CNN Reports on Social Responsibility

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - What's a socially responsible company? It is a company that serves. It serves its customers by selling something of value, its workers by providing good jobs, its owners by generating profits and all of us by making the world a better place. Any list of America's most socially responsible companies is, inevitably, subjective. Even if we could agree on how business can best repair the world -- by curing disease, alleviating poverty or curbing global warming -- there's no way to quantify goodness or compare companies in industries that have little in common.

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School Districts Hardest Hit by Hurricanes to Receive 15 Mobile Computer Labs from Dell, Education Partners; Dell, SETDA, Cable in the Classroom Respo

Students from 15 hurricane-ravaged school districts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas soon will have access to educational content thanks to a donation of mobile computer labs from Dell, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and Cable in the Classroom. "These systems bring new opportunities to students and teachers who have otherwise lost so much," said Melinda G. George, executive director of SETDA. "Students can now extend the hours and locations available for learning and study. We're proud to see educational technology play such a critical role in the recovery process."

Bill Gates, Bono and Melinda Gates are Time magazine's Persons of the Year.

(CNN) -- The good deeds of an activist rock legend and one of the world's richest men and his wife carried the day in 2005, as Time magazine on Sunday named U2 frontman Bono and philanthropic couple Bill and Melinda Gates as its "Persons of the Year."

People Who Are Making a Difference

Janice Woody
Altadena, California

Janice Woody quit her job with Jacobs Engineering in order to found the non-profit organization CHANGA (Collective Housing and New Growth Alternatives) in May of this year. CHANGA embraces the mission of providing affordable, deaf-friendly rental housing with built-in improvements that assist the deaf in daily tasks.

There are over 300,000 deaf and hard of hearing people currently residing in Los Angeles County alone – but CHANGA serves a unique and critical need within this community. Other agencies exist to provide some assisted living facilities for the disabled. However, they are designed for those with additional physical or mental handicaps, and cannot adequately serve the deaf or anyone interested in normal independent living.

Through CHANGA, Janice is meeting the needs of deaf individuals for independent living. She is working with area apartment owners and developers to encourage an increase in (and openness to) deaf-friendly housing. She is currently negotiating with R&D companies to develop sensors and alarms to alert deaf people that the doorbell has rung, the water is running, etc. She is also in the process of selling her own home in order to purchase and refurbish an apartment complex as a "sample" of deaf-friendly housing.

Janice is an extraordinary and dedicated person who is devoted to her adult deaf son (whose name is Changa). She chose to leave a promising career as a civil engineer to pursue her vision of deaf-friendly housing.

Janice is a tireless volunteer and enthusiastic supporter of volunteer organizations. Although she has left the civil engineering field, she remains active in the construction industry and remains on the local board and committees of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

CEOs Rush to Claim They're Responsible

It’s one of the nicer bits of news of late: CEOS are falling all over themselves in their rush to show they’re socially responsible. That’s according to a new survey by and BEYOND Communications. It shows that in 2004 letters to shareholders in annual reports, 50 percent more CEOs reported on their corporate social responsibilities than the year prior. The president of this New York-based investor relations firm commented, “This year-to-year increase was the most significant we’ve seen in our annual surveys of 100 of the S&P 500 companies. In 2004, 42 percent of CEOs reported on corporate social responsibility, up from 28 percent in 2003.” The firm has been doing analysis of annual reports since 1999. It found significant changes in other reporting, from 1999 to 2004:

• CEOs describing their companies as corporate or global citizens increased eight-fold.
• CEOs reporting on how they are measuring the social responsibility actions increased six-fold.
• CEOs reporting on their philanthropic, community, and volunteer activities increased 125 percent.

From Business Ethics Magazine

Chinese Firms and Corporate Social Responsibility

Chinese firms have role to play in war on poverty by Zhang Shunyi -- LATELY we have been hearing more and more about the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) and many companies in China are becoming aware of its importance.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Supports Education

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, today announced that it will begin working with three national organizations as part of a comprehensive effort to help all district high school students graduate with the skills and knowledge needed for success in post-secondary education and work.