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Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l. – A Law Firm that Genuinely Understands and Get’s Results … in the Courtroom and in the Community.
On June 8th, I had the incredible privilege of sitting in a room with three partners of Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall to talk about their recent experience with not only taking the ZOË Challenge but also as ambassadors for the movement.
During our meeting, Lorraine Mastersmith, Anthony McGlynn and Aaron Rubinoff shared their thoughts on their experiences in a lively conversation fuelled by enthusiasm knowing their efforts at sharing the challenge had already inspired 3 other major organizations to join in. At the time this article was written, their impact on the lives of people in villages had already been quadrupled and the trickle effect has only just begun.
Of course, I already knew they were great people, but I was keen to hear how a group of seasoned legal professionals in a competitive environment viewed CSR and community involvement when hours are measured in dollars. Read on for what they said…and if you are strapped for time and the “Coles Notes” type, skip ahead and read their parting comments in the last question.
Q: Could you start by telling us more in general about your firm, its’ values and perspective on corporate social responsibility?
Anthony: We are a large Ottawa-based full service law firm and many, if not all of our lawyers volunteer in the community, from board service in not-for-profit and charitable organizations to coaching sports. For example, Aaron is involved in the Heart Institute, I was the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, do volunteer board work, and am currently on the board of Bytown museum. We provide pro-bono legal services on a selective basis and have always encouraged our professionals to be involved in the community.
Aaron: We have worked with a very broad scope of organizations over our firm’s 40 year history in our community. Our lawyers spend a good deal of time with organizations like the Youville Centre and grass roots organizations like the Boys and Girls club. It is important to us to be involved at all levels, including direct service provider organizations.
Lorraine: When this opportunity came up it was a natural fit. We wanted to give something people would remember as our gift at the OCRI Awards Gala Dinner, something that was not “run of the mill”. As the gift we chose was something different, we thought it would be a conversation piece for the recipients. We saw it as a nice thing to do, both for the gift recipients and for the people in the village. And the result was incredible; it really did start a conversation. Every person in the room picked up their pens when I presented them and showed a real appreciation for the positive impact this purchase had on the people who had made them. Attendees at the dinner approached a number of lawyers in our firm after the event, telling us that the buzz was that our firm is really on the leading edge of corporate social responsibility. The whole experience was pretty cool. (View OCRI Gala Presentation by Lorraine)
Q: To me it seems that the legal profession would be a difficult sector to spend much time on volunteering because the nature of the business involves billing for time…how do you balance that?
Aaron: Being part of a community gives us access to work – it is one of those great “virtuous circles”. There is something in it for us to be good members of our community. We are not embarrassed by that and I think people should talk about it to help motivate newer business people to get involved and recognize the value such involvement brings. We feel everyone being involved helps us to grow the business. We employ 125 people, which means 125 mortgages etc… so of course we have to find time to do our work to pay our people. It is still important to us to find time to help.
Anthony: We do need to justify our time, and our experiences have shown that being part of the part of the community helps build our business. Most of us also do pro bono work on a regular basis which is a form of giving back that is less visible but has significant impact for the supported organization or individual.
Q: Can you talk about the decision making process for your gift selection for the OCRI event? What you did, why you made the selection you did, and why you went as far as you did to tell the story to others?
Lorraine: We think what ZOË Alliance is doing is fantastic. It presented a really great marketing opportunity for the firm and gives all the way around. We were able to give a gift at a very reasonable cost, and it’s not just a pen, it has a story. It also created an opportunity for us to tell the story at the OCRI Awards Gala – raising the profile of our firm right along with the ZOË Challenge. It was really funny, the MC at the OCRI Gala brought up a traditional “giveaway” pen with all the bells and whistles and we contrasted it with the story of where our gift pens had come from, while showing the pictures of the women in Dharmapuri, India on the big screen holding our pens.
The whole ZOË Challenge is an admirable and valuable concept. It makes it easy for companies who are going to spend money on promotional items anyway to have a tangible personal impact on the lives of people in extremely difficult circumstances. It also creates an opportunity for firms to demonstrate their commitment to social impact to key clients and models the approach for others. It definitely generates a conversation and people remember it.
Q: How did that experience impact you, the staff at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall and your clients?
