Corporate Ambassadors Program

"Egypt Corporate Ambassadors Program - November 2008"

On November 22-23, 2008, AWTAD organized its first US Corporate Ambassadors Conference in Egypt entitled, "Structuring Philanthropy for the Future of Egypt". The Corporate Ambassadors Conference was part of the MENA Businesswomen’s Network program, and organized by AWTAD in Egypt in cooperation with the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Vital Voices Global Partnership, and sponsored by ExxonMobil, Hilton Corporation and Mobinil.

AWTAD’s Corporate Ambassadors Conference sought to provide an exchange of best practices between U.S. multinational companies, U.S. private and corporate foundations and local companies and foundations emerging in Egypt. The event highlighted the many ways these players have changed the social and economic map of their countries and other countries as well. In addition, the conference showcased the extent of philanthropy in Egypt and explored better ways to encourage and channel it, such as making better use of advocacy to bring about changes to taxation laws, and allowing for the creation of major foundations under the NGO laws.

Attracting over 200 AWTAD members, professionals --including business owners, government officials and employees, and members of civil society, the Corporate Ambassadors Conference welcomed three prominent figures from the U.S.: Ms. Judy Miller, Vice President of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Director of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, Ms. Nina Gardner, Director of Strategy International, a public policy and strategic consulting firm, and Ms. Freda Bass, Upstream Treasurer in Exxon Mobil Corporation. In addition, a number of prominent figures from the Egyptian Government, corporate world and NGOs participated in workshops and panel discussions.

Rania Azab and Shereen Allam, co-Presidents of AWTAD, opened the conference stating that everyone has a vested interest in recognizing the valuable contribution provided by philanthropic support of both the corporate and private worlds, and invited participants to play their part. Mary MacPherson, Program Director of the MENA Businesswomen’s Network at Vital Voices Global Partnership, highlighted the Network and its programs, such as the Corporate Ambassadors Program, emphasizing that this type of investment in women’s leadership spurs the growth and development of women in business, politics and civil society and encourages cross-country network building to generate broader interest and create an atmosphere where women’s advancement is promoted and celebrated. U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey then spoke about how corporate philanthropic support has contributed to sustainable economic growth around the world, and highlighted one of the major determinants of sustainable growth, which is women’s economic participation. Nina Gardner then opened the conference stating, “Egypt has a history of philanthropy; we need to figure out how to harness this.”

Packed with panel sessions, workshops and discussion groups, the schedule delved into the multiple facets of philanthropy while opening the door to networking opportunities and interaction. Judy Miller launched the first day’s discussion on private philanthropy with her presentation on the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and new trends in private philanthropy, touching on venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. Hassan El Khatib then presented an Egyptian private foundation, the Misr El Khier Foundation. Mr. Galal Zaki (Perception Communication) moderated the panel session on “The Unbeatable Developmental Team – Myth or Reality?” and focused on the challenge of overcoming the culture of distrust between the government, NGOs and the private sector and ways to have a more coordinated and effective approach to philanthropy in Egypt. Judy Miller, Moez El Shohdi (Egyptian Food Bank), Dr. Alaa Saber (Center of Development), Marwa El Daly (Wakfiat Al Maadi), and Ghada Gabr (Stable Antar) discussed the need for increasing accountability, transparency, and communication on all sides, suggesting more private sector investment in these areas. Afterward, two NGO success stories were highlighted: Village of Hope an NGO advocating for children with special needs (presented by Nada Thabet), and Alwan wa Awtar, an NGO which uses art as a tool for social development (presented by Azza Kamel).

Lunch featured a series of roundtable discussions on topics ranging from Tax Laws and Regulations, Sustainability and CSR, Success Measures for Non-Profit Organizations, and the Role of Foundations in Egypt and the U.S. A workshop on “Advocacy – Sustaining Change” led by Dr. Alaa Sebeh of Save the Children UK, advocated for a rights-based approach that empowers beneficiaries, opened the afternoon session. Nina Gardner moderated the last panel session of the day, asking the question, “Can we alter the rules of the game to create an enabling philanthropic environment?” Panelists Rania G. Zayed (Ministry of Finance, PPP Central Unit), Dr. Naguib Khouzam (Caritas Egypt), Azza Koura (Professional Fundraiser), and Raghda El Ebrashi (Alashanek ya Balady Association for Sustainable Development) suggested building a sense of ownership in the public sector by making the project teams in the ministries the execution teams as well, adding that participation is essential in order for change to happen. Ms. El Ebrashi asserted that in order for a culture of civil society to be developed in Egypt, service learning first needs to be integrated into the Egyptian education system. Dr. Khouzam advocated the need for a common strategy between the public and private sectors, stressing that both need to believe in the strengths of each other, while Ms. Koura added that this strategy needs to be long-term and focus on sustainability. All panelists agreed that a country-wide mapping of needs and NGO presence should be the first step in the development of this strategy.

