The Joy Report | From Charity to Solidarity: How Communities are Reshaping CSR (S2E8)
Passionate people within companies are creating a new form of corporate philanthropy that’s community-informed, centered, and led.
What exactly is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and are companies getting more out of it than the actual communities being served?
In this episode, we partnered with KEEN to explore what environmental CSR beyond conservation looks like, and how companies can more effectively build relationships with and support grassroots communities and organizations working to protect people and the planet. The role of philanthropy has become more vital than ever given federal funding cuts for community organizations. As today’s political climate shows us, philanthropy isn’t built on enduring and sustainable principles, which means we have an opportunity to reimagine CSR initiatives that work for today and the future.
The Joy Report Team
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Introduction
Welcome to The Joy Report, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice, grounded in intersectionality and optimism. This show is brought to you by the organization Intersectional Environmentalist. I’m your host, Arielle V. King, an environmental justice strategist and educator passionate about making environmentalism irresistible. Tune in for a dose of climate joy and actionable steps you can take to help protect people and the planet.
In this episode, we’ll discuss how the political landscape over the past five years has positioned corporate social responsibility (or CSR) initiatives at a crossroads. Historically, corporate CSR efforts have not matched the support actually needed for local communities to thrive. However, as the government aggressively attempts to slash philanthropic work, we must protect and redirect CSR toward a future beyond charity, toward actual solidarity. The good news is that this work already exists, and passionate people all around us are doing everything they can in their respective spaces to help build a better world.
The Problem
2020 was America’s year of racial reckoning. The COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate impact on low-income communities of color, the rise of anti-Asian hate, and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others sparked a national conversation about environmental justice, race, and state-sanctioned violence. America’s history was catching up to us, and the people mobilized to hold our nation and its unjust systems accountable.
We filled the streets to demand justice. We leveraged our purchasing power by boycotting businesses. We condemned our workplace’s management for not fairly compensating employees of color. Together, our collective actions shook the US to its core and made racism in all its forms simply too big for anyone — any business or company — to ignore.
So corporations publicly committed to “doing the work.” They took a renewed focus to CSR. They hired DEI consultants to lead anti-racism workshops, promoted diversity in representation, and pledged sustainability in their supply chains in the name of environmental justice, in an attempt to begin dismantling existing systems of oppression.
It was the corporate reaction to what was happening in our nation, and it brought discussions about systems of power into the professional world in a way we’ve never seen before. But if we look a little closer, the rise of DEI work and the focused attention on CSR in America was simply a concession. It was virtue-signaling to keep up with the trend, and the CSR initiatives they touted so loudly in 2020 didn’t hold up for our present day. There’s been a lack of follow-through on anti-racism and DEI statements, and as companies quickly roll back their DEI efforts because of the current presidential administration, the CSR efforts established in 2020 proved to be a band-aid solution.
Working against old systems and working through the tensions of new systems and frameworks takes time. It’s not something that can be done in a year or four or ten. It’s a lifelong practice that we must cultivate to pass down to future generations. As a collective, we now know too much to simply acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and commit to things that we’re not able to sustain. Instead, we must undertake efforts that will continue to breathe life into the movement for a kinder, more just world.
But what exactly is Corporate Social Responsibility, and are companies getting more out of it than the actual communities being served? CSR refers to the “self-regulated practices and policies that capture a company’s commitment to positive impact.” This can look like a company’s commitment to making sustainable products, community volunteering, philanthropic responsibility, paying employees livable wages, conservation, DEI initiatives; essentially, CSR is meant to encompass actions that go beyond a company’s capitalistic interests. Sounds noble, and the reality is that CSR has become an integral part of doing business today. According to Ecolytics, CSR benefits companies through “increased brand reputation and credibility, improved risk and supply chain management, cost savings from efficiency improvements, and increased revenue.”
Because of the business benefits of CSR, many companies carry out their programs without taking into account the communities that are actually being affected by these initiatives. CSR efforts should not be a one-size-fits-all solution because every community has different needs.
Ironically, most of the philanthropic and sustainability efforts connected to conservation and environmentalism today are needed because of damages connected to colonialism. Conservation emerged as a response to the damages caused by the US’s exploitation of land and labor. White environmentalists and conservationists remained the face of the movement, while BIPOC stories surrounding— and academic and advocacy contributions to—environmentalism were deliberately erased from history.
Leah Thomas: “The struggle for environmental justice refers to the resistance against state-sanctioned genocide via police brutality and calculated sacrifice zones, forced assimilation via systemic racism and white supremacy, and enslavement via capitalist structures that specifically target anyone who isn’t white and affluent.”
That was Leah Thomas, the founder of IE, on a video project about the Intersectional History of Environmentalism, which you can find on Youtube.
