Anna, what are the success factors to building a digital Ambassador network?

Hi Anna, 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day for this interview!

Quick introduction for the readers. You are originally from Ohio, but have been living and working in Germany for the last 6 years. After some stops in Baden-Württemberg and Berlin in different organisations, you are now working as Program Coordinator in the Social Innovation Team at Steelcase in Munich.  

Just the other day we spoke about Ambassador Networks over a coffee. You agreed to a short interview on your current experience as you are working on building and expanding your Ambassador network to increase your corporate volunteering.  

You told me your approach is called the “Change Corp”, is that right and what do your colleagues do in the Change Corp? 

Exactly, our Change Corp are our employee-led social impact teams in 25 cities around the world. With the Change Corp, we are creating presence and connection among distributed teams through establishing a network that links employees across the globe. It’s all about building a global community with local impact. Our teams focus on moving the needle in three impact areas, aligned with the UN SDG Goals: Quality Education, Reduced Inequalities and Climate Action. 

When the pandemic hit, building the Change Corp must have changed. Can you tell me a bit more about your last 1.5 years? 

Right when we began really expanding the network was when COVID hit. During the last 1.5 years we grew from 6 to 25 teams! The shift toward virtual was initially tough on our Change Corp teams, particularly the learning curve of figuring out how to engage with community partners in a solely digital space; however, it ended up allowing teams to connect both internally with one another and externally with organizations they may not have otherwise interacted with… the virtual set-up sparked a lot of global volunteer opportunities, such as virtual mentoring and online workshops, activities that weren’t common for our Change Corp teams pre-COVID, since the focus had always been on place-based impact.  

 The shift to virtual also gave us the opportunity to refocus and redesign the ways we interact as an internal Steelcase Change Corp network. The digital setting actually made it much easier for our global Change Corp teams to connect with and learn from one another on a more frequent basis, such as coming together for a virtual 2021 kick-off call this summer, with teams joining from Hong Kong all the way to Seattle.  

Taking a step back, when you would have to give advice to someone who is starting to build a Change Corp / Ambassador Network. How would you start? Maybe you have 2-3 Steps which someone can follow? 

The most important factor is finding people who are excited and motivated to make an impact locally. A mix of top-down support and bottom-up passion is always key: The Change Corp is supported from the corporate perspective, which gives employees the freedom to take part during work time, but it is also an employee-led movement, which empowers teams to make their own decisions and define their own projects. We only ask that teams focus on our three strategic impact areas – quality education, reducing inequalities, and climate action – but otherwise they’re free to decide how they want to engage with their communities.  

 We’ve broken down our process into three steps: 

1. Identity - Identify two local champions to lead the team. 
2.  Engage – Begin scoping and reaching out to community partner organizations. We encourage employees to think about the key strategic priorities at their Steelcase location and how they can leverage the talents/strengths of the people at their office. 
3.  Amplify – This stage is about being brought into the global Steelcase network, expanding each team’s non-profit partner network, and supporting new teams as they join the Change Corp community. 

How do you find, activate and empower your Change Corp teams digitally? – Maybe you have tips for other Corporate Volunteering-Managers? 

This year we’ve implemented a new global Social Innovation strategy – by making our strategy globally accessible to all employees, we can more easily provide visibility to our programs, such as Change Corp. Sometimes employees will come to us and simply ask, “Hey, what’s Change Corp all about? Can we start a team?” Other times we’ll contact leaders to ask for a recommendation on who could activate a local team, or we'll reach out to specific people to ask if they’re interested in getting on board.  

The process is completely digital now, so we start with an onboarding call, followed by monthly touch-base calls with the co-leaders from each team, and then we loop them into our global network by inviting leaders to meet as a global group on a quarterly basis.  

The most frequent feedback I get from Change Corp members about these virtual group calls is that they love having the opportunity to connect with colleagues from all over the globe. Someone from our Business Center in Monterrey, Mexico likely doesn’t have the opportunity for serendipitous collisions with someone from our WorkLife Center in Hong Kong, but through Change Corp, they have the chance to get to know one another and share their stories, challenges, and successes about the community impact they’re making.  

Where do you want to see the Change Corp in 5-10 years?  

By 2025 we aim to launch Change Corp teams in every Steelcase location across the globe. If all of Steelcase’s 12,000+ employees could interact with Change Corp in some way during their time with the company, that would be amazing. From volunteering once to leading a team, there are a lot of pathways for employees to take part and contribute to making a positive difference in the communities where we live and work. 

Last question, because I love looking for fantastic approaches in digital volunteering – What are the top 5 most successful digital corporate volunteering activities you have organised or joined in the last year? Maybe you can drop some organisations, so others can join or copy. 

We’re joining the Haus des Stiftens Pro-Bono-Camp this year, which we’re excited about. [Remarks from Alex: I did not tell her to say that!] We’ve also had several employees take part in ReDI School of Digital Integration’s virtual mentoring program and career day talks this past year, which has been a great opportunity to loop in our international employees. 

From the Steelcase side, our Social Innovation team is currently designing a virtual career exploration and talent pipeline program with a school in Grand Rapids. Steelcase employees will have the opportunity to mentor the students throughout the program, supporting our goal of making career pathways equitable and inclusive. 

We’re also kicking off our second Equity in Education Challenge and fellowship program, which is supported in large part by Steelcase employee volunteers. 

 Anna, thank you so much for your time and insight! 

Really looking forward to our next endeavours. 

Alex