Lorraine: Different lawyers who had clients at the event expressed appreciation and it clearly generated a perception that we are leading edge.
Anthony: Internally the whole experience was a real morale booster, everybody was really charged up about it. We felt like did something really decent.
Aaron: CSR is a real challenge for us as there is a huge constituency that could care less, but there is clearly a growing constituency that are informed business people that do care about their community and this resonates with them. It goes back to the virtuous circle, creating a reason to consider working with us and have us as top of mind. It helps us reach out to a group of people that we haven’t resonated with before and gives us a differentiator.
Q: What would be the one thing you would tell other law firms and corporations in general in North America about this experience?
Anthony: It’s a fun experience and you get value for money. Even if you have no social responsibility element or that is not your primary concern, the product is quality and you get value so it’s an easy business decision.
Aaron: This has given us an opportunity to speak to a constituency that we would have otherwise missed. In a room filled with people, you can’t tell who this will resonate with, this opens new doors.
Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall’s initiative is another great example of just how much fun it is to build this movement harnessing the power of our routine gift spending for substantive social impact. We hope you enjoy our updates on who is Taking the Challenge, stay tuned for next months blog!
This month’s blog brings us the insights of Mr. Bradley Offman of Mackenzie Investments. Mr. Offman is a sought after speaker in the industry and gives companies of all sizes some good food for thought on the social benefits of thinking creatively with our social investments.
“It is part of an overall culture where you are looking for ways to support philanthropy with a non-traditional approach, and social enterprise certainly falls into that category. It’s a more creative way to approach generating capital for the sector that extends beyond government grants and donations. We are encouraging others to ask the question – what is a broader way to support the sector beyond grant making?” Bradley Offman, Vice President, Strategic Philanthropy – Mackenzie Investments
Creative Social Investments for Lasting Change
At Mackenzie Investments, we have two primary objectives with our philanthropic grants and activities from the Mackenzie Financial Charitable Foundation. The first is to create a lasting impact on the organization that we are supporting, and the second is to engage Mackenzie employees in a culture of philanthropy.
Creating a lasting impact can be challenging. We engage with smaller social services organizations that focus on children and youth at high risk, including shelters and leadership programs. The ultimate goal is to build the capacity of organizations with whom we develop relationships. In engaging employees at all levels, we are able to provide financial support and volunteers to help the organizations achieve their missions.
Holistic Relationships
One particularly good example is our relationship with North York Harvest Food Bank (www.northyorkharvest.com). We have been able to dramatically increase our financial support over time and have even been able to assist in the purchase of a new vehicle as a one-time supplement to their efforts.
Several dozen Mackenzie employees have volunteered for the charity over the past two years and we are always seeking ways to support North York Harvest in a number of different ways. This is truly a product of a holistic relationship with the organization that allows the Foundation’s investment to achieve a sustained impact.
Beyond the Grant…
However, we are not a huge granting organization and so another creative way that we have been supporting social organizations is through the purchase of products or services that we regularly source. It has been rewarding to see the impact of our decisions to source catering services from Friend’s Catering at the Fred Victor Centre (www.evasinitiatives.com) and gifts from the village producers of the ZOË Alliance (www.zoealliance.com).
The idea is rooted in the social enterprise and social finance movements in general and it is this notion that if you are small, if you are creative, you can realize that there are other ways to create impact. Whether relocating accounts to a credit union, or using a social enterprise to cater events these things, in many ways, do as much to enhance your philanthropic culture as the broader $10,000 or $25,000 grants. Simple things like promotional items or catering are in some ways even more impactful because not a lot of people are doing them.
The Opportunity
It is part of an overall culture where you are looking for ways to support philanthropy with a non-traditional approach, and social enterprise certainly falls into that category. It’s a more creative way to approach generating capital for the sector that extends beyond government grants and donations. We are encouraging others to ask the question – what is a broader way to support the sector beyond grant making?
The best part of venturing into these new areas for impact is that people think it is really fascinating. It’s making them think and realize that we are going a bit beyond traditional corporate philanthropy and putting our money where our mouth is. They realize that we are thinking a little bit more broadly and that we “get it”.
