But I'm Not in the CSR Department!

Some readers may feel they can't make an impact for good at work because they aren't in their organization's CSR department or their company may not have events in which employees can participate. Even if you are in that position, you can become a social intrapreneur in your company to promote positive social change. Social entrepreneurs are those individuals who create a mission-driven organization, usually a for-profit company, to solve a social or environmental problem. Social intrapreneurs work within the boundaries of an existing for-profit company to solve social or environmental ills. (Gifford Pinchot, founder of the Bainbridge Institute, is credited with coining the term "intrapreneur" - see his Ten Commandments for intrapreneurs here.)

In Forbes Magazine, Joseph Agoada wrote a column, "2014's Most Valuable Employee: The Social Intraprenuer" with a promise to provide strategies for social intrapreneurs during the upcoming year. Net Impact has published a report, Making Your Impact at Work: A Practical Guide to Changing the World from Inside any Company, that includes steps an employee can take to become a social intrapreneur as well as case studies of successful intrapreneurs. Another toolkit is available through the League of Intrapreneurs, an organization founded to support "corporate changemakers who are working to transform business from the inside out." SustainAbility has produced its own guide, The Social Intrapreneur: A Guide for Corporate Changemakers. These guides and toolkits provide practical, step-by-step plans for tackling an issue about which you are passionate.

Social intrapreneurship may not be a common phrase in corporations, but attention to the phenomenon is growing. The BMW Foundation, created by the famous car manufacturer in 1970, has identified social intrapreneurship as a key focus area. The foundation views social intrapreneurship as a vehicle that benefits employees, companies, and communities. Benefits to companies are explored in a 2013 Guardian article, "How Does a Social Entrapreneur Add Value to a Business?" Author Emma Stewart asserts that social intrapreneurs provide innovative products and services, such as GE's Ecomagination line and Levi's Water
"Superheroes in Business Suits: Why the World Needs Social Intrapraneurs" by Nate Silver discusses the solutions to social challenges that arise when social and environmental change is informed by functional business expertise and supported by corporate networks and resources.

In the case of Levi's Water>Jeans, the corporation benefited through a new, innovative product that meets the needs of consumers who want to have less of an environmental impact. Employees benefit from the sense of meaning and accomplishment from achieving a significant impact in terms of reduced water usage in the production cycle of denim jeans.

Any employee of any business can make a case for a social intrapreneurship project; however, some organizational cultures contribute to the success of social intrapreneurs. Net Impact found that the support and openness of managers provided the best context for social intrapreneurship.

Now that you know you don't have to be in the CSR department to advocate for positive social and environmental change, what passion project will you advance at work?

Brookhaven National Laboratory Gives Back

The Adopt a Platoon organization was formed to support deployed military personnel. Individuals, organizations, and companies who adopt a platoon pledge to sent at least one care package a month along with cards and letters through the adopt-a-platoon program, though AAP also has other campaigns interested parties can join.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a research institution funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, is one organization that participates in the AAP program.

Photo by Brookhaven National Laboratory. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Brookhaven doesn't provide a section on their website about employee volunteer programs, but it does seem that many employees feel called to serve their nation and community. In addition to the AAP initiative, employee volunteers recently provided gifts and gift cards for those in the community who might not otherwise have the resources to celebrate through the Community Youth and Family Services Agency's Adopt-a-Family Program. Tara Shiels of the Lab’s Community Relations Office, who coordinates the Brookhaven Lab donations, remarked, “It was amazing. On collection day, the gifts just kept streaming in to our conference room. It really put me in the holiday spirit.” The lab's press release provides photographs from Brookhaven National Laboratory Adopt-A-Family Activities.

One of the past activities that caught my eye was completed in 2010, when delegates from the lab attended the Federally Employed Women (FEW) annual meeting in New Orleans. Attendees from the lab, along with some spouses, spent two hours making 335 booms filled with natural material like hair for Matter of Trust to help soak up oil from the BP oil spill.

FEW conference attendees from BNL with the pile of 335 booms they made to help clean up the oil in the Gulf.

MaryAnn Maggio, an employee of BNL who had been heartbroken when watching the coverage of the oil spill, decided to arrange the service activity in conjunction with the FEW conference. Maggio reflected on the experience, “It’s about women being passionate and making a difference. I think we made a good showing.”

BNL's community outreach activities show the diverse forms social action at work can take and demonstrate that not all activities need to be coordinated by someone in the CSR or community relations department. Any employee with a passion can marshall an organization's resources - human or otherwise - to address a social issue.