Convene’s Sustainability Roadmap: Inclusivity, Going (More) Green and Giving Back

Now more than ever, corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is essential to the success of your business. While there are financial benefits to CSR programs, there's also value that can't quite be quantified. Companies today looking to foster a culture that attracts and retains exceptional talent, as well as a corporate image that attracts and retains customers and investors, must invest in sustainability and social impact initiatives.

With this in mind, Convene recently established a broad set of sustainability goals and initiatives, including: minimizing any potential negative impact on the environment, launching various programs to support and give back to our own internal team and our communities, and a myriad of other sustainable efforts related to food service, procurement, waste management, and more at our 25+ locations across the US and UK. 

To push our strategy forward, we formed a new function called Impact, which is part of the Corporate Strategy department and houses the following two sub-functions:

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)
• Sustainability

Impact also oversees the company's volunteerism and company "give back" initiatives, which all tie back to DE&I and Sustainability efforts.

In an effort to grow Convene’s sustainability and social impact program quickly and effectively, we worked with Cultivating Capital to conduct a full audit of our business practices and map out a three year path to becoming an even more sustainable enterprise. The audit found that while we have made progress in several important areas related to sustainability and making a difference in the communities in which we operate, there is still work to be done for Convene to become the  purpose-minded and sustainable organization that we aspire to be. 

We’ve since established internal working groups to begin driving positive environmental and social change at Convene. Highlights of what our internal project teams are focused on in 2022 and 2023 can be found below. 

Implement sustainable operations changes across 25+ Convene locations, such as: 

• Making the switch to non-toxic janitorial products, unbleached/chlorine-free paper products, soy-based inks, and recycled/environmentally preferred office supplies 
• Improving our waste management practices, including setting up easily accessible waste stations with recycling bins (and compost where possible), and provide clearly marked educational signage to help employees and guests properly sort their waste items
• Eliminating all individual, single-use plastics bottles of water for employees and guests
• Serving local and/or sustainably-sourced fish, meat, and produce as much as possible
• Partnering with Rescuing Leftover Cuisine to donate leftover food via a pilot program in New York City and Chicago

Track diversity among our employees, vendors and suppliers by:

• Conducting an audit of all of the company’s suppliers and collect and review all Convene employee demographic data via a DE&I dashboard 
• Once we have clear baselines established, we will set goals to increase representation across our employees, vendors, and suppliers

Establish formal company-wide charitable giving and volunteerism commitments, including:

• Determining pillars for the types of organizations Convene will support: 
  • • • Fighting Hunger
      • Fighting Poverty 
      • Health and Wellness  
      • Youth Development and Education
• Launching company-wide volunteer days  in 2023 with paid time off to volunteer with organizations aligned with our pillars 
• Donating our space and/or services to non-profits or organizations that align with our “Give Back” pillars 

Studies have shown that commitment to sustainability and social impact efforts can benefit the bottom line. Put another way, we can do well by doing good. This is just the beginning for Convene and we’re excited to be on this journey, continuing to making a difference in the communities in which we operate. 

Jenna Wollemann is the Vice President of Communications and Impact at Convene. She partners with the executive team at Convene to lead internal 
communications, change management, and culture transformation initiatives across the business. She also oversees the company’s Impact function, 
collaborating with all departments across the business to drive Corporate Social Responsibility efforts forward.