Following the main keynote presentation, a full room heard powerful success stories from four service providers during an afternoon breakout session. Participating in the panel discussions were GISA 2020 recipients Sutherland and Televerde along with Eclaro and Datrose.
Jessica Custer, Manager of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC), shared the work the global network of over 70 organizations is doing to build more inclusive supply chains, including developing the Impact Sourcing Standard to help companies incorporate impact sourcing directly into their policies and practices.
Accompanied by a military veteran who recently joined the Datrose team, company President and COO Cheryl Leader talked about the pledge the firm has made as a member of the GISC to hire 35 veterans in 2020.
Underemployment is a huge problem transitioning veterans face when returning from service and Leader spoke about the incredible value veterans have brought to their organization since 1971.
“Veterans are committed to the mission,” she said. “They are natural leaders and team players. They will not give up until their work is done.”
In addition, many veterans have budgeting experience and 60 percent have security clearance, a valuable skill that can take over a year to obtain, Leader noted.
Nick, the veteran who joined Leader, serves as a great advocate and helps ease the transition for returning service members and connects them with resources, including using LinkedIn to gain connections.
Datrose assists with career path guidance, including mock interviews, resume assistance and training other employers on hiring veterans.
“Our nation does not do a good job of transitioning our veterans who served our country,” Leader said. “We are taking that challenge on.”
In another example of social good, Eclaro is transforming the futures of young people in the Philippines where its BPO employees live through its Eclaro Academy, an accredited education and job training provider.
The company offers subsidies to employees and their families to attend Eclaro Academy, continuing education programs to Eclaro employees and works with the school to hire Eclaro Academy graduates as employees.
Eclaro is helping to reverse the trend of one in every 10 Filipinos (or 3.8 million children and youth) aged 6 to 24 years not receiving an education, largely because they can’t afford the high cost of education.
From an initial group of 18 students, the Eclaro Academy has grown into a full-fledged academic institution offering pre-school, grade school and high school levels, as well as college degrees with six majors, including Computer Science, Accounting and Communications, on three campuses. Last year, over 2,500 students were educated and 1,200 have graduated.
“Education is the pathway to the middle class,” said Tom Sheridan, principal and co-founder of Eclaro.
Eclaro involves its clients in its efforts and offers them the opportunity to sponsor a student with a scholarship with the hope they will also provide the trained scholar with a job.
Sheridan said the company also is working with its partners to get employers to rethink the experience requirements for jobs and the Academy is focusing on training for in-demand areas such as hospitality, criminology, computer science, communications and accounting.
Sutherland shared how it is providing training to ensure youth, single parents and those with disabilities are job-ready while Televerde talked about the success it is having by providing job opportunities for incarcerated women. For their award-winning GISA stories, click here.
Impact Sourcing Champions
Impact Sourcing Champions Browning announced that IAOP will be recognizing companies who have distinguished themselves as trailblazers in Impact Sourcing with the inaugural Impact Sourcing Champions Index.
The list will be published in the September 2020 “Change the World” issue of Fortune Magazine. To be included in the index, companies must complete an application, mapping their experience to a set of industry standards. Applications are now being accepted at Impact Sourcing Champions.
