CSRHub Blog Research on ESG metrics and comments on sustainability best practice

You’ve taken the 2-day, GRI-certified course – now what?  With the release of the new G4 Guidelines, it’s time for a refresh on GRI with guidance on how the new Guidelines will affect your reporting process. Our training partners, BrownFlynn have a great solution and are offering a new G4 Bridging Module.

BrownFlynn is the first United States-based certified training partner of the GRI, the globally accepted gold standard for sustainability reporting. Whether  helping clients to understand the GRI reporting framework or developing their sustainability reports for them, the GRI provides a sustainability management process that generates tangible returns.

BrownFlynn's GRI-Certified G4 Bridging Module is a one-day, in-person course that will be held in Cleveland, Ohio on August 13, 2013.  The Bridging Module is a GRI-certified course designed specifically for those who have already completed the GRI-Certified course.  This course dives deep into the G4 guidelines and will cover the following topics:

•  How current reporting trends are addressed with the development of G4
• The main focus and features of the G4 Guidelines
• G4's new concepts, format and disclosures
•  Implications of applying new disclosures for organizations that complete a G4 report
•  And more!

Participants will receive an updated G4 certificate of completion.  Standard pricing is $600, but for registrants who have taken the two-day course from BrownFlynn, our customized Module is only $300!  The course will be held at Tower City in downtown Cleveland, which is accessible by train from the airport and contains several hotels within or nearby.

To register, please click here.  CSRHub members can enjoy a 10% discount by entering coupon code BF11 during registration!

For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Cora Lee Mooney directly, at coraleem@brownflynn.com.

See CSRHub's CSR Events calendar for more training offerings.  See BrownFlynn’s webinars on demand.

by Bahar Gidwani

Now CSRHub Has 176 Sources with Transparency International 

One of our missions is to promote “transparency.”  We believe that knowledge is power and that good data will lead to good actions.

So, it was natural that we would be drawn to the work of Transparency International.  Through more than 100 national chapters worldwide and an international secretariat in Berlin, Transparency International works with partners in government, business and civil society to put effective measures in place to tackle corruption. Transparency International is politically non-partisan and determines their programmes and activities – no donor has any input into Transparency International’s policies.

We track all 105 of the companies that Transparency International follows.  You can see them all by clicking on this link.  The average overall CSRHub rating for these companies is 55—a healthy step above the 49 average for all companies in our system.  We are sure that Transparency (both the org and the concept) has played a role in this success!

More training partners

We recently added two new training partners to our system.  One 4 All CSR and Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) both provide instruction on a wide range of sustainability and CSR-related areas.  Like our other partners ISOS and BrownFlynn, these two firms use CSRHub metrics and tools as both a training tool and in their consulting work.

We are starting to track the course schedules for these groups in a new calendar feature that is on our site here.  If you wish to attend one of these courses, please email us at training@csrhub.com.  We will put you in touch with the right person and you will get a discount for being a member of CSRHub.

Subscribe to CSRHub to enjoy all the benefits. Or, request a demo today!

Bahar Gidwani is a Cofounder and CEO of CSRHub. Formerly, he was the CEO of New York-based Index Stock Imagery, Inc, from 1991 through its sale in 2006. He has built and run large technology-based businesses and has experience building a multi-million visitor Web site. Bahar holds a CFA, was a partner at Kidder, Peabody & Co., and worked at McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to both large companies such as Citibank, GE, and Acxiom and a number of smaller software and Web-based companies. He has an MBA (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School and a BS in Astronomy and Physics (magna cum laude) from Amherst College. Bahar races sailboats, plays competitive bridge, and is based in New York City.

CSRHub provides access to corporate social responsibility and sustainability ratings and information on nearly 5,000 companies from 135 industries in 65 countries. By aggregating and normalizing the information from over 170 data sources, CSRHub has created a broad, consistent rating system and a searchable database that links millions of rating elements back to their source. Managers, researchers and activists use CSRHub to benchmark company performance, learn how stakeholders evaluate company CSR practices and seek ways to change the world.

