WIP Episode 314 - Volunteerism

Developing skills and finding a sense of purpose through volunteering in your community

A conversation about the impact and value of volunteering in your community through your employer
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A panel of distinguished leaders in philanthropy and business join me on the Work in Progress podcast to share their insight into the power of volunteering in your local community through your workplace.

Workplace volunteer programs have long been part of companies’ brand management and community relations strategies, but what do they offer the workers who actually perform the volunteer work?

A lot, as it turns out, from helping refine their skills to bringing a sense of purpose, of satisfaction, and a sense of empowerment as change agents in their communities, according to research from Ares Management.

Ares unveiled its key findings last fall in a white paper, Philanthropy, Purpose and Professional Development: Why Workplace Volunteer Programs Matter, and discussed them on a special LinkedIn Live event presented by Ares and WorkingNation, which you can listen to here.

Joining me in this conversation are:

  • Michelle Armstrong, head of philanthropy at Ares Management, elaborating on the research’s findings about workplace volunteerism and why Ares employees are so passionate about giving back to their communities.
  • Lee Fabiaschi, VP of employee engagement and community impact at Ares who shares insights into the company’s own workplace volunteer program, Ares in Motion (AIM) and how the company intends to grow the initiative.
  • Joseph Fuller, co-head of the Project on Managing the Future of Work at Harvard Business School talks about the hidden benefit for employers who sponsor community-based volunteerism for their employees.
  • Asha Varghese, president of Caterpillar Foundation discusses the incredible value these programs have on building skills for employees, particularly Gen Z workers.
  • Angela F. Williams, president and CEO of United Way shares what she’s learned about the impact on the community when a company – big or small – invests in their employees who live and work there.

You can listen to the podcast here, or download and listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find it on our Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 314: The impact and value of volunteering in your community through your employer
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.