The second day of the conference, focusing on Corporate Social Responsibility, was opened by Freda Bass and Tom Walter who presented Exxon Mobil Corporation’s global and local CSR strategy respectively. The first panel session of the day focused on “Charity and PR: So You Think You Can CSR?” and was moderated by Dr. Amr Kais (AmCham, Chairman of CSR Committee). Dr. Kais asked panelists Tom Walter, Loula Zakalama (Rada Research), and Dr. Maged Goubran (AstraZeneca) whether CSR should be used solely as a PR strategy. Dr. Goubran avowed that CSR must bring sustainable benefits to its target community, while aligning with the company’s core business. Mr. Walter added that structured CSR enables a company to sustain programs regardless of the economic environment, while also allowing for a company to more effectively communicate to communities by becoming part of the conversation. Therefore, he asserted, companies should move beyond grant-making solely for PR purposes and into more active participation.

The second panel of the day built upon these thoughts by discussing “High Impact CSR: How Communities, Partners and Businesses Maximize the Benefit from CSR”. Moderator Ramez Farag (Proctor & Gamble) began the session by asking the audience what CSR was, with answers ranging from “long-term”, “win-win”, “successful change” and “sustainable impact”. Panelist Dina Sherif (John Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement) asserted that CSR is a way of doing business and must be linked the company’s core mission, otherwise it is simply irresponsible. She added that the reason CSR is currently not working in Egypt is due to the lack of partnerships as well as its integration into the business – both internally and externally. Panelists Amr Farouk (SEKEM Group) and Mohammed ElKalla (UNDP) emphasized that change must come internally from the companies themselves, and suggested that the NGO community also needs to learn to present the business case to the private sector when asking them to invest in their communities.

The final panel of the day featured presentations by Dr. Jennifer Bremer (American University in Cairo), Nader Naseef (USAID CSR Expert), Hala Yousef (Care Egypt) and Sherif Fathy (Egyptian Finance Executives Foundation) on “Successful Models for Cooperation between Government, Associations, and Corporations”, followed by presentations on the SCCT (by Azza Shafik) and Future Foundation (by Mireille M. Nessim) as CSR programs in Egypt that have worked through effective public-private partnerships.

Nina Gardner wrapped up the thought-provoking two day conference by arriving at the following conclusions: Everyone is looking for long-term sustainability of philanthropic programs and support. In order to achieve this, CSR has to be an integral part of business strategy involving all stakeholders – which in-house includes involving employees in CSR projects to ensure buy-in and in turn enhances employee recruitment and retention. Business principles should also be applied to community development to ensure self-sustainability. Inclusive in all of this is the importance of partnerships, not only as confidence-building efforts, but also for effectiveness, as none of the successful models featured during this conference were done in isolation. Ms. Gardner then highlighted the following recommendations that came out of the conference, each of which will become the responsibility of a committee to be convened under the auspices of the American Chamber of Commerce and AWTAD:
 Present model CSR strategies of international companies to Egyptian companies by convening a CSR leadership conference bringing the two together.
 Close the information gap between companies and NGOs by organizing a donor conference which includes breakout groups by sector.
 Overcome the lack of a skilled cadre of NGO professionals in Egypt by working with the private sector and the universities to invest in this area.
 Develop an effective advocacy strategy, inclusive of the media, to further policy objectives.
 Bridge the confidence divide between government, the private sector and civil society through increased dialogue, engagement and partnership, by working on, for example, a five-year national development plan drawn up by all concerned parties.

The response to the conference has been extremely positive and the participants left with a deeper understanding of philanthropy and a renewed passion for developing public-private partnerships in order to further the sustainable growth of Egypt’s communities. In addition, the extensive press coverage of the event not only highlighted philanthropy in Egypt, but also boosted AWTAD’s name and credibility in a way that will help them expand their reach and engage in productive partnerships throughout Egypt. AWTAD has received numerous new applications for membership, and event participants and AWTAD members have even started signing up to the MENA Businesswomen’s Network website to become more connected within their region and abroad. After the success of this event, AWTAD further solidified its commitment to advocating for an enabling environment for philanthropy in Egypt, creating brighter prospects for women and the community at large. AWTAD will continue to spearhead many more similar landmark events and programs.

Structuring Philanthropy for the Future of Egypt
Event Summary_ English
Event Summary_ French
Agenda
ExxonMobil Global Corp Citizenship Presentation
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Presentation
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