The Corporate Citizen, November 2007

Section: BCLC News

Microsoft and ChoicePoint Take Top Honors at
2007 Corporate Citizenship Awards

With his signature "HIIII-OOOOO," Ed McMahon kicked off BCLC's 2007 Corporate Citizenship Awards Dinner on Nov. 7 at Washington, D.C.'s historic National Building Museum. Two technology firms took top honors at the annual celebration.

Akhtar Badshah, senior director of community affairs for Microsoft, accepted the Corporate Stewardship—Large Business Award on behalf of Microsoft's 71,000 employees and its nonprofit partners, and noted the caliber of the finalists and the "amazing work being done by U.S.-based companies around the world."

David W. Davis was shocked when ChoicePoint, Inc. was named the Corporate Stewardship—Small/Midsize Business Award. "It is an honor just to be included as a finalist, let alone to win," Davis told the audience, while also recognizing one of ChoicePoint's nonprofit partners, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

More than 500 business and civic leaders joined BCLC to honor the 25 finalists featured in this year's award program. In addition to Microsoft and ChoicePoint, Aflac, Cisco, and Entergy also picked up awards. The business sector's contributions were further recognized by Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Donna Hyland, COO of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Hyland thanked Aflac for all it does as a partner of the cancer center and said, "To us, Aflac and all of its field force are superheroes."

Highlights of the evening also included a moving rendition of the National Anthem by Corporal Vicki Golding of the Army National Guard on behalf of the USO, a humorous amateur video shot by BCLC intern Robert Chedid, and U.S. Chamber CEO Tom Donohue telling Ed McMahon he will keep working as long as the entertainer does.

The award categories and winners are:

• Microsoft won the Corporate Stewardship–Large Business Award. Microsoft's civic activities include IT skills training for underserved populations, support for local software industries around the world, philanthropy, and environmental stewardship.
• ChoicePoint Inc. won the Corporate Stewardship–Small/Midsize Business Award. ChoicePoint Inc. is a provider of identification and credential verification services, and donates background screening services to nonprofits that work with children. It also works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help find missing children.
• Cisco won the International Community Service Award. Cisco's Networking Academy provides training in networking and IT. Evaluations from six countries showed that nearly two-thirds of the programs's students found jobs and three-fourths of those employed obtained jobs that require networking skills.
• Entergy won the U.S. Community Service Award. Entergy Corporation's Low-Income Initiatives program helps individuals and families in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas achieve economic self-sufficiency by supporting job training, literacy, scholarships, and affordable housing programs.
• Aflac and its partner won the Partnership Award. Aflac and the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, one of the largest U.S. pediatric cancer facilities, are recognized for their partnership to fight childhood cancer.

More information on the award categories and the winners' corporate citizenship programs is available here.

The 2007 awards program also featured the inaugural finalists' luncheon, where all 25 finalists were honored at the U.S. Chamber headquarters for being leaders in the field of corporate citizenship.

Starfish Television Network joined BCLC to film interviews with officials from the finalist organizations as they discussed what corporate citizenship means to their companies, communities, and employees. A TV production with the interviews and footage from the Awards Dinner will air in early 2008.

In addition, awards finalists and financial supporters of the awards program were invited to a meeting hosted by the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. CEOs Dan Amos of AFLAC, Arunas Chesonis of PAETEC, and Julius Walls of Greyston Bakery shared the philosophies behind the success of their companies.

Jay Hein, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Sandy Baruah, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, and Henrietta Fore, acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, participated in the high-level forum.

Jim Whaley, president of the Siemens Foundation, took the opportunity at the roundtable to launch the first annual "Siemens Sustainability Award," which will recognize organizations and communities that find innovative ways to minimize environmental impact. 

For more information, contact BCLC at bclc@uschamber.com.