Risa_Sherman_at_Simmons_College

The continued research statistics about the continued momentum of the CSR movement and companies’ progress despite a down economy is encouraging.  But recently I saw first-hand that momentum in action – and that was more exciting than any statistic.

A few weeks ago,  I spoke at Simmons College School of Management at a seminar in CSR theory taught by Dr. Shuili Du, a CSR researcher and professor of marketing.  I found the students smart and well informed and their questions and comments insightful. What has me all jazzed up, though is what happened after I left the class.

On my way to my car, a student chased me down in the courtyard outside of the School of Management. She explained that her academic focus is on human resources management and that she will vigorously pursue that career path. However, she wants to do so in a company with a strong commitment to CSR so that she can embed these practices as an HR leader.  How cool is that?

As a follow-up to my blog this summer about my panel presentation at the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication conference, and the conversations I continue to have with educators from a range of institutions and disciplines, I continue to believe that growth of CSR professionals and growth of the discipline will not come solely from the number of CSR-focused jobs, but from the incorporation of this discipline into a majority of jobs across our companies – in HR, sourcing, business development, marketing, brand development, package design and so on.

This is the future of CSR and it looks like momentum to me!

Share This