The Business of Doing Good

What is your reaction to this statement “doing well, by doing good?”

Conceptually, it sounds great (maybe a little vague, perhaps more like a personal goal) and not likely something one immediately associates with big business.

I recently heard this concept further defined as “conscious capitalism.”?? Conscious capitalism is a socially responsible economic and political philosophy whose advocates believe that businesses should operate ethically by serving the interests of all stakeholders, not just corporate management or shareholders.

Unfortunately, great concepts like this - ones that can have the biggest human impact - can ‘sound’ so complicated it might cause us to shy away from learning about it or participating.

I’m thankful that I work with a team and for a company willing to unwind the complexity of conscious capitalism and participate.? Because at Ciena , and on the Americas team, we believe that doing well by doing good is good business. ?

For example, a few months ago at International Telecoms Week - ITW | a techoraco brand , an event held outside of Washington, D.C., our team had the pleasure of supporting Living Classrooms Foundation . Their mission is to strengthen communities by enabling children and adults to reach their full potential using urban, natural and maritime resources as “living classrooms.”

How cool is that?

We were joined by customers and partners who also believe that doing well by doing good is good business. It was real life, conscious capitalism in action.

After the event, I began to consider how conscious capitalism relates to other business acts of doing good that matter to me as a leader. The one closest to my heart is broadband access in rural communities.

There are numerous state and federal funding programs in place right now that are actively reshaping communities and entire generations through broadband access. ?As a technology community, we have a huge opportunity to do our part and participate in conscious capitalism by augmenting these programs. It takes creativity and re-imagination about how we invest, approach new business opportunities, and possibly the formation of new partnerships to accelerate access.

The sad truth is large portions of the U.S. are still unconnected. Recent reporting showed that roughly 42 million Americans have no access to broadband. That’s more than the entire state of Texas plus about 12 million, additional people driving to coffee shops and other public facilities to learn, do their jobs, or try to build a business.

This lack of broadband access cripples their ability to even basically participate in a world digitally transforming at the speed of light. These massive populations are missing out on major prosperity builders like:

·??????? New remote work opportunities

·??????? Access to better education

·??????? Improved healthcare (mental and physical)

·??????? Attracting employment talent to rural areas

·??????? Growth of new businesses

·??????? Competitive entrepreneurship

·??????? Population growth

·??????? Increase in home values

·??????? Better entertainment options

·??????? Connection to the world beyond their city limits

When Federal programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) – which helped over 23 million households (1 in 6) get on and stay on the internet – and other state-funded programs like Washington State’s CERB Rural Broadband Program began rolling out, the impact to underserved people and their communities was slow but steady. Participants adapted and explored the possibilities represented by high-speed access.

An example is Turney, Missouri. Turney was underserved because it sat at the edge of several, existing networks – none of which served the community. ?A broadband system was installed in Turney in September 2021.

The final analysis showed that Turney residents began to use their new service for streaming, gaming, distance education, telehealth and tele-commuting. It also served as a draw for young couples considering moving back to their hometown versus a neighboring town because of broadband access.

It’s encouraging. But there is still so much more to do.

While 51.6 million U.S. households are eligible for enrollment in connectivity and subsidy programs, as of May, 2023 just 13 million households enrolled.

The barrier to entry? Awareness. Roughly 75% of people in many of these communities don’t know these programs exist.

So, what can you do?

Education is the gateway to broadband access. If you are in a rural area (or know someone who is) there are internet service providers at the ready to help. They can find options at websites like broadbandnow.com .

The problem is big, and massive amounts of government funding won’t solve it – but it is solvable. Technology companies and enterprises can contribute to growing and maintaining access to this infrastructure. Conscious capitalism could be something we build into our solutions and proposals as a requirement of doing business.

If Ciena can have impact in a single day by collaborating with programs like Living Classrooms, imagine the profound impact we could have for the unconnected millions in the U.S. by combining our collective investment power, influence and technology innovation. ?We could close that prosperity gap, enabling communities to do well because enterprises and technology providers are doing good.

A couple of questions for us to consider:

1.?????? How can we accelerate making ?broadband access in rural communities a priority?

2.?????? What’s the best way to increase conscious capitalism in our companies?

Let me know in the comments! If you missed my interview with Kay Harvey-Bonham , Director of Career Advancement and Community Engagement at Living Classrooms, check it out here.