WE Employees Report on Behalf of Net Impact: Behind the Scenes at Net Impact 2011
Posted on November 23, 2011 by Rhian Rotz — Leave a Comment
Holly Roe, Account Coordinator (and Rhian Rotz, Manager WE Citizenship)
This year, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) partnered with Net Impact, a nonprofit organization that inspires a new generation of leaders to use their careers to tackle the world’s toughest problems, to support its annual conference in Portland, Ore., with pro-bono services. Net Impact believes it’s possible to make a net impact that benefits not just the bottom line but people and planet too. I found this truly inspiring and wanted to share some wisdom that resonated with me throughout the conference:
1) Occupy Wall Street From the Inside: In a keynote kicking off the conference, Liz Maw, executive director of Net Impact, challenged everyone to “occupy Wall Street from the inside” by leveraging their careers to drive real change.
2) Overcome Cynicism: Lord Hastings, KPMG‘s global head of Citizenship and Diversity, shared that the single most effective way to change the world is overcoming cynicism — not a product or a business model, but by changing an attitude.
3) Take the First Step: Speaker Vail Horton, CEO of Keen Mobility and chairman of Incight Foundation, was born with improper bone growth in his arms and without legs but lives a life defined by his passion to make the world a better place — not his disability. He stressed the importance of taking the first step and “staying pleasantly persistent” no matter the task.
Elisia Choi, Amy Dunn, Rachel Coussens, Anna Friedges and I had the privilege of representing WE as volunteer reporters at the conference, covering sessions on topics ranging from sustainability and microfinance to healthcare reform. As communications professionals, it isn’t every day that we receive a press badge (which was definitely an exciting perk) and asked to report stories, but it definitely made for a unique opportunity and allowed us to experience our jobs from the other side of our industry. This experience reinforced the fact that although anyone has the ability to tell a story, by truly listening to your audience and understanding the reason for telling the story, we can help others strengthen their business in new and creative ways. Read our coverage here.
My colleagues Erica Hubby and Katy Hagert, members of the WE Studio D® and Insight & Analytics teams, also brought their expertise to bear after the conference. They delivered a report to Net Impact designed to provide analysis of the key influencers, online discussions and themes about the Net Impact conference using some of the coolest tools and services that we offer. Check it out!
Being able to take a step back from my day-to-day activities and apply my professional skills to benefit a nonprofit was truly rewarding. I look forward to participating in similar events in the future.
