Who I am and Where I Come From

I realize that I've delved significantly into my work without giving you a proper introduction. As you may remember, I am currently a student at Arizona State University pursuing my Master of Public Administration degree. But, to get a better idea of why I am here today, let me give you a background of where I come from.

When ever someone asks me where home is I usually respond saying Atlanta, Georgia. While this answer seems to make most sense, it is a little complicated. I was born in Atlanta but at the age of two my family moved to Mumbai, India. At the time, my dad worked for Coca-Cola and the company was being reintroduced to India after being kicked out in 1977 due to a nationalist movement. After four years in Mumbai, my family moved to New Delhi since Coca Cola was shifting its office to the capital of India. Fast forward another four years and my family was packing its bags once again to move to Jakarta, Indonesia (a place I had never known even existed until the year 2000). Again, four years later, and I was starting my 10th grade of school in Sydney, Australia.

So as you may have gathered, I've moved around, a lot. It was only a little over three years ago that I decided to come back "home" to Atlanta where my parents had recently bought a house to gain some sort of permanency in where I live. Shortly after coming back to America, I began volunteering (and then working) at United Way of Greater Atlanta. I had always known since high school that the type of work I do should make an impact in the community. Having been brought up in developing countries, I had been exposed to several of society's ills that needed attention.

One of the bigger problems facing Atlanta is its homeless veteran population, which is higher than the national average. While working in Atlanta, I served on a government grant that required United Way to house 300 homeless veteran families within one year. Although I enjoyed the work I was doing, a part of me knew I was not done studying yet. It was finally in April 2013 that I was accepted into the MPA program at ASU and decided to pack my bags once again to begin this chapter of my life.

Giving Back

Corporate philanthropy provides a significant source of funding to nonprofit organizations within the community, especially when government contracts and grants dwindle during times of economic hardship. There are several benefits to the company as well if it participates in philanthropic activities. My push for developing a robust corporate giving program at ON Semiconductor is premised on four main arguments:

1. Public Relations: The more involved a corporation is within the community, the more visible it will be to the public. Very rarely does a company's philanthropic work go unnoticed by the media. Customers also often demonstrate loyalty to a company based on its reputation. Greener companies are generally preferred by consumers and investors both. While many employees may already donate through the workplace, a comprehensive corporate giving program is better able to track donations and measure the impact of giving. This in return provides for greater publicity. 
2. Profit: Linked to positive PR is profit. With positive publicity, organizations are able to gain a larger customer base and reap greater profits as well. 
3. Employee engagement: Employees are increasingly looking for additional benefits when selecting a place of work. Along with the usual health, dental, and pension, millennials are looking for ways to give back while in the workplace. Corporate giving can give individuals the opportunity to make a bigger difference in the community by asking their employer to match contributions. Several large companies now offer sabbaticals to long-term employees where they can use skills they have developed in the workplace to address a community need. Additionally, employees can team up with other coworkers for certain causes. 
4. Morale: Ultimately, greater employee engagement boosts morale. The more pleased an employee is with the corporate culture of a company, the more productive she or he is likely to be. Increased engagement leads to less absenteeism and tardiness.

While there are several reasons for a company to pursue a corporate giving program, there must also be certain guidelines in place to ensure that company dollars are being spent wisely. Drafting eligibility criteria and developing minimum thresholds can ensure that appropriate background checks are conducted on the organization prior to giving. The last thing any organization wants is to associate itself with a nonprofit that lacks transparency, efficiency, and financial stability. If the proper mechanisms are in place, however, a company can give back to the community significantly.

The Global Reporting Initiative

Over the last few months, I have engaged in sustainability reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Sustainability reporting is increasingly viewed as a best-practice for companies worldwide. By gathering and reporting information on organizational processes, companies can assess their impact on the economy, environment, society, and governance. Disclosing sustainability information can also allow companies to have better reputations through transparency and accountability; meet expectations of employees, customers, and other stakeholders; improve access to capital; and increase efficiency and reduce waste.

The GRI is an international nonprofit organization in the sustainability field. Since 1999, the organization has established one of the most prevalent sustainability reporting standards and built strategic partnerships with the United Nations Environmental Protection, the UN Global Compact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the International Organization for Standardization.

GRI’s mission is to make sustainability reporting a standard practice; one which helps promote and manage change towards a sustainable global economy. Organizations from different industries use a common set of guidelines through the GRI Framework to gather and report information that stakeholders find important.

G4 is the latest version of the GRI Framework, which encourages organizations to show significant economic, environmental, and social impacts of operations that also influence stakeholders including employees, customers, investors, the community, and government. Several of the indicators that companies may report on through GRI include labor relations, resource consumption, emissions, product safety, and procurement practices.

Currently, GRI’s Sustainable Disclosure Database features 7,598 organizations that have submitted 18,922 GRI reports.

