Purpose 360 with Carol Cone

Latest Episodes:

Making More Moments of Goodness with The Hershey Company Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

The Hershey Company has a distinct purpose of “making moments of goodness. The company’s iconic brands include the much-beloved Reese’s, York, Twizzlers, Good N Plenty, Almond Joy, barkTHINS, and, of course, the Hershey’s chocolate bar. Over a century before social and nutritional concerns came to light in a transparent world, they created the Shared Goodness Promise based on the values of its founder.

The Shared Goodness Promise was born nearly 125 years ago with Milton Hershey and has grown to be The Hershey Company’s commitment to sustainably grow the business, protect the planet, enrich communities, and provide joy and opportunity to children. From monitoring and enforcing ethical supply chain management to improving childhood wellness through nutrition education and social and emotional learning support, The Hershey Company continually identifies new ways to bring its purpose to life.

To talk about creating lasting change through embedding its purpose, we welcomed Jeff King, Senior Director of Global Sustainability and Social Impact at The Hershey Company, to Purpose 360. Listen for Jeff’s insights on:

How The Hershey Company identified where and how it could create more moments of goodness across the supply chain and in its communities.
How to use the voice of stakeholders to support and bolster sustainability decisions and strategic directions.
Why small sustainability successes are important to build momentum - especially earlier in the journey.
How employees are critical to authentic purpose.

Links & Notes

Jeff King on LinkedIn
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company’s 2020 Sustainability Report
The Shared Goodness Promise
The Hershey Company’s Sustainability Goals and Progress
Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems
The Heartwarming Project
International Cocoa Initiative

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:02) - Jeff King from Hershey's
(03:46) - Jeff's Career Trajectory
(06:14) - Favorite Hershey's Candy
(06:42) - Jeff's Personal Purpose
(08:12) - Hershey's Purpose
(10:20) - Sustainability Strategy
(18:25) - Honoring Legacy
(20:23) - Measurement
(22:19) - Cocoa Sourcing & Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation Systems
(27:06) - Being in the Field
(28:46) - Nutrition
(30:14) - Brands' Response to Corporate Purpose
(32:27) - Milton Hershey School
(34:41) - The Heartwarming Project
(39:20) - Employee Matching Program & Volunteer Opportunities
(42:19) - Top Insights
(44:30) - Last Thoughts

To (Mission) Zero and Beyond with Interface Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

Interface has some of the most ambitious climate goals in business, and is achieving them by deeply integrating purpose and sustainability throughout the organization. While Interface may not be a company you’ve heard of, you might step on its products every single day.

Founded by Ray C. Anderson in the 1970s, Interface designs and manufactures modular commercial flooring, including a revolutionary carbon-capturing carpet tile. Long before such innovative products, Interface was a “typical” company with a negative impact on the environment. In 1994, after a customer asked Anderson what his company was doing for the environment, the founder developed a task force to come up with the answer. Since then, Interface has achieved its “Mission Zero” commitment to be net zero by 2020 (and did so a year early) and has embarked on Climate Take Back, an initiative to create a climate “fit for life.”

To talk about Ray’s vision and Interface’s radical journey, we welcomed Erin Meezan, VP and Chief Sustainability Officer, to the show.

Listen for Erin’s insights on:

How Interface operationalized Ray’s original vision into strategic initiatives that have transformed the way companies approach sustainability.
Why and how Interface engages its supply chain partners in achieving sustainability goals.
How purpose-driven products and services can mobilize customers under a shared mission.
Transformational lessons learned along Interface’s sustainability journey.

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:01) - Intro to Erin Meezan at Interface
(04:35) - The Numbers
(05:05) - Erin's Background
(07:13) - Impressions of Ray
(08:43) - Interface's Journey
(13:42) - Stories About Ray
(20:24) - Mission Zero
(24:29) - Climate Takeback
(26:22) - Four Goals
(28:33) - Deeply De-Carbonizing
(30:33) - Customer Response
(34:45) - Sales Team Response
(36:54) - HR and Turnover
(38:18) - Measurement
(41:23) - Climate Week
(43:09) - Advice for Future CSOs
(45:31) - Insights
(53:27) - Last Words
(55:10) - Wrapping Up
(56:10) - Ray Anderson Interview Clip

Uniting Purpose and Data to Eradicate Hunger Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

For many of us, issues like malnutrition or access to clean water are difficult to fathom. For the team at Action Against Hunger, a global nonprofit, these issues are part of their daily work —and the lives of millions of children hinge on how successfully they carry out their purpose.