Leah: “It’s important to keep in mind that maintaining an existence in the face of exploitation, genocide, erasure & destruction to one’s way of life and cultural traditions (which sustains and protects the environment) is environmental justice work.”
Black, Indigenous and people of color’s voices and stories are central to environmental justice, but because mainstream conservation efforts have been largely driven, informed, and led in a way that perpetuates environmental racism, much of that mainstream environmental work is tainted by white saviorism. The White Savior Industrial Complex, coined by writer Teju Cole, is defined as “a valve for releasing the unbearable pressures that build in a system built on pillage.” It’s the idea that white people satisfy their needs, egos, and fantasies by “saving” communities of color who have experienced systemic harm. Cole claims that it’s not about justice, but instead about validating privilege, and the impact corporate environmental efforts have on communities aligns with this idea as they continue to perpetuate colonial legacies.
We see this with tree planting initiatives, for example. While well-intentioned, these efforts often fail to reflect community voices and actual ecological needs. Some organizations plant trees that aren’t native to the land, ultimately disrupting entire ecosystems. We also see this with developers that build housing that isn’t financially accessible to the communities where they’re planned in, or with food banks that don’t consider the cultural or nutritional needs of the communities they’re serving.
Often, we see companies entering low-income communities and communities of color and throwing money at issues without the communities’ guidance or consent. This exchange perpetuates a dangerous power dynamic, and it does nothing to build actual, sustained solidarity. Instead, it strips away a community’s agency and self-determination, which are essential principles of environmental justice necessary to build a better world for all.
While the altruistic presentation of CSR is a marker of progress and support, the reality presents a different truth. While CSR, DEI, philanthropy, and all its offshoots and initiatives aren’t going to spawn new futures alone, erasing them from our workplaces can also be severely detrimental. Fortunately, passionate people within companies are shifting frameworks to create a new form of CSR that’s community-informed, centered, and led.
The Intervention
A large part of reimagining CSR is fostering an environment where constant learning, unlearning, and relearning are encouraged. Take the Next Economy MBA program created by LIFT, an impact consulting firm. At a fraction of the price, this MBA program empowers emerging leaders to realize the potential of business as a force of good. While most programs are based on outdated, extractive premises that further global, social, and environmental crises, participants in this MBA program learn how to maximize their organization’s impact, all while building relationships with communities. The program reclaims CSR by investing in the local community and building a self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life.
CSR also requires that companies support their employees, and if they don’t, workers will mobilize. We’ve talked about labor movements in the US in a past episode of the podcast. So if you’re interested in learning more, you can listen to Labor Organizing + How It Intersects with Environmental Justice from Season 1.
After workers at Starbucks unionized in 2021 and later at Amazon in 2022, workers gained a renewed sense of hope that they indeed have the power to make institutional change. As more workplaces unionized, the nation also saw a rise in worker-owned cooperatives (or co-ops), which are defined as businesses owned and controlled by its workforce. In contrast to traditional companies, worker members at co-ops are involved in the profits, oversight, and often management of the enterprise, utilizing democratic practices.
Mandela Grocery is a worker-owned food cooperative providing healthy food to West Oakland, California.
Jeneba Kilgore: “Cooperatives are different than corporations because — I use shapes to describe how they’re different. Cooperatives are a circle. So everyone sits at the table together while corporations are a triangle. There’s someone at the top, and there’s a lot of people at the bottom. And when there is extra money or profits, the money comes to the top first, and sometimes funnels its way down to the bottom, but usually it doesn’t make it all the way down. While with the cooperative, you cut it and you make a nice little even pie, and everyone gets the same amount of dividends or profits that are made at the end of the year.”
That was a co-owner of Mandela Grocery. All the store’s co-owners invest time, energy, and dollars into neighborhood businesses to meet a material need. In this case, that material need is access to affordable, nutritious foods. Mandela Grocery sources from local entrepreneurs and farmers in California, with a focus on Black and brown farmers and food makers. Here’s Dennis Terry, one of the co-founders.
Dennis Terry: “A really good cooperative is going to be more than about providing goods and services, which they should do. But it’s also about making a real connection to the community, and Mandela has been able to do that over time.”
Since its opening, Mandela Grocery has stayed true to its CSR efforts and become an integral part of the West Oakland community.
Involving local communities is an essential element in CSR, and Patagonia is a great example of a company making major strides in this realm. In addition to offering their employees 18 paid volunteer hours per year “to engage with and give back to their communities in meaningful ways,” Patagonia works with local organizations through their Retail and Wholesale Grants Program. The initiative supports grassroots organizations that work within the communities surrounding Patagonia store locations. For example, the Patagonia in Atlanta, Georgia funds the environmental work of groups located in the area, such as The Global Growers Network and the South River Watershed Alliance. By fostering collaborations with local organizations, Patagonia is able to meaningfully support efforts that address the root causes of issues in the areas of land, water, climate, communities, and biodiversity.
