Culmination of efforts at the COMMIT!Forum
By Mike Wallace
On October 8 -9 BrownFlynn will be participating in the 4th COMMIT!Forum. As a longtime partner of the Corporate Responsibility Association and the COMMIT!Forum, and as an active provider of professional development and sustainability content, we’re especially excited about this year’s event. Our field is evolving radically, and content this year will reflect this rapid pace of change. Along these lines, CRA’s own efforts to facilitate and enhance the field will come through in several key areas.
First off, CRA’s organizational efforts to facilitate and organize members around high-priority topics has accelerated over the last year. Committees that were originally established in 2007 are expanding and gaining significant membership and momentum. New committees are being formed and relevant and timely content is quickly being brought to the stage this year in New York.
For example, BrownFlynn’s active involvement on CRA’s Advisory Board and on committees such as the Professional Development Committee – http://www. croassociation.org/content/professional-development-committee and the Ratings & Rankings Committee – http://www.croassociation.org/content/ratings-rankings-committee is helping to shape special content for this year’s event. BrownFlynn’s Director of Learning, Cora Lee Mooney, will be holding a special professional development session on Materiality and the Value Chain on October 8 from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. A very timely workshop given the developments around GRI G4 and the growing importance of measuring, managing and reporting on value chain impacts.
In addition, BrownFlynn’s co-founder, Margie Flynn, will be leading a session on October 8 at 11:15 a.m. on Driving Innovation through Diversity and Inclusion.
I will be moderating a session in the afternoon – Ratings, Rankings and the Perpetuation of Survey Fatigue.
These are of course in addition to many other amazing sessions and expert nd speakers lined up for this year’s COMMIT!Forum. This line-up is an indication of how the field is evolving, as well as how CRA is harnessing expertise from around the sustainability community to bring some of the latest thinking to its members and the broader community.
Evolution of a CRA Committee – Ratings & Rankings
Earlier this year BrownFlynn was honored by CRA’s request that we take over as Chair of the Ratings & Rankings Committee. Not only was it an honor to step into the shoes of Reg Foster (formerly with IBM) who’d helped develop and lead this Committee for several years, but an honor to Chair a Committee with such an esteemed collection of organizations and professionals in this space. Below is the latest roster of entities and individuals involved in this unique Committee:
Stepping in as Chair, I inherited a tight-knit group of colleagues – all mutually engaged in the ratings and rankings area and all with unique perspectives, experiences and expertise. In addition, the Committee was unique in that it recognized the value and need for such ratings and rankings, and the value such efforts have for our field. Committee members also recognized that something was missing and that confusion around the proliferation of such ratings and rankings was becoming an increasing detriment to all stakeholders. The Committee had also worked closely and learned alongside CRA and its 100 Best Corporate Citizens research partner, IW Financial, as they worked together to enhance the transparency of the 100 Best methodology and to communicate how this list was annually re-constituted.
These collective lessons learned have led to a new direction for the Ratings & Rankings Committee. Just recently, after a very dynamic and engaged Committee call about one of the latest public rankings, the group discussed an idea to invite the most influential ratings, rankings and research firms to join the Committee’s monthly calls. The Committee collectively pulled together a comprehensive list of known ratings, rankings and research entities and CRA created a survey to poll Committee members on the order and type of questions the Committee would like to discuss with these entities. The goal is to help Committee members (and other CRA members) constructively engage and learn with this important part of the sustainability field.
Stay tuned for more information on the CRA website about this Committee’s efforts, as well as hear the latest at this year’s COMMIT!Forum. Also, feel free to get engaged more directly with CRA and this Committee, as this forum will be invaluable as sustainability performance becomes even more mainstream.
Mike Wallace is Managing Director of BrownFlynn.
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