How business can help Afghan girls and women
By: Bea Boccalandro, Author of Do Good at Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing and purpose advisor to over a dozen Fortune 500 companies
Like many of you, I’m heartsick for the people of Afghanistan–especially the girls and women left vulnerable to the Taliban squashing their rights and lives. It’s easy to feel helpless and hopeless.
Let’s not forget, though, of a formidable force that we can nudge toward aiding Afghans (and other victims of displacement and human rights violations): business. We can, for example:
- Ask our employer to join the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a network of companies committed to integrating refugees in their host communities.
- Get our procurement department to join UNSTUCK, which helps businesses populate supply chains with providers that hire refugees.
- Encourage our employee resource groups (ERG’s) or corporate foundation to support efforts in the developing world through Alight, Global Giving, the International Rescue Committee, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Mercy Corps or the Malala Fund, which are all promoting women’s right in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere.
- Organize employee volunteering or giving that supports organizations that serve refugees in our communities. In the United States, these nonprofits include Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), HIAS, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and World Relief.
In summary, there are various ways capitalism can reduce suffering in the Afghans and drive social justice. But it’s up to us to push it in that direction.
*For more great organizations supporting international efforts, check out Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Samaritan’s Purse, International Justice Mission, Mission Aviation, Food for the Hungry, or find out more about CHC’s Hero’s Health cause supporting the mental and physical health of our military and veterans.
Bea Boccalandro, Author of Do Good at Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing and purpose advisor to over a dozen Fortune 500 companies
Bea Boccalandro is the author of Do Good at Work: How Simple Acts of Social Purpose Drive Success and Wellbeing (New York: Morgan James Publishing, 2021), which has received critical acclaim. Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant named Do Good at Work a top-30 new book, Midwest Book Review recommends it as a “life changing, life enhancing read,” Amazon reviewers rated it 4.9 out of 5 and University of Michigan Professor Victor Strecher said it’s a “science-backed really good book” he “fell in love with.”
As founder and president of the global purpose advisory firm, VeraWorks, Bea has two decades of experience helping businesses make customer interactions more human, products more inclusive, operations more environmentally sustainable, marketing more charitable or otherwise make work more meaningful. Her clients include Aetna, Bank of America, Disney, Eventbrite, FedEx, HP, John Hancock, IBM, Levi’s, PwC, TOMS Shoes, Toyota and Western Digital. Her work has been featured in popular business media such as FOX TV, Business Digest, Forbes and Harvard Business Review – as well as in specialized academic publications.
Bea also has 15 years of experience teaching corporate social purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR) at Georgetown University, Boston College and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Over 80% of student evaluations have rated her teaching a perfect 5 out of 5. Furthermore, her speeches across more than 50 countries have inspired tens of thousands of people to make their work more meaningful. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela, but today lives with her husband in San Clemente, California, where she embarrasses herself as a beginner surfer.
Learn more at www.BeaBoccalandro.com.
