chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg has always been very focused in getting the company culture to the right place, to make sure we’re winning the right way, that we’re delivering value to our customers, shareholders and the community—all the while creating meaningful work for ourselves.

Verizon relies on a number of groups to manage corporate responsibility activities across the company. Our Corporate Responsibility Executive Council was established in 2007 to establish benchmarks and goals, assign and enforce accountability and track results for corporate responsibility initiatives.

The Corporate Responsibility Executive Council oversees the work of five CR committees: accessible products and services, environmental sustainability, online safety, wireless safety, and reputation risk and assessment. The Council reports directly to the chairman and CEO and is co-chaired by Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Services Operations, and Thomas J. Tauke, executive vice president of Public Affairs, Policy & Communications. The council includes senior leaders from all operating units and several corporate officers. The Council meets formally at least three times a year, and we have regular meetings with the chairman as well as an annual session with our Board of Directors. In this way, corporate responsibility is integrated into our business operations.

CR: How do you build the business case for CR?

Brown: It’s hard to miss the impact our business has on peoples’ lives, from the economy to education to health care and public safety. So as I say, we’re very fortunate at Verizon. Corporate responsibility is an integral part of our culture, which means we don’t have to build a case for it. Instead, we manage corporate responsibility the way we do anything we truly care about as a business: with disciplined goals, a focus on results and grounding in our core values and beliefs. Having a consistent approach to corporate responsibility allows us to focus our resources, form long-lasting partnerships and build a knowledge base about how to really make a difference in our communities over the long haul.

Insisting on a results-oriented approach keeps us focused on areas of critical importance to the business—from risk assessment to global supply chain management to strategic philanthropy. And we’re constantly working at honing our ability to use the intelligence we gain from these initiatives to make Verizon a smarter, better business.

Patrick R. Gaston is President of the Verizon Foundation

CR: Are you narrowing your philanthropic focus for higher impact?

Gaston: That observation is accurate. When I took over the foundation in 2004, the initial intent was about getting more strategic. So we examined what it is that has a high impact on business and communities, and we looked at education and how to do it much more effectively. Some of the statistics are staggering: students who are entering fourth grade cannot read, drop out rates for minorities in some school districts are at 50 percent, and these will only increase if we do nothing. We developed a website—thinkfinity.org—with leading organizations around education, including National Geographic, National Council of Teachers, the Smithsonian among others. The goal was to develop a user-friendly, robust platform on the Internet. It’s a community portal that provides access to appropriate material and webinars to educators. Over the last three years, we’ve trained 72,000 educators on how to use it. We have had seven million visitors to the site. We are currently looking at ways in which to expand and globalize the model. Our goal is very aggressive; we’d like to see a 50-percent improvement. Good philanthropy can lead to good policy.

CR: Corporations are expanding their scope of philanthropy to do more that just writing a check. They are donating time, materials and facilities. How is Verizon responding?

Gaston: Employees are being more responsive. Volunteerism is up. Last year it was 700,000; in previous years it was 535,000. That’s transformational. When the entire enterprise is an agent for change, it becomes visible and impactful in the community. The idea is if we can use our business and employees to help address the issue and find a solution, it will transform how we do education.

CR: What are your metrics to measure your foundation’s work?

Gaston: We have a clear set of metrics that are expected from our programs. For thinkfinity.org, we look at student achievement, teacher satisfaction, effectiveness of our training and visits, and average time on the website. These are a set of metrics that we look at to understand how effectiveness.

Magda N. Yrizarry is Vice President of Workplace Culture, Diversity and Compliance for Verizon Communications

CR: Are you ultimately responsible for diversity at Verizon?

Yrizarry: For Verizon, no one person owns diversity; it’s a shared accountability model. Every employee owns diversity and inclusion, and that’s foundational to our commitments and values. We put our customers first, and we serve a set of diverse customers. It’s about what they want, how they want it, and why they chose us over a competitor.

CR: Are values part of the diversity platform?

Yrizarry: Our values are not about creating different slogans or a framework from what drives the business overall. It’s not something to think separately about. Among our core values is respect: If we are respectful to customers and colleagues, you’ll create an inclusive environment that listens well, where people are willing to learn and teach. Respect happens in every interaction—internally, externally and globally.
Integrity is about fairness, doing the right thing. It’s about selecting who is the best person regardless of their physical package—about being responsible for hiring and developing our best talent. Customers and shareholders deserve it.

CR: Can you train Verizon values?

Yrizarry: You have to do both hire and train. You hire well because your architecture defines who you are. We believe our diversity brand is out there, employees know we are committed to diversity. We then reinforce it in the on-boarding experience, and make sure that is a reality as new employees experience the workplace. It’s part of formal training, to get everyone on the same page, speaking the same language. We want values built into business objectives so we teach it and make it part of our organization.

Because we are on a journey, all of us need to be teachers and learners. Often we’d rather be teachers than learners, which is a significant challenge. We need to expand the inner circle to be based on people and merits, with the potential to learn and be successful not based on one type of person. We are willing to invest in that belief, to identify the gaps, address them, and to do that for all types of people. Perceived risk varies based on how well I know my employees. You have to expand experiences with more people and expand knowing what talent is beyond someone that “looks like me.” The “looks like me” attitude can be limiting to driving success and innovation.