CSRHub Co-Founders Bahar Gidwani and Cynthia Figge are very busy these days! You can catch up with them at one of the following events where they are speaking or attending:

CSRHub CEO and Co-founder Bahar Gidwani will be speaking at Sustainable Brand’s New Metrics of Sustainable Business Conference, September 27-28, 2012 at The Wharton School in Philadelphia, PA.  Bahar will be on a discussion panel, The Evolution of Sustainability Standards.  See more information.  The first 10 people to register for SB’s New Metrics of Sustainable Business Conference and let us know will receive a 25% discount on a subscription to CSRHub!  Contact sales@csrhub.com for the discount link.

Bahar Gidwani will be speaking at CR Magazine’s COMMIT!Forum, Good Business Makes the Difference, October 2-3, 2012 in New York, NY.  Joining Bahar’s conference panel, Assuring Sustainability, will be executives from Intel, UPS and the Global Reporting Initiative. See more information. Register to attend COMMIT!Forum today using ID Code: CSRHUB at  www.eiseverywhere.com/commit2012?discountcode=CSRHUB, to enjoy one of two special offers from CSRHub valued up to $225!

CSRHub will also participate in GRI/Sustainability trainings with:

• BrownFlynn, GRI Training, September 25-26 in Palo Alto, CA.
• ISOS Group, GRI Training, September 27-28 in Honolulu, HI.  CSRHub COO and Co-founder Cynthia Figge will be speaking.
• CSE (Centre for Sustainability and Excellence) CSR Practitioner Training, October 29-30 in Atlanta.

Stay tuned for more speaking announcements next week!

Bahar Gidwani is a Cofounder and CEO of CSRHub. Formerly, he was the CEO of New York-based Index Stock Imagery, Inc, from 1991 through its sale in 2006. He has built and run large technology-based businesses and has experience building a multi-million visitor Web site. Bahar holds a CFA, was a partner at Kidder, Peabody & Co., and worked at McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to both large companies such as Citibank, GE, and Acxiom and a number of smaller software and Web-based companies. He has an MBA (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School and a BS in Astronomy and Physics (magna cum laude) from Amherst College. Bahar races sailboats, plays competitive bridge, and is based in New York City.

Cynthia Figge, Cofounder and COO of CSRHub is a forerunner and thought leader in the corporate sustainability movement. In 1996 she co-founded EKOS International, one of the first consultancies integrating sustainability and corporate strategy. Cynthia has worked with major organizations including BNSF, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Dow Jones, Noranda and REI to help craft sustainability strategy integrated with business. She was an Officer of LIN Broadcasting/McCaw Cellular leading new services development, and started a new “Greenfield” mill with Weyerhaeuser. She serves as Advisor to media and technology companies, and served as President of the Board of Sustainable Seattle. Cynthia has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Cynthia is based in the Seattle area.

CSRHub is proud to announce the release of a new Sustainable Ratings widget plugin specifically designed for WordPress.org. Now, the CSRHub Sustainable Ratings widget found on Huffington Post, CSRwire, TriplePundit, International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), BrownFlynn, ISOS Group, and many other partner sites can simply be added to any WordPress.org site or blog by downloading our WordPress plugin.

Use the CSRHub Sustainability Rating widget to access corporate social responsibility and sustainability ratings and information on nearly 5,000 companies from 135 industries in 65 countries. Bloggers, managers, researchers and activists use CSRHub to benchmark company performance, learn how stakeholders evaluate company CSR practices and seek ways to improve company performance and change the world.

Bloggers can download the plugin and easily add a one-line code to embed one of 4 widget sizes in their blog posts to highlight a company's social performance or an industry. For example, we use the widget in 2 locations on our own WordPress blog, one in our post, and one in the right sidebar, at www.csrhub.com/blog/2012/08/residential-solar-comes-of-age.html. We offer complete instructions on our WordPress plugin page and via our Sustainability Ratings widget Quick Guide.

[csrhubwidget company="SunPower-Corporation" size="650x100" hash="c9c0f7"]
Click “Alternative Energy” in the CSRHub Sustainability Ratings widget above to see all the companies and their ratings in this industry.

Give your visitors immediate access to sustainability ratings data on nearly 5,000 companies. Download the new CSRHub Sustainability Ratings WordPress plugin today!

Contact partners@csrhub.com if you would like to set up a co-brand opportunity, which can be reflected in the widget.