Pro bono resources are also a great way for companies to provide free expertise and services to folks who need it. Countless law firms across the country are now providing pro bono legal services to undocumented immigrants in response to the presidential administration’s xenophobic policies. And local organizations are offering free know-your-rights workshops, too, so we as a collective can be prepared to mobilize when ICE takes action. These CSR efforts are a form of community building, skill sharing, and strengthening collective knowledge.
It’s heartbreaking to see this presidential administration targeting historically marginalized identities and communities. But when we look at history, we know that times were tough even before Trump took office. CSR may have extractive and exploitative origins, but that doesn’t mean companies can’t course-correct, especially during a moment as urgent as this.
Our communities are resilient in the face of struggle. Although it may seem as if our nation is imploding, people all around us — in our neighborhood, at school, at our workplace — are remaining steadfast in their commitment to collective well-being. As adrienne maree brown said, we must “move at the speed of trust.” We may not see huge changes now, but micro-consistencies of resilience add up to sustained, long-term change.
The Solution
Edgar Villanueva: “On the surface, it feels pretty harmless, like a charitable system to support communities. But underneath that, there are a lot of complexities that are in many ways helping wealthy folks and wealthy corporations become richer.”
That’s Edgar Villanueva, author of Decolonizing Wealth, talking about the dark side of philanthropy.
Edgar: “We need to be less institutional and really become more connected to the communities that we’re trying to serve. And that can happen by changing what boards, diversifying the staff, really thinking about our processes — they’re so convoluted and we have lots of barriers and infrastructure now in philanthropy that really make it challenging for those of us inside to connect with community and vice versa.”
He’s right. Intentional collaboration has the potential to expand the impact of community-led initiatives. Instead of reinventing the wheel, corporate teams are establishing deeper relationships with existing local efforts rooted in community.
CSR should honor community expertise, involvement, and agency from the start of developing practices. It should answer the question of what intentional community engagement looks like, and Hike Clerb is doing just that. Hike Clerb is a decolonial outdoor women’s collective reimagining an equitable and inclusive outdoors, and access to the outdoors is at the heart of everything they do. Almost all of their community programming — from hikes and surfing outings, to wellness-focused workshops and restoration projects — are free, thanks in large part to the organization’s corporate partnerships. Their camping starter pack rental program with REI is just one of many collaborations Hike Clerb has developed to help close the nature gap. You can learn more about the nature gap in a toolkit titled “Addressing Outdoor Equity Myths About BIPOC Outdoors” on IE’s website, linked in the show notes.
Evelynn Escobar: “This program is all about eliminating the barriers to entry by providing our community with the literal tools — tents, sleeping bags, pads, chairs, a cooler, a camp table, you name it — to help inspire new campers to get outside affordably as part of our commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive outdoors.”
That’s Evelynn Escobar, the founder of Hike Clerb. She’s based in Los Angeles, and in response to the recent wildfires, she says Hike Clerb’s theme for 2025 is “restoration on a literal and spiritual level.”
There are obvious mutual benefits to partnerships between community organizations and large companies and brands. Companies are able to carry out their CSR initiatives and communicate their values to their customers, while community organizations can fund their programming, gain exposure, and maximize their impact. This type of exchange reinforces the reality that we are stronger in numbers.
Diandra Marizet Esparza: “Not many people know that IE wasn't always a non-profit. Initially, we were just an Instagram account bringing in support through sponsored content and consulting projects to help us spread awareness about intersectional environmentalism, and we committed to supporting community orgs and local leaders by not only spotlighting them but bringing them onto projects that came our way.”
That’s Diandra Marizet Esparza, IE’s Co-Founder and Director of Impact. It’s been 5 years since the inception of IE, and our journey from an Instagram account to a non-profit became possible because of solidarity and collaboration.
Diandra: “For us, it's really been about serving as a bridge between people and grassroots efforts. It became so core to our identity that we later launched our database to connect people to local initiatives. It's been hard for people to know how to get involved, so it was important to offer a search tool organized by location, advocacy areas, and communal affinities to eliminate the gap that exists between grassroots voices and environmental solutions. What we need right now is people power participating in and celebrating those community-driven solutions. A popular quote resurfacing right now from Malcolm X says ‘We are not outnumbered, we're out-organized’, so centering community is critical, and ensuring it's joyful makes it more sustainable.”
While it may seem like large corporations have all the power in these relationships, the real power lies in the community. In the people, as it always does. Grassroots organizations are stewards of unlearning and reorientation, and corporations can learn valuable lessons if they just let communities lