Responsibility Blog
Investing to Build Business and Social Value
By Kathy Brown | September 18, 2009
As we’ve been talking about corporate responsibility these past few months I’ve been hoping to give you some concrete examples of how this plays out in the market. In recent weeks we have had some exciting validation of our efforts.
- In August, the Swiss research firm Covalence placed Verizon as the highest-ranked U.S.-based telecommunications company in its annual ethical-ranking study.
- Earlier this month Verizon was added for the first time to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index—one of the family of Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes that identifies top performers in environmental, social and governance activities.
- This week the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe named Verizon as the first-ever telecommunications company to rank in the top three of its Most Trusted Companies in Privacy list. Verizon came in second in the overall listing—between eBay (No. 1) and the U.S. Postal Service (No. 3).
We’ve learned a lot from these rankings and will use the insights to continually improve. The recognition is meaningful to us because it acknowledges that Verizon is managing economic, environmental and social issues to create long-term shareholder and stakeholder value.
And it’s evidence of the consistency of our commitment to be a positive force in society, which goes to the heart of our identity. Not only does this strengthen our communities, it builds new markets and positions Verizon for growth as the economy recovers.
Comments (2)
Here are some links for further information:
Environment:
http://responsibility.verizon.com/home/results/environment/
Political Contributions:
http://responsibility.verizon.com/home/information/political-contributions/
Annual Corporate Responsibility report: http://responsibility.verizon.com/images/vz_uploads/verizon_cr_report_2008-2009.pdf
See pages 28-31, 46-49 on environment and pages 32-35 on health care
Susan B • Posted on Mon, December 07, 2009 - 10:51 am EDT
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About the Author
Kathy Brown
Senior Vice President, Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility
Kathy is responsible for Verizon’s corporate responsibility initiatives, policy development and issues management, public policy messaging, strategic alliances and the Verizon Foundation.
I am surprized to see your positive rankings. All the information I have been receiving about Verizon presents information on the company funding of right-wing extremist organizations, groups that are undermining the effort to combat climate change, representatives that are trying to stop health care reform and those that support wars in Iraq and elsewhere. Peace, a safe environment and responsive health care are important social issues that need the support of leadership companies, like Verizon. Can you document how you are supporting these efforts? Can you show how you are NOT support right-wing extremists in the Congress? As a customer and a concerned citizen, I would appreciate it.
John Neville • Posted on Sat, December 05, 2009 - 3:14 pm EDT