On March 19, 2008, approximately 200 PR pros gathered at the National Press Club to celebrate the winners and honorable mentions of PR News' CSR Awards, and to hear keynote
speaker Carrie Hall, communications and public affairs officer at the United Nations Global Impact, speak about the evolving global awareness of principled behavior as a
strategic business asset.
But, while upstanding business practices certainly have been solidified as a necessity in recent years, the vague and numerous labels--CSR, sustainability, corporate
citizenship--coupled with celebrities' suspiciously shallow obsession with goodwill, threaten to dismantle the validity of corporate responsibility as a lasting movement.
However, the winners and honorable mentions of the PR News awards program (based on the 2007 calendar year) prove that "doing well by doing good" isn't a jaded aphorism--it's
a reality, and, if these organizations have anything to say about it, it's here to stay.
The following profiles offer you a sneak peak into the organizations--and, more important, the people who lead them--that inspire positive change in local communities around
the world.