Most of the last year’s business headlines have featured financial bailouts, ethical lapses, Ponzi schemes, executive bonuses and a general erosion of confidence in corporate America.
Yet at the same time, corporations have shown extraordinary innovation in how they are leveraging their unique assets to generate positive change in communities.
Increasingly, corporations are seeing not only the philanthropic value of giving back, but also the business value of integrating their community investment into their business practices.
The award is presented annually to a Leadership Georgia member who has applied the principles from the program in his or her community. The award was first presented in 2004, and past recipients include Georgia State Representative Amy Carter and Lisa M. Borders.
When Michelle Nunn was just out of college in 1989, she became what she calls the "glorified intern-slash-executive director" of a volunteer organization in Atlanta that was created by a dozen people who chipped in $50 each.
Today, Ms. Nunn presides over a nonprofit group with a $30-million-plus budget and more than 250 affiliates across the country — and she is one of the most visible faces of the country's burgeoning movement to promote volunteerism and national service.
