Today, people and businesses are striving to understand the inequities in our communities and the role they can play in addressing them. We see this anecdotally through our latest racial reckoning, the Great Resignation, and the movement for stakeholder capitalism.

Fundamentally, we are searching for civic wellbeing - the capacity to critically evaluate, navigate, and drive positive change on the issues that impact our communities. For many adults, this search is existential - it is about aligning our lives with our values. For businesses, it is similarly essential, especially as pressure from investors, employees, and society builds for companies to align doing well with doing good.

To meet this moment, businesses need to cultivate civic wellbeing by supporting employees and community members to come together, unpack the local issues connected to their operations, and embed proximate leadership into their decision-making. Doing so will promote not only equitable community outcomes but long-term success for the organization:

  1. CSR - Catalyze community-led change and relationship building: Investing in and collaborating with those most proximate to local issues informs, drives, and sustains positive systems change. Businesses that do so also build trust and long-term relationships with leaders in the community. This promotes long-term stability that is beneficial for the business.
  2. DEI - Advance diversity, equity, and inclusion: Building an inclusive, equitable culture doesn't end inside the workplace. By supporting employees to engage with the diverse perspectives and structural inequities in their communities, businesses activate them as more effective DEI advocates.
  3. ESG - Strengthen governance through proximate leadership: Stakeholder capitalism asserts the importance of community as a key stakeholder, but few organizations have a governance model that weighs community interests in guiding their strategy. Employees that are proximate to local issues spark innovation and better decision-making throughout the organization.
  4. HR - Cultivate employee growth, retention, and attraction: Employees are increasingly drawn to their employers based on the organization’s perceived mission. Giving employees the opportunity to contextualize how their work fits into a broader system will develop their leadership ability, increase retention, and attract talent.