United States Institute of Peace

Marketing Assistant

Washington, United States

I think that the biggest obstacle to establishing CSR as a commonly-accepted business practice is not the notion that there is only a small niche group of consumers willing to absorb the potentially higher costs of supporting socially and environmentally friendly corporations. Rather, I see the biggest hurdle to be that many consumers simply are not aware of CSR as a movement and thus do not expect and demand such standards and practices from businesses in general. That said, in a general sense I'd like to educate more people - and especially consumers - on the topic of corporate social and environmental responsibility and give them the resources either to accept these ideas or to challenge them as they see fit. Today, the world and its citizens are run by the few, be they political leaders, insurgents, demagogues, or, increasingly businesses. Giving a cross-cutting, geographically and culturally diverse group of like-minded, informed people access and power over this last group (via social media, for example) can be an effective way of positively changing the world in both the short and long run.