Last year Dina Habib Powell left her role as an assistant secretary of state in the Bush Administration to become the director of global corporate engagement for Goldman Sachs. Her choice of entry into the business arena is a testament that corporate social responsibility, once seen as something of an add-on, is now serious business. From helping women in developing countries to access opportunities, to increasing gender diversity in-house, it is, more than ever, women’s business.

Habib Powell, still in her thirties, oversees the bank’s 10,000 Women initiative, which provides business education for women in the developing world. An initial cohort of female entrepreneurs in Nigeria are receiving “virtual mentors”, looking at business plans, pricing models and access to capital.

“They have the passion and talent, they just need the training and education to take them to the next level,” she says. The bank reaches out in the way it knows best – investment. “Clearly investing in women as future managers is a smart investment, but there’s also the social benefits. It’s indisputable the effect this has on the health and education of families.”

Corporate social responsibility has to have a business plan as well, argues Donna Young, the head of climate change at BT. “I don’t believe any company is altruistic,” she says. BT has developed a carbon calculator to allow others to calculate their emissions. The company’s vast network means that it is responsible for 0.7 per cent of the UK’s electricity consumption. Young aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent from the 1996 baseline and to have 20 per cent of global employees actively engaged in combating climate change by 2012.

Chance to reach for the stars

Women are seeking choice, challenge and change, says Glenda Stone

Background

• Cast the net far and wide

• Work and play in harmony

• Even top jobs can be flexible for everyone

• Guided path to a higher rank

Background

• Keeping women on the career ladder

• The spy who came in over the gender divide

• Global network adds a vital string to their bow

• Avoid a waste of talent

Working in a technical area means that the gender split is uneven: “I sit in a room of men,” she says. But she has never felt hindered. “I have done everything and anything in this company.

Women hold themselves back – they say ‘I’ve only got 80 per cent of the skills so I can’t do that job’, while men say ‘I’ve got 20 per cent of the skills so of course I can do that job’. I’ve adopted a bit of a male philosophy.” Julia Fuller, the corporate responsibility manager at Thomson Reuters, agrees that social and commercial interests are linked. In one project, employees visit Inner London schools to teach children photojournalism. “It gives local children the opportunity to learn a professional skill and opens their eyes to what business involves and how they can aspire to get a role in those companies,” she says.

Further down the line, it will benefit the company. “We opened our doors to the local students, recognising that they could be our workforce or our customers of tomorrow,” Fuller says. Meanwhile employee volunteering has increased from 10 per cent of the workforce a few years ago to 25 per cent.

But at IBM, Tracey Gilbert, an associate partner, says that projects do not necessarily have to use professional skills. Last year it sent 20 women from all divisions to South Africa to build a house for children orphaned by Aids. The effect on participants’ teamwork is tangible. “The project was a great leveller,” she says.

Corporate responsibility starts at home for IBM. As an IT company, encouraging girls to enter the industry is vital. IBM’s version of Take Your Daughter to Work Day allows employees to bring any girl aged 11-15 to discover what working in IT can entail. The majority are brought by men, and the learning is mutual. “For some men it’s the first time they understand the challenges that face women in business,” Gilbert says.

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