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GIFT and BSR launch international business leadership development programme
HONG KONG, 11 APRIL 2006 – Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), the leading US-based global non-profit business organisation focusing on corporate social responsibility, has agreed to jointly develop and promote an innovative and practicable start-up leadership training programme with the Asian think tank that designed it, the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT).

The strategic global partnership was signed by Chandran Nair, founder and CEO of GIFT, and Aron Cramer, president and CEO of BSR, on 11 April in San Francisco.

The Young Leaders Programme (YLP) addresses critical leadership needs for future leaders. It works to influence a fundamental shift in each participant’s understanding of business and its influence and impacts outside the boardroom through life-changing field-projects.

These projects draw business, civil society, regulators, and communities together to search for practicable, long-term solutions to problems that arise from globalisation. This approach marries leadership building and development problem-solving to a sharp professionalism that at present is rare.

“Many businesses struggle to make sense of all the new different cultures, standards and ways of doing things that the frenetic pace of globalisation exposes them to,” says GIFT’s Mr Nair.

“The YLP works to bring perspective to these and other issues of importance, such as business ethics, corporate social responsibility and governance, and dealing with externalities. It breaks them down into what they mean to communities, workers, line managers … people who are at the hard end of life where there are no clear, cut-and-dry answers.”

BSR’s Mr Cramer says, “This partnership does two very important things. It allows us to bring a strong, novel idea to full maturity, and then take the important experiences present in the programme to our member companies.

“We are very pleased to be able to work with GIFT to deliver this unique opportunity to BSR member companies,” says Mr Cramer. “The YLP presents a chance for young executives to apply their skills to valuable projects that build social capital, and also bring back to their companies a significantly deeper understanding of the context in which business operates today.”

BSR will focus on bringing benefits of the YLP to its extensive network of member companies, many of them leading Fortune 500 corporations, and will partner with GIFT in the development and delivery of the curriculum.

GIFT, which designed the life-changing experience idea that brings into sharp focus the real consequences of business decisions made in boardrooms, will market the YLP outside the US and concentrate on developing the field-projects that make each course unique.

The YLP received the personal endorsement of former United States President Bill Clinton at his Clinton Global Initiative in September last year in New York.

In endorsing the YLP, President Clinton said, “Training young leaders and changing people’s attitudes … it seems to me, is profoundly important.”

About GIFT
GIFT is an independent social venture think tank dedicated to advancing understanding of the impacts of globalisation. Further information about GIFT and details of the YLP prospectus can be found at www.globalinstitutefortomorrow.com/

About BSR
Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has been a leading provider of innovative business solutions to many of the world’s largest corporations. Headquartered in San Francisco and with offices in Europe and China, BSR is a non-profit business association that serves about 250 member companies and other Global 1000 enterprises. Through world-class advisory services, training, convenings and practical, forward-looking research, BSR works with corporations and concerned stakeholders of all types to create a more just and sustainable global economy. For more information, visit www.bsr.org/

CONTACT:
Business for Social Responsibility
Aron Cramer
Ph: (1) 415 984 3214
Cell: (1) 415 568 5522

BSR, U.S. office:
111 Sutter Street, 12th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA
Phone – (1) 415 984 3200
Fax – (1) 415 984 3201

The Global Institute For Tomorrow
Chandran Nair
GIFT in Hong Kong:
Ph: (852) 3571 8103
Cell: (852) 9171 3981

Suite 1002 Two Pacific Place
88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Phone – (852) 3571 8103
Fax – (852) 3585 3910

William K. Lorenz
GIFT U.S. office,
Philadelphia, PA:
Cell: (1) 610 457 2202

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