Corporate Social Responsibility Enrichment Exchange Program

In this globalized age, international companies and organizations are working in more countries than ever before, and consumers and concerned citizens now have the opportunity and, perhaps even the responsibility, to better understand the environmental and social impacts of the companies and organizations with which they do business. The concept that businesses and organizations need to be responsible to society for their direct and indirect impacts on people and the environment has become known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). As CSR continues to be a growing practice, companies seem to be approaching it from very different angles, depending upon their industry sector and senior leadership and shareholder points-of-view. This leads companies to conduct philanthropic work without considering the many other entities that they could partner with to enhance their CSR initiatives. The following Course-Linked Capstone provides a detailed program design to bring CSR professionals, business leaders, academics, international development experts, and government officials from around the world to the United States for a three-week program on best practices with the intent to synergize current CSR initiatives and create opportunities for partnerships for future CSR and international development work. The program will be administered by World Learning, an international development, education, and exchange organization whose mission is to “empower people and strengthen institutions through education, development, and exchange programs” (World Learning website, 2014). World Learning has decades of expertise in international exchanges and a growing interest in developing and improving partnerships with international businesses, governments, and other NGOs. Keywords: corporate social responsibility, CSR, international exchange progra