IBM announced on 21 September 2001 that it will double the number of emerging leaders it sends on pro bono assignments to Africa during the next three years. As part of the company’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program, aimed at developing IBM leaders and providing skilled assistance to local governments and non-government organizations in emerging markets, IBM will send about 600 employees to Africa through 2015. The company made the announcement at THINK: A Forum on the Future of Leadership.
As part of this commitment, a team from IBM will work on a global health project, the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, which is aimed at reducing cervical cancer deaths in Africa and Latin America.
The Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative is a cause championed by the George W. Bush Institute and its partners – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and UNAIDS. The IBM team will create a business plan for the technology that enables the participating organizations to achieve shared objectives such as treating and preventing cervical cancer and raising breast cancer awareness.
“The world is discovering Africa’s potential, and IBM is uniquely poised to help the region meet its growing demands. IBM’s Corporate Service Corps program helps lay the groundwork with communities by strengthening relationships with government officials and local partners, while providing IBM employees with a unique leadership development experience,” said Bruno Di Leo, General Manager, IBM Growth Markets Unit.
“As IBM targets more growth and emerging markets, leadership programs such as the Corporate Service Corps are vital to help train our employees on growth market environments and development opportunities.”
Leadership for the 21st Century
The expansion of IBM’s commitment to Africa and leadership development was announced at THINK: A Forum on the Future of Leadership, an IBM conference to mark the company’s Centennial that convenes more than 700 emerging leaders from government, business, academia and science from around the globe, and examines how models of leadership in business, technology and society must evolve to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The Corporate Service Corps program provides local communities with the services and expertise of IBM’s top talent, while training them to be 21st century leaders. It cultivates future IBM leaders from all parts of the globe to offer pro bono business and IT consulting in growth markets. Since the launch of the Corporate Service Corps in 2008, nearly 1,400 IBM employees have been dispatched on more than 120 team assignments in 24 countries, including Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Poland, Morocco, Tanzania and Vietnam.
IBM currently has two Corporate Service Corps teams on the ground in Morogoro, Tanzania working with the country’s postal system, and a team in Limpopo, South Africa assisting in the development of an education strategy in conjunction with the Limpopo Department of Education. Other IBM Corporate Service Corps teams are due to arrive in Ghana and Kenya in October.
“Expanding the Corporate Service Corps will differentiate IBM by providing us with a next generation of skilled leaders while helping nations around the world solve their most pressing problems,” said Stanley S. Litow, IBM Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, and President of the IBM Foundation.
“This is a model that increasingly our clients will be emulating. Given that IBM anticipates 30 percent of its geographic revenue will be tied to emerging markets by 2015, the Corporate Service Corps allows IBM to do well by doing good, especially in Africa.”
Staff Writer