I like the idea of the ZOË Challenge in that it touches on something that we at Mackenzie had already started to explored – creative ways to achieve greater impact that leverage existing budgets and routine business practices. It does require a new way of thinking, but our understanding of the value of social enterprise made these decisions rather easy to make.
Haiti is a place where there is hope, renewal and growth. These are three words that would not be the first to pop to mind when the topic of Haiti comes up. And yet this month’s update from Brian Stout, the US Director of Open Door Haiti, is filled with the evidence of all three.
For a little over a year, since the earthquake, we have experienced a mixed blessing in Bois de Lance, Haiti. The world has rallied to help the Haitian people rebuild their country in the wake of the earthquake. That support has created the opportunity for hope, renewal and growth on a scale that we have not seen in the almost 10 years we have been working in Haiti.
Open Door reaches out to address the needs of thousands of people within the village of Bois de Lance each year through: the medical clinic; school for 550 children; orphanage being constructed that will support 50 children: and all the community members who access safe water daily from our wells. We are also the largest employer in the village and it is our goal to increase the amount of funding that we can generate locally through sustainable business models.
 Children washing up before school This year in addition to our cash crops of broccoli, cilantro, cabbage, sweet potatoes, beans, corn, and bananas we are adding goat and chicken farming.
Haitians import over 2,000,000 eggs per day from the Dominican Republic. We are installing our very first chicken house for 60 chickens. Our plan is to grow to 3 houses with over 1,200 chickens. This project will produce eggs and chickens for meat to be sold in the local market, providing steady employment for 9 people.
We also continue to reach out to access trade with other countries through our partnership with ZOË Alliance. This is a great opportunity for us because it helps us to leverage existing skills, like sewing, and to ensure that more women are able to apply this skill not just here in our work centre, but also in other opportunities locally.
We are excited to be producing the Espére Lunch Bag for ZOË Alliance because we have experienced the ripple effect that the income from these projects has on the lives of people. As an example, something as simple as the drawstring bags that hold the game pieces for Ti Ta To 10 (Dix) enabled one couple, Helene and Pierre Delius to buy a cow. This gave them the income to lease land to plant crops, from which the proceeds are sustaining their family.
 Helene and Ladies of Seamstress Unit All people want to work and to provide for their families. It is no different in Bois de Lance and we are excited about having another product to help create steady employment opportunities. I want to thank everyone who purchases these products with this little glimpse into the sustained impact that your decision is achieving in the lives of our community.
This month’s blog has been written by Guest Expert – Julie McDowell, President TARIS Incorporated and Founder of ClearlySo Canada. In it she shares her insights into the role that Canadian social businesses are playing in ensuring that the social impact of our efforts are clear and measurable AND why this is so important.
Numbers Tell the Story
As the Founder of ClearlySo Canada, I spend most of my days working with entrepreneurs that are trying to change or improve the world through their commercial ventures as well as with investors that are keenly involved in financing entrepreneurial companies. Increasingly I find my role as one of translator; explaining the concept of blended financial, social, environmental returns to investors and helping the entrepreneurs in our network understand Continue reading Measurable Social Impact – Guest Expert Julie McDowell CEO of ClearlySo Canada
“…But I say courage is not the abnormal. Not the marvelous act. Not Macbeth with fine speeches….Not the surprise. The amazed understanding. The marriage, not the month’s rapture. Not the exception. The beauty that is of many days. Steady and clear. It is the normal excellence of long accomplishment.” Jack Gilbert
This quotation is an excerpt from Jack Gilbert’s poem – The Abnormal Is Not Courage.
We spent much of yesterday speaking over Skype with the people we are working with in Haiti and India. I had to share this poem because each and every time I do this I am inspired by them and I am struck by their character and the courage they exhibit to keep up the hard work of the …normal excellence of long accomplishment as Gilbert calls it.
Their daily work of making a difference in the small invisible ways, these are the efforts that add up to sustainable change and improved lives. The courage to laugh when something goes awry, to forgive and to keep trying. The courage to find new and creative ways to make something work rather than saying its too hard and walking away. The courage to stay in for the long haul when the soil is dry and hard. We are far away from the daily realities in the villages and it is so much easier to be courageous here, surrounded by the excitement that comes with growth and new opportunities.