Action Against Hunger’s work has always been critical, but recent data from the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World reports that world hunger increased by roughly 10% in 2020. To talk about this age-old purpose that has troubling new relevance, we welcomed to the show Dr. Charles Owubah, CEO of Action Against Hunger.

Listen for Charles’s insights on:

How Action Against Hunger is applying bold solutions and working to scale evidence-based programs that address hunger from various angles—from combatting drought to empowering mothers to monitor their children’s nutritional wellbeing.
Why Action Against Hunger applies a business lens to achieving its mission (for example, by demonstrating how $1 invested in hunger programming returns $16 to the economy), and how they bring partners along on the journey.
The role of data in combatting humanitarian crises like hunger, and how Action Against Hunger is innovating new approaches to data and technology to improve operational efficacy and transform key parts of the humanitarian and development sector.

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:08) - Charles Owubah – Action Against Hunger
(03:24) - Hunger Today
(04:49) - Consortium of Hunger Organizations
(08:00) - Charles' Background
(10:45) - Working Together
(13:01) - The Organization
(16:10) - Back in the Field
(19:13) - Extremes in Climate
(21:44) - New Tech Data
(24:49) - Innovative Programs
(27:37) - Staying Relevant
(31:47) - Donors
(33:35) - Other Uses of Data
(35:03) - What a Partner Looks Like
(38:49) - Impact From Being in the Field
(40:41) - Profile of Younger Donors
(43:00) - Things for NGO Leaders to Embrace in Post-COVID World
(45:11) - What Drives Charles
(47:11) - Charles' Final Words
(48:31) - Wrapping Up

Bringing Values to Life with the ‘Dauntless’ Paul Polman Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

“We are at this crucial juncture where we really have to decide if we're going to live together in harmony and in sync with planet Earth or if we become one of the statistics of extinguished species. I know which side of history I want to be on.”

Paul Polman: influencer, business leader, campaigner, and one of the pioneers of the stakeholder capitalism movement. From creating the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) during his tenure as CEO of Unilever to supporting CEOs in their work to implement purpose, Paul believes that the true definition of a billionaire is serving billions. His new book, Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take, is a roadmap for embedding purpose into an organization. In the book—and in this episode—Paul explains how Unilever brought the USLP to life through employees and embedded it into culture, operations, innovations, supply chain, customers, consumers, and communities.

Paul joined host Carol Cone on Purpose 360 to explain what it means to be a net positive business today and why he will always be a “prisoner of hope” when it comes to solving our shared global challenges.

Listen for insights from Paul on:

How a business philosophy that supports shared prosperity creates both social impact and financial returns.
Why exercising humility and recognizing that you can’t do everything on your own is vital to creating great impact.
Why it’s important to bring in NGOs and partnerships to learn and grow.
The three lessons Paul would share with a CEO trying to be net positive.

Links & Notes

Paul Polman on LinkedIn
Buy your copy of Net Positive: Bookshop.org Barnes & Noble Apple Books Amazon
IMAGINE
[Unilever Sustainable Living Plan 2010 to 2020(https://assets.unilever.com/files/92ui5egz/production/16cb778e4d31b81509dc5937001559f1f5c863ab.pdf/USLP-summary-of-10-years-progress.pdf)

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(05:23) - Introducing Paul Polman
(08:55) - What is a "Net Positive" Company?
(13:48) - The USLP and Senior Leadership Culture
(19:56) - Partner to Win and Supplier Partnerships
(26:10) - Measurement
(29:56) - NGO Relationships
(33:48) - What does it feel like to be an employee?
(38:08) - The ESG Conversation on Wall Street
(43:22) - What are you most proud of?
(46:49) - Brand Management
(50:49) - Three Lessons to Start the Journey
(57:54) - Net Positive Lessons

Growing More Good with ScottsMiracle-Gro Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

No one wakes up on a Saturday morning eager to purchase garden and lawn control products, and ScottsMiracle-Gro knows that. Consumers buy these products to use on something that they enjoy — their vegetable garden, their flowers, or the lawn their kids play on.

That’s why ScottsMiracle-Gro’s purpose is to bring goodness to every person and every patch of the Earth. This applies to the next generations of gardeners, too: ScottsMiracle-Gro is encouraging childrens’ love for the outdoors through gardening programs in an effort to nurture future stewards of the environment.

Jim King, EVP and CCO of ScottsMiracle-Gro, has returned to Purpose 360 to share an update on the company’s purpose commitment, GroMoreGood.

