Top Insights From the 2024 Corporate Service Council Winter Summit

On February 22 and 23, 2024, Points of Light convened its Corporate Service Council in New York City for the annual Winter Summit. Hosted by the chair of the Council, Anita Whitehead, president and chair, KPMG U.S. Foundation, the Winter Summit brought together corporate social impact leaders and sector experts for a day-and-a-half of learning, professional development, sharing best practices and thought-provoking discussions.

“Corporate social impact isn’t just ‘nice’ any longer; it’s necessary. Our Corporate Service Council members are driving people-powered, transformative community change around the globe – employee and civic engagement are truly center stage,” said Katie Stearns, chief program and impact officer, Points of Light. “When these leaders come together, innovation and collaboration bloom and our collective work moves forward.”

This year’s topics included:

• Human-centered design thinking for developing inclusive and innovative social impact programs (led by Greater Good Studio).
• Starting and running effective board training and placement programs (led by Cause Strategy Partners).
• Corporate non-partisan support for voters and elections (led by Democracy Works)
• Best practices for collaborating with employee resource groups as part of your CSR strategy (led by leaders from Comcast and Dow).
• Navigating societal issues with a presentation of the newly released 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer.
• Harnessing the value of employee voice for social impact (facilitated by Provoc with insights from the Ford Foundation’s Listen to Lead initiative).

Key Insights from the 2024 Winter Summit:

1. According to research, volunteering stands out as part of the solution to overcoming prevalent challenges of isolation, polarization, distrust and incivility in society. Given the decline in volunteering and the increase in polarization – especially in the U.S. – volunteering is more important than ever, and companies have a big role to play.
2. Encouraging employees to vote is a nonpartisan issue. Companies benefit from democracy and must invest in it. If your company is even just “democracy curious,” this is the year to explore how you can take action.
3. Centering humans in design thinking, especially those who are systemically marginalized, leads to change processes determined and owned by the groups most impacted.
4. When you hit a roadblock, it’s tempting to jump to solutioning but breaking down a challenge to its root cause by continually asking, “Why is this happening?” can make for better, unbiased results. Leaders who reframe challenges into positive goals get “unstuck” and act on what matters.
5. When people are a part of the dialogue and feel in control over how innovations impact their lives, they are more inclined to accept rather than resist them.
6. Values-driven Gen Z will shift the narrative around how society makes progress, and companies have to be ready.
7. When CSR teams intentionally collaborate with employee resource groups through strategy, structure, or goal setting, you maximize the potential for social and business impact.
8. Effective employee listening strategies can not only mitigate risks related to productivity, reputation, strategy execution and operations but also positively impact corporate performance. ​
9. Nonprofit board service, one of the fastest growing volunteer programs, generates measurable social impact and leadership development outcomes. It also adds to a company’s employee value proposition and yields benefits for employee retention, growth and engagement.​

Participating Companies:

AIG, Amazon, Atrium Health, BDO, BlackRock, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Citi, Comcast, Cox Enterprises, CSAA Insurance Group, CVS Health, Delta Air Lines, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Dollar Tree & Family Dollar, Dow, Eastman Chemical Company, Edelman, Equitable, Fannie Mae, Fidelity Investments, General Motors, Google, Infosys, KPMG, Lineage, MassMutual, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, Pacific Life, Paul Hastings LLP, PayPal, Power Design Inc., Prudential Financial, RTX, S&P Global, Sanofi, Sony Corporation of America, Standard Chartered Bank, State Street, TCS, The UPS Foundation, Tony’s Chocolonely, United Airlines, UnitedHealth Group and Zillow.

Participating Organizations and Partners:

Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP), Cause Strategy Partners, Democracy Works, Greater Good Studio, NYC Service, Provoc, Taproot Foundation, True Impact, VeraWorks and Volunteer New York!

About the Corporate Service Council

The Corporate Service Council represents more than 300 corporate citizenship and philanthropy professionals from nearly 100 leading brands and Fortune 500 companies. This annual membership program empowers and equips leaders with actionable resources, insights, training and connections needed to advance their social impact goals and be recognized for success.

To learn more about becoming a member of the Corporate Service Council, email Points of Light or visit pointsoflight.org/corporate-service-council.

About Points of Light

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million volunteers in 16.7 million hours of service each year, contributing $498.7 million of value in people power into communities around the world. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most.