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For April, we would like to introduce Jennifer Levasseur,Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Corporate Express
SM : Jennifer, Why Corporate Social Responsibility and how important is CSR for Organizations like Corporate Express? Jennifer: At Corporate Express, our corporate social responsibility program is what moves us to give back to our communities, embrace diversity, sustain the environment and practice sound ethics. It’s a cultural driver for our organisation and a major contributor to employee, customer and stakeholder engagement.
Our corporate social responsibility program focuses on four core pillars: ethics, community, environment and diversity.
We aim to demonstrate the importance of economic stability, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability in everything we do and to engage with our stakeholder groups to raise awareness and build advocacy.
SM : What are the key CSR initiatives CE has done over the years? Jennifer: Corporate Express started its CSR program in 1998 with the launch of a toner cartridge recycling program and EarthSaver, an environmentally-preferable product range. . Over the last 13 years some of the key initiatives include: Starting our community support program (2001) Establishing GreenXpress, our staff environmental committee (2001) Signing up our delivery fleet to Greenfleet’s carbon abatement program (2002) Implementing an ethical sourcing program (2002), and launching a new ethical sourcing policy (2006) Investing in sustainable facilities: a head office built to 4 Star ABGR standards, a sustainable designed national distribution centre (selected as Green Star Industrial pilot), and a leading Green IT data centre benchmarked as one of the most environmentally efficient for its size. (June 2008) Creating a Women in Leadership Council (2008) which set and achieved gender diversity targets, a flexible work policy, equal pay analysis and a Business Woman of the Year program. These initiatives led to Corporate Express being named an Employer of Choice for Women in 2011. Launching our Indigenous support program (2008), which created an Indigenous community partnership, employee committee, cultural awareness, a supplier diversity program and resulted in a Reconciliation Action Plan (Nov 2010)
SM : What are the key milestones Corporate Express has achieved through its Indigenous Support Program? Jennifer: Some of our key milestones include:
- Establishing an associate run Indigenous Support Committee
- We were the first company to register our support to the then proposed Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council (AIMSC) which provides a direct link between corporate Australia and Indigenous-owned businesses. Our supplier diversity program officially began in Sept 2009 with the Federal Government’s launch of AIMSC.
- We piloted an Indigenous employment project for Indigenous employees in WA and hired a part-time Indigenous Coordinator with help from DEEWR’s Structured Training and Employment Project (STEP) funding. (2009)
- Working with Reconciliation Australia, our Indigenous stakeholders, and our employee committee to create a Reconciliation Action Plan (launching in Nov 2010)
- Launching a range of Indigenous office products in our 2011 Business Solutions Catalogue. The range of products is from Nallawilli Office Wares, an AIMSC certified Indigenous-owned business.
SM : What is Reconciliation Action Plan and how important is it?
Jennifer: A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a tool to help organisations put their good intentions towards reconciliation into actions that contribute to closing the gap in life expectancy. RAPs also help organisations explore the mutual benefits in engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and how reconciliation can advance organisational objectives by building positive relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the organisation and its staff.
The Benefits of Developing a RAP
By successfully implementing a RAP, Corporate Express not only helps create a fairer society and creates social benefits, it also leads to direct economic benefits to our business, including:
Improved ability to ‘know our customer’ and to better welcome, understand and more fully meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers;
Developing a workforce that is more representative of the community in which we operate, establishing community trust and deeper mutually beneficial relationships;
Attracting and keeping loyal staff and customers who value our contribution to nation-building;
A larger labour market resulting from increasing numbers of educated and skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians being ‘job ready’ - 60 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are under 25 years old;
New industries, services, products and ways of doing business emerging from joint ventures with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations;
New two-way learning and lifestyle opportunities through working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and participating in cultural activities;
A greater ability for Australians to work together and build a shared pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and history
SM : What is Corporate Express’ vision for reconciliation?
Jennifer: Our vision for reconciliation is to create an organisation that is aware of and integrates knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures, facilitates their secure economic independence by enhancing opportunities for education and gainful employment, and strengthens our engagement with the business community by continuing our supplier diversity focus through our involvement with AIMSC. (Our full RAP is available at www.ce.com.au under Sustainability.)
SM : Is CSR only applicable to big Organisations? In your opinion how can small business do their bit?
Jennifer: Every organisation has an environmental and social responsibility, no matter what its size. CSR is everything an organisation does outside of job creation and profit maximisation - whether it’s practicing environmentally responsible behaviour or giving back to the communities – all organisations can play a part. For small businesses, my recommendation is to start with simple steps:
Environmental Initiatives - establish a green team at work with volunteers who want to make sure their business recycles. Join up to our Simple Steps program – a monthly educational newsletter that focuses on a different area of the workplace each month and gives tips and simple steps to go green in your workplace. Just send an email to
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Sustainable Procurement - Check out www.ce.com.au for our Go Green Guide to use environmentally preferable products in your workplace.
Community – help out in your community by volunteering, mentoring or making in-kind donations
Reconciliation – check out Reconciliation Australia’s website www.reconciliation.org.au. They have lots of resources to help your business from research and videos to free cultural awareness training.
There are many things you can do in CSR with existing resources so small businesses can do their bit.
SM : What is the role of a Corporate Social Responsibility Manager within an Organization?
Jennifer: While the role of a CSR manager may differ in focus in every organisation, the common goal remains the same: identifying and responding to the key social, economic and environmental issues that the company needs to address. This involves engaging with your stakeholders, whether they be customers, employees, local community members, suppliers or other groups, to identify and respond to risks and opportunities for the business and its stakeholders. The CSR manager has an important role to play in ensuring that these aspects are integrated into corporate decision-making so that sustainability is embedded throughout the organisation.
SM : Could you give us a snapshot of your career and what motivated you to enter into the CSR line of work?
Jennifer: I’ve always had a piece of CSR in my work. I started my career in public relations and legislative affairs working for the American Red Cross, then the Governor of Colorado and President Clinton’s Press Offices, and then the Colorado Bar Association.
I’ve been with Corporate Express for 12 years starting in community relations and corporate communications and moving to investor relations and then marketing. The turning point was when I was the Marketing Director of our UK business, I hired the company’s first CSR Manager. Together we built the program from scratch, educated our executives and engaged associates. And after launching our first report on all of the CSR programs we created, I decided that CSR is what I wanted to do full time and moved into a fulltime CSR role in our Australia & NZ operations.
Thank You Jennifer. Back to Home page
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