Listen for insights from Jim on:

How ScottsMiracle-Gro makes purpose “sticky” to engage employees, connect with consumers, and support future stakeholders.
Why organizations require executive leader buy-in and commitment to live their purpose.
How employee engagement and storytelling drive authenticity and trust in purpose.
If you can’t live and be your purpose, then you should move on from it.

Links & Notes

About ScottsMiracle-Gro
Jim King on LinkedIn
GroMoreGood
Associates on GroMoreGood Everywhere
[Associates on GroMoreGood for Others](https://youtu.be/wpXtmHDDVHE
ScottsMiracle-Gro Campus

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(00:42) - Jim King from ScottsMiracle-Gro
(05:29) - Evolved Purpose
(08:04) - Actions to Embed Their Purpose
(09:35) - Predictive Analytics
(11:23) - Feeling Good About a Brand
(13:58) - Growth
(15:48) - GroMoreGood
(17:42) - Employees
(21:01) - The Pandemic
(25:03) - Initiatives
(28:18) - Learning by Listening
(33:55) - Gro1000
(35:56) - Being Embedded
(38:00) - HeadStart
(38:45) - Partnerships
(41:16) - The Journey for Your Own Purpose
(43:24) - Insights Regarding Embedding
(44:48) - Last Thoughts & Wrap-Up

Transforming Lives via Financial Inclusion with Kiva CEO Chris Tsakalakis Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

Many people are familiar with Kiva.org’s crowdfunded microloans, which support more than 3.5 million entrepreneurs worldwide. Fewer know the extent of Kiva’s efforts to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. Today, the international nonprofit promotes innovations in financial inclusion through Kiva Labs, helps countries build more inclusive financial systems with Kiva Protocol, and unlocks scalable investments via Kiva Capital.

To learn more about Kiva’s purpose-driven growth, we welcomed Chris Tsakalakis, CEO of Kiva, to the show. Chris and his team have created a cycle of impact, fostering person-to-person connections that have resulted in $1.6 billion in loans to 4 million borrowers around the world.

Listen for insights from Chris on:

How Kiva identifies and leverages gaps in the financial inclusion market to develop new solutions and scale impact.
Why making innovation a responsibility for all employees enables a mindset of continuous improvement and adaptability.
How expanding financial inclusion initiatives can help address other urgent social issues, from gender equity to human rights.

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:01) - Kiva.org
(02:40) - Meet Chris Tsakalakis
(06:43) - What Drew Chris to Kiva
(08:29) - Using Kiva
(12:00) - Other Impact Lines: Kiva Capital
(15:17) - Other Impact Lines: Kiva Labs
(16:49) - Other Impact Lines: Kiva Protocol
(19:26) - Kiva's Partnership with the MasterCard Foundation
(21:57) - Strategic Partnerships Team
(23:09) - Finding the Right Borrowers' Stories
(24:14) - Relationship With HP
(26:44) - The Pandemic
(28:28) - Investing at Home
(30:48) - Reporting Impact
(33:22) - Why Corporate Listeners Should Partner With Kiva
(34:48) - Why Governments Should Partner With Kiva
(35:40) - Innovation Throughout
(38:35) - What a Great Day at Kiva Looks Like
(41:03) - Chris' Family Background
(44:52) - Three Insights
(48:37) - Wrapping Up

Doing “Immense Good” with Founders Pledge co-founder David Goldberg Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

It’s fitting that the 100th episode of Purpose 360 features an organization helping more businesses be a force for good. Founders Pledge, a nonprofit organization with a mission to “empower entrepreneurs to do immense good,” leverages a unique model to enable founders to direct a portion of personal proceeds to vetted charities and initiatives.

To talk about Founders Pledge and the incredible impact the organization achieved in 2020, we welcomed to the show David Goldberg, Co-Founder and CEO.

Listen for David’s insights on:

How Founders Pledge harnesses the innate problem-solving nature of entrepreneurs to address some of society’s biggest challenges
Why making a commitment via Founders Pledge inspires many entrepreneurs to infuse purpose in their own companies
How the organization applies a venture capital lens to philanthropic giving efforts, and why data is vital to direct dollars to initiatives that will produce the greatest return for society

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(06:50) - Intro to David Goldberg, Founder's Pledge
(08:35) - Who is David Goldberg? What's his Purpose?
(10:27) - Where Founder's Pledge Is Today
(11:31) - How It Works
(14:49) - During COVID
(17:30) - The Pitch
(20:15) - The VC Community
(23:05) - Immense Good
(23:50) - Example
(27:46) - Climate Cohort, Events and More
(30:37) - Example
(34:17) - The Analytics
(35:13) - Member Demographics
(36:20) - Challenges Along the Way
(38:12) - Companies With Purpose at Their Core
(39:35) - Another Success Story
(43:17) - Getting on Their Radar as a Nonprofit
(45:15) - Becoming More Institutionalized
(47:16) - Becoming a Member
(48:49) - Range of Donations
(49:17) - Anyone Can Donate
(50:41) - Last Thoughts

Hey, Google: What’s your purpose? Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

It’s hard to go a day—and for some, even an hour—without interacting with a Google product or service. The global internet company, which is best known for its flagship search console but now sells everything from education software to smart home speakers, has another, lesser-known arm: Google.org.

