causenation

Paul Levy of Beth Isreal Deaconess Hospital

In today’s Boston Globe, columnist Kevin Cullen wrote about a magnificent move by Beth Israel Hospital CEO Paul Levy. Levy asked higher-wage earning employees to think creatively about how they could collectively shoulder some of the cost-cutting burden to save the jobs of the hospital’s lower-wage earning employees. Levy reported receiving hundreds of emails an hour and his bold request and gesture generated a rousing round of applause from the employees gathered. We think this is leadership at its best, at the time it is needed most.

The fact is, and it’s no surprise, employees all over America are hurting. And we’re not just talking about those who have recently been laid off with the massive cutbacks rippling across corporate and nonprofit America alike. (more…)

As President Obama and Congress go to work trying to breathe life into the economy, we thought it wise to take the pulse of causenation and see how it’s fairing in these strained times. We talked with dozens of folks from across the spectrum of professionals who have some skin in the Citizenship game.

What we’re hearing across the board – from foundation heads to corporate CSR teams, from corporate communications VPs to community relations and public affairs managers is this: Everyone is tightening their belts and trying to do more with the same or fewer resources. But the real challenge they are facing is how to meet the demands of the economy and continue to move the ball forward on their Citizenship efforts. Because no one we talked to is getting pushback that Citizenship is any less of a priority, in fact, just the opposite. The emphasis is great; the resources just aren’t the same.

So we’re asking, how can we continue to sow the seeds of Citizenship? How can we hold tight to the traction that corporate America has been gaining on critical business and social objectives at this time when the country needs stability and progress most? While few seem to be able to do anything new, we think it is precisely the right time to renew – commitments, assets, partnerships, and strategies.

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