Executive Summary

'Walking the Talk' Of Corporate Responsibility

Robert P. Gandrud
President & CEO of Lutheran Brotherhood

November 1992

When I chaired the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce's Education Committee several years ago, we explored ways for the business community and school systems to share strengths and perspectives.

Through this process, we developed the Business Education Partnership. This initiative enables businesses to connect existing resources and employee-volunteers with education systems and young people needing special attention.

Always a believer in the door-opening power of education, I enthusiastically promote the Business Education Partnership. This program is currently in place at Lutheran Brotherhood and approximately 25 other local firms.

Part of Lutheran Brotherhood's mission includes assisting in the betterment of society. It is in keeping with that mission that I ardently support this collaborative effort. I highlight the Business Education Partnership in this forum because it so simply and concretely enables us to "walk the talk" of corporate responsibility.

Folwell Middle School, selected by an employee task force because of its inner city ties and convenient location, is Lutheran Brotherhood's partner school. In 1991, more than 50 LB employees contributed more than 550 hours of work release time to participate in this volunteer project.

Some employees serve as co-teachers, helping lead a life skills and values course. They use material developed by an educational resource firm that we use for one of our benevolent programs called RespecTeen.

Other volunteers tutor Folwell students needing one-on-one attention with course work. Steve Parker, Folwell's tutoring coordinator, sees the value of this program first hand. Recalling one poignant success story, Steve says: "There was a student, originally from Guinea who was isolated and needed help learning English as a second language. After being linked up with LB's tutoring program, the kid's face would just light up when his tutor came into the room! Clearly, this volunteer was an important part of the student's educational experience and cultural transition."

In addition to the co-teaching and tutoring partnership, Lutheran Brotherhood has provided Folwell administrators with long-range planning assistance from LB's professional staff. Also, we have an employee serving on Folwell's site-based management team. This involvement is beneficial to both the school and the employee. It brings a community and business perspective to the school and provides management experience and inner city school reality to the employee.

This partnership isn't about soliciting money from business. It is about tapping existing resources and encouraging employee volunteerism through employers' social conscience and communication networks. I believe we'll all eventually benefit from these partnerships. We need to give young people support and help them mature into productive members of society--after all, they are the workforce of the future!

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