Google.org is aimed at bringing “the best of Google to help solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges” with a focus on leveraging Google’s people, products, funds, and world-class innovation to better our world. To learn more, we welcomed to the show Megan Wheeler, global project manager at Google.org. In her role, Megan leads global giving and volunteering campaigns across the enterprise.

Listen for Megan’s insights on:

How Google’s well-known “20% time” initiative, which has launched some of the company’s most successful products, services and solutions, enables Googlers to find their personal purpose while driving organizational impact.
The importance of localizing and humanizing opportunities to give or volunteer, especially in an organization as massive as Google, and how doing so can result in deeper employee engagement.
How to balance reactive giving campaigns (such as those in response to natural disasters) with planned campaigns—and how to develop a program framework that allows for both.

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:06) - Intro to Megan Wheeler, Google.Org
(02:45) - Megan's Journey to Google
(07:02) - Three Insights
(09:07) - Mobilizing Googlers
(15:27) - How to Get Colleagues Involved
(19:18) - The 20%
(20:53) - Global Impact Challenges
(24:20) - 20 Hours of Piad Work Time for Volunteering
(25:01) - Employee Match
(25:32) - Pandemic
(29:25) - Funding Pop Up Vaccination Sites
(31:24) - India
(33:20) - Googler Ethos
(35:15) - Racial Justice
(36:49) - Getting the Message Out
(39:06) - Being Direct in Email
(40:16) - Challenges
(42:31) - Volunteering Hours
(45:03) - Upcoming Plans
(47:11) - Getting on Google's Radar
(48:09) - Wrapping Up

US Bank Invests its Heart in Communities Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

When something happens to a US Bank customer or their community, the company takes it personally. It’s that ethos that drove US Bank and its leadership to respond to the impacts of COVID-19 and tragedies like the murder of George Floyd with heart and empathy. From caring for employees and their families to investing in minority-owned businesses, US Bank continuously puts the needs of its stakeholders first.

To talk about these initiatives, we welcomed back to Purpose 360 show Reba Dominski, Chief Social Responsibility Officer at US Bank, and President of the US Bank Foundation.

Listen for Reba’s insights on:

Why and how US Bank has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to address social and economic inequities, including initiatives to increase access to capital for Black-owned businesses
How US Bank bridged the personal impacts of the pandemic and movement for racial justice with the company’s values and culture
Why US Bank conducted an “agile sprint” to better focus and integrate its social impact efforts with overall business strategy

Links & Notes

(00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
(01:02) - Reba Dominski
(02:55) - The Impact From George Floyd's Death
(08:39) - Accelerating Previous Commitments
(10:24) - What Companies Can Do Next
(13:55) - Pullman Porters
(16:57) - Returning to Work
(22:00) - Mental Health
(26:23) - The Access Fund
(30:11) - From 'Can I' to 'Can We'
(32:57) - Dealing With Blowback
(34:57) - In the Know
(39:33) - Tulsa
(42:20) - Working With Coalitions
(50:29) - Solar
(52:12) - Juneteenth
(55:02) - Last Thoughts

Building a Better World With Sustainable Brands Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

The pandemic has brought us face-to-face with the reality that today’s world can be volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. As a result, brands are faced with the responsibility to not only work to better understand the deep human needs we have individually, as communities, and as a society at large, but also be helpful in ways that are meaningful.

To learn more about what it takes to create a sustainable organization that is more people-, product-, and planet-oriented, Purpose 360 welcomed KoAnn Skrzyniarz, CEO and Founder of Sustainable Brands. Through Sustainable Brands, she and her team have led the global conversation about how 21st century brands can deliver new business value through innovation for environmental and social purpose.

Listen for insights from KoAnn on:

What it means and why it matters for brands to define themselves in a way that shows who they are, what they do, and how they do it.
How shifts in consumer demands are reshaping the environments brands are selling into.
Why brands need to lean into vulnerability and humility to come up with the solutions necessary for the complex environmental and social challenges we will continue to experience post-COVID-19.

Links & Notes