International development, micro-enterprise development, poverty alleviation, education, the transformation of economies and societal health….definitely not endeavours for the faint of heart!
Things are on the move in Dharmapuri, India. Mercy and Vinci Imondi, and Janet Rogers have long been working toward establishing a medical clinic in the small village to serve the over 400 families in the vicinity. It’s a significant milestone with big implications for the health and vitality of the community.
Implications for health because it is a rural community with limited access to care and routine perils such as highly venomous snakes a common daily sighting. Implications for vitality because with the next closest option a 15 km walk away, taking your family member to the doctor means missing a days work if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity for work.
So to answer our question, how much does 15 km cost? A days work, a night’s meal, a family members well being….in Dharmapuri it can cost an awful lot. Which is the reason we are absolutely thrilled for everyone in the village as they march toward a November launch of a fully functioning medical centre. Read on for a brief update and some pictures of the progress…
Medical Clinic Update from Dharmapuri, India
The medical clinic that Mercy Abraham Imondi, General Trustee of Mahalir Aran Trust, has dreamed of providing for the
 Drilling the Well for the Medical Centre community is fast becoming a reality.
In November of 2010, the building began and just recently the well was established to supply the centre. It was incredibly successful, as many know the water table in India is dangerously low, and the entire team was delighted when the first sign of water was found at only 55 feet in depth.
Drilling a bore-well is a very expensive proposition and sometimes, it can result in no water. After a full day of drilling a 500 foot well, it was declared a resounding success with plenty of water for the medical clinic.
 Mercy & Vinci Reviewing Plans with the Architect The clinic should be finished up for May with the grand opening in September of this year. All in all it will serve over 400 families whose next closest medical option is a 15km walk away. There will be two doctors, an eye surgeon and a general practitioner as well as a full time nurse.
The team sends best wishes to all of us here. There are many more women waiting to be trained to work in the Flowering Desert Production Unit of Mahalir Aran Trust and thanks to the clinic, they’ll soon be able to have their families medical needs tended to near by as well.
Congratulations to our friends Janet Rogers of VIA Design and Mercy & Vinci Imondi for making the dream come true.
At ZOË we have been consistently blogging and making use of the various ways in which we can communicate with those who are interested in our movement for almost 2 years now. It’s hard to believe it has been that long and it’s even harder to believe how many of you have joined with us in creating this movement and how much has happened in that span of time.
Some of our highlights include:
- Partnering with 4 incredible leaders in villages/communities around the world to help bring profile, opportunity and resources to their work so that they can employ people more consistently and sustainably impact their community.
- Growing our suite of product offerings making it easier for individuals, companies and associations to get involved.
- Welcoming more and more companies who have taken the ZOË Challenge, choosing to allocate 10% of their gift & promo budget to items produced in accordance with fair trade principles.
As our community has grown, we have learned more about the kinds of information that you are interested in and that would be helpful. If we are hearing you right, the areas of highest interest are village/community updates, stories of who is active in the movement, and highlights of our offerings so you can stay abreast of the ways that you can get involved. So this year this is what you can expect from us in terms of updates:
- Monthly Blogs: Our blogs will be comprised of Village and Community updates, Partnership announcements, and Guest Bloggers who represent companies who have taken the ZOË Challenge, represent the CSR community, or bring keen insights into development issues in developing nations or with marginalized people groups.
- Newsletters (6/year): Our newsletter will be formatted to speak to the areas that have been identified as of interest. The key segments will be: Seasonal Spotlight, From the Field, and ZC Pulse “Building a Movement”. (Sign up here)
- Web Update: You can also expect a new section on our website outlining our social impact measures and how we are doing.
We have a lot of exciting developments in the works for 2011 and we look forward to our ongoing dialogue and partnership with all of you this year. We invite you to comment or drop us a note anytime, and let us know if you or your company would like to be a guest blogger and join the conversation.
Happy 2011!
For this final post of the year before a 2 week vacation pause a couple of thoughts on giving.
GIVE THE GIFT OF YOU!
This season is so crowded, it’s easy to lose track of what’s important to the people who love us. So a simple suggestion that we’ve all heard before….spend real time listening to and laughing with your family and friends. This will be a gift everyone will remember.
GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF TIME!
