Shared value rises to the challenge of 2020

Companies and individuals recognised for pioneering positive change in 2020 Shared Value awards

The disruptions and challenges of 2020 have exemplified the need for businesses to work alongside and with society, shared value leaders say. 

Announcing the winners of this year’s Shared Value Project Australia and New Zealand (SVP) Awards on Wednesday, CEO Helen Steel said that despite the challenges and distractions of the past year, more companies and individuals than ever before were committed to positive change.   

“The high number and high calibre of submissions received this year indicated to me that companies really understand that business and society is so intrinsically linked and there is such an interdependence between the two,” Steel told Pro Bono News. 

“Through embracing shared value principles, they are turning the challenges of today into the opportunities for tomorrow.”

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AIA Australia once again took out the top award of shared value organisation of the year; Adrian Cheng, the CEO of New World Development, was named as shared value champion; and Lee McDougall, IAG’s executive manager of shared value strategy and projects, won the shared value trailblazer award. 

For the first time ever the awards were held via a virtual ceremony, recognising companies and individuals using shared valued strategies to solve social and environmental problems in a profitable way. 

Steel also noted the growing number of projects demonstrating excellent cross-sector collaboration was something that set the 2020 awards apart from other years. 

“I think this really amplifies the idea that business can’t do it alone, and that it needs other partners to really help solve the solution collectively,” she said. 

The shared value collaboration of the year winner was the PRISMA Partnership between Corteva Agriscience, the Australian government, and the Indonesian government; while the Australian Red Cross and Infoxchange’s Connected Future program took out the collaboration of the year to watch award. 

The movement continues to grow abroad

This year’s awards also received support from the Shared Value Project Hong Kong (SVPHK). Patricia Lau, awards selection committee member and SVPHK advisor, said the awards demonstrated that Asia Pacific companies were increasingly seeing shared value as central to long-term business strategy. 

“For business to survive and thrive in future, it must identify as being part of the communities in which it operates,” Lau said. 

“It’s about recognising the potential in pushing beyond traditional CSR and philanthropy to create a bigger impact, systemic change and a sustainable future through shared value. COVID-19 has served to accelerate and crystalise this approach.”

And as the business community starts to navigate the aftermath of the pandemic, Steel said she believed shared value would stand up as a helpful tool to do so. 

“While purpose was the catchcry of last year, I think it’s just resounding this year at a whole other level, and it’s a direction that we’re seeing business continue to go down,” she said. 

“I am encouraged that we can approach the 10th anniversary of shared value in 2021 with confidence in both the strength of these foundations laid, and the conviction of the Asia Pacific shared value community moving forward.”

A full list of winners can be found here.