A Day in the Life

My day as a corporate social responsibility intern at ON Semiconductor is difficult to describe due to a lack of routine. This is primarily because of the the various projects I am on and the work required for each of them.

Since the start of my internship in May, however, just making my way to my cube has been an adventure. ON Semiconductor has had various stages of renovations over the summer, which often makes the office a maze to navigate. Despite this, I aim to start work by 8:30 a.m. most mornings. The only time my hours may vary is if I have a conference call scheduled with a coworker in Malaysia. If this is the case, I will either come in later in the morning and stay back, or start sooner in the morning and leave earlier in the afternoon.

Usually, my day begins with checking emails at 8:30 am while I have my breakfast (toast, fruit, and coffee). During the summer, checking my email would not take as long since I would be in the office on a regular basis. Since the start of the fall semester, however, I am only in the office twice per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays), which means that I have several emails to get through. After checking my emails and responding to those that require immediate attention, I will usually plan out my day by creating a list of items that I would like to get through. I guess I've always been a "list" type of a person, as I do this with groceries, homework, and work now too.

As previously mentioned, my main projects during the internship are the GRI report, corporate giving proposal, volunteer time off proposal, and EcoVadis. I will usually work on one to two of those projects per day, depending on which ones need the most attention due to upcoming deadlines. Recently, I've been focusing most of my attention on the EcoVadis assessment which entails emailing fellow employees regarding any supporting documentation needed for the assessment and preparing it for submission. With the other projects, however, I usually spend time doing research on industry practices (e.g. how other companies are using the GRI to benchmark their CSR reports or how much companies are devoting to philanthropic activities). I also often prepare presentations of my projects for the Employee Activity Committee or the SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Overall, I would not say that I have a "typical" day as an intern at ON Semiconductor. However, some of my most common tasks involve corresponding via email with other employees to retrieve answers or evidence for reporting purposes; preparing presentations; or conducting research.

The Art of Presenting

As you may remember, one of my goals as an intern this summer has been to hone the skill of presenting in a concise yet informative manner. Last Thursday, I was able to confirm whether or not I have come closer to achieving this objective. Two of the projects I have been working on - ON Semiconductor's Global Reporting Initiative Content Index (GRI report) and the corporate giving proposal - needed the attention of the company's CEO. Both projects required a "green light" in order for me to proceed. The GRI index, if approved, would be incorporated in ON Semiconductor's 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report and the corporate giving proposal would become closer to implementation.

As it turns out, the timing of my presentation could not have been more perfect. Coincidentally, one of the required readings for my Capstone class (PAF 509) last week was in fact on perfecting the art of presentations as policy analysts. Chapter 5 of Michael Mintrom's People Skills for Policy Analysts outlines the methods of giving an effective oral presentation.

Mintrom describes communication with the analogy of ringing a door bell. The process of communication involves the presenter sending a message and an audience receiving the message and proving feedback in return. In the case of a door bell, a visitor will aim to press the door bell at just the right pressure to ensure that the receiver is able to hear and understand the message (or in this case the sound of the door bell). In order to achieve this, Mintrom presents a number of tips on how to prepare according to your objective, practice, learn about your audience and venue, understand the need for visual aids, and dress appropriately.

Ultimately, I was able to use several of the tips provided by Mintrom such as the importance of practicing the content of my presentation and using a structured PowerPoint presentation to more effectively convey my point. And the results of using these tips: the green light from the CEO! I can now proceed to the next steps of my project, including preparing for an external GRI report and forming a budget and committee for ON Semiconductor's corporate giving program.

ON Semiconductor

ON Semiconductor is a Phoenix-based private corporation, which was established in 1999. Along with Freescale, ON Semiconductor is a spinoff of Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector. The company aims to drive energy efficient innovations in signal management, logic, discrete, and custom solutions. ON Semiconductor components are found in automotive, communication, computer, consumer, industrial, LED lighting, medical, and military goods.

As a corporate social responsibility intern at ON Semiconductor, it is my aim to enhance the company's triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. Several of the projects that I am working on as a CSR intern have allowed me to better understand the economic, social, and environmental impact of business operations. Examples of certain projects include:

1. The Global Reporting Initiative: a sustainability reporting framework developed by the nonprofit sector to help companies convey their economic, environmental, and social activities. 
2. Corporate giving: a program that allows ON Semiconductor to increase its philanthropic role within the community through more directed donations. 
3. Volunteer time off: a  corporate policy that allows employees to increasingly participate in the community by volunteering at organizations of their choosing with the support of ON Semiconductor. 
4. EcoVadis: a corporate social responsibility assessment that evaluates the company's initiatives in regards to the environment, health and safety of workers, labor rights, and sustainable procurement. 

In addition to the aforementioned projects, I am also a member of ON Semiconductor's Employee Activity Committee, which organizes employee engagement activities as well as philanthropic activities such as volunteering, marathons, food drives, and giving.