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to take time off. Be comfortable with sitting in front of the fireplace reading a good fiction novel, whiling away hours at the piano, or swooshing down the ski slopes. Whatever is your version of a good rest, take it.
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS AND BE A BLESSING!
Take a little time to write down all that you have to be grateful for. Sometimes we end the year tired, and this is a great way to renew energy and refuel for what lies ahead. Every year as I take stock of the past year and plan for the next one. I pick a theme that I can focus my energies around in terms of how I will affect others. If you are one who sets goals and plans at this time of year, think about adding one goal that captures how you plan to bless others next year.
On behalf of everyone at ZOË Alliance, here and around the world, we wish you a special time of blessing, joy and peace at this time of year.
INTRODUCING…EQUITAS!
Every day at ZOË seems to bring exciting new developments! Today we have the privilege of introducing you to Grow. Grow is a social enterprise in Ottawa, Canada that provides training and employment opportunities for adults with disabilities.
Two of their projects include wood and pottery shops, and we are delighted that the teams working in these areas have agreed to team up with ZOË to produce our newest product line – Equitas.
The Equitas product line consists of two fantastic new speakers or general gifts. A very high quality hand made pottery coaster set, and an exquisite business card holder for the desk make with genuine jade accents.
 Pottery Coasters Available with Custom Image and Logo  Business Card Holder w/Genuine Jade available with your logo Both items involve skill and care in their production that the team at Grow is more than capable of demonstrating. We are proud to be working in partnership with Grow and feel the Latin word Equitas, which means justice and from which our English word equality is derived, is the perfect way to capture the spirit behind this great enterprise.
The idea for the name came from an early conversation with Micah Elson who oversees the work at Grow. I’ve quoted him once before in this blog, however it provides some context to do so again here. In speaking about the team he said: “Equality is a huge piece of what we are doing here – providing access to jobs that they would normally only dream of. There is nothing that I can do that they can’t do. Even though it may take them longer to learn it, there is nothing I have come across that they can’t do given enough time and the right training.”
Our commitment at ZOË Alliance is to continue to extend opportunities to individuals and communities who are marginalized that allow them to fully exercise their abilities and to provide for themselves and their families
This new project with Grow is especially fun because it allows us to extend highly skilled and meaningful work opportunities to an exceptionally gifted group of people right here at home.
EITHER/OR VERSUS BOTH/AND
Sometimes we get caught up in either/or thinking. Lots of people have been asking me what I think about The Advent Conspiracy given that our ZOË Challenge advocates for helping those in developing nations by buying gifts that are produced in accordance with fair trade principles.
This week’s blog is a summary of my thoughts and a challenge to us to think both/and versus either/or – there is so much more opportunity for impact this way!
ADVENT CONSPIRACY SUMMARIZED
I’ve been watching The Advent Conspiracy gain momentum with excitement, it is a fantastic concept. It summarizes it’s own message by saying: worship fully, spend less, give more, and love all.
Great points, we all know that our society get’s lost in Christmas and the holidays. Their key point is to buy one less gift and then give the money, postage, etc…associated with that gift away to a good cause of your choice. This is a great idea and I hope we all do it.
AND NOW THE STEROIDS PART
Odds are that after we have made a donation in lieu of a gift, we will likely still purchase some gifts. What if the gifts we did buy, or at least a portion of them, were produced in accordance with Fair Trade principles? Then on top of making a charitable gift as The Advent Conspiracy advocates, we could give people in developing nations income and dignity. The pleasure of doing a good day’s work, producing an item of value and having it be purchased and given.
THE OPPORTUNITY – GIVING IS MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
If we take the challenge of The Advent Conspiracy and the ZOË Challenge to buy fair trade items we will have touched upon the different ways that we all can truly help be a part of sustained change globally. It’s a bit like the old “Aid vs. Trade” argument.
Should we give aid? Some, like Dambisa Moyo in her book Dead Aid, would say no, it destroys a country. Should we only give trade? Sounds interesting, but can I go to work if I’m starving and sick because I have no clean water? It is pretty clear that, like most solutions, the answer rests in a true understanding of the issues and balance.
Given the options – give a donation in lieu of a gift or, give a gift that creates dignity and opportunity, my question is….why wouldn’t we do both?
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