May 26, 2017 Bengaluru: Treeni Sustainability Solutions, a software product company established by sustainability practitioners and technology experts, hosted its third edition of the ‘Sustainability for Breakfast’ event recently.
The theme for the edition was “Role of Technology in CSR Enablement.” The discussion panel included Meera Rajeevan – Program Director, Sarojini Damodaran Foundation, Shoma Bakre – Founder and Managing Trustee, Let’s Do Some Good Foundation, Aruna Newton Assoc. Vice President – Global Head Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability Governance and Reporting, Infosys, and Tushar Sujith, Director – Operations, AMBA Core Centre.
CSR executives representing organisations such as Tech Mahindra, Narayana Healthcare, Oracle and Philips gathered together to discuss the challenges faced while measuring impact of CSR campaigns, innovation in CSR and the use of technology to overcome roadblocks.
The panellist engaged with the CSR executives to understand difficulties faced by organisations to measure the direct impact on communities and the society at large, and the intangible, but very important impact on the brand and reputation. Bengaluru, being a leading technology hub of the country, also paved way to deliberate on how organisations can leverage technology to engage better with the society rather than just investing a part of the revenue towards CSR activities.
Aruna Newton, Assoc. Vice President, Global Head Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability Governance and Reporting, Infosys said, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and what we eat for breakfast influences how we perform mentally and physically. $4 billion is a smart and innovative way to sharpen the focus on the most important sustainability actions that will influence how we work together to build and nurture endeavours that will sustain.”
Shoma Bakre, Founder and Managing Trustee, Let’s Do Some Good Foundation added, “Technological intervention is an immediate need in CSR to access desired output and measure impact. Platforms such as Sustainability for Breakfast plays an important role in bringing together experts and advocates of CSR to share and exchange knowledge and ideas.”
Talking about the impact measurement of CSR activities, Meera Rajeevan, Program Director, Sarojini Damodaran Foundation said, “To scale operations and be effective, NGOs have to focus on process, people, technology and metrics. To measure CSR effectiveness, corporates should look at long term impact and benefits rather than going after the low hanging fruits and short term welfare.”
Sustainability for Breakfast, also known as S4B, is a concept to get experts and decision makers in the domain of sustainability together to drive change and build a community of change-makers. The purpose of this unique initiative, powered by Treeni Sustainability Solutions, is to promote dialogue on the emerging trends in Sustainability that is reimagining the way businesses are run today. The last two S4B events were hosted in Pune where sustainability experts discussed about circular economy and integrated reporting.
Speaking on the event, Ankush Patel, Co-founder and CEO, Treeni Sustainability Solutions, said, “While there is a lot of wonderful CSR work being done in India, there are areas where effective execution of CSR initiatives can be improved. This event acts as a platform for Sustainability Thought Leaders, CSR Experts, Foundation Heads and Program Managers to discuss common challenges, enable problem solving, and share new approaches and best practices in the domain.”
Treeni Sustainability Solutions aims to host similar events across the country to connect, converse and conceptualise new ideas that will help sustainability leaders to further their agendas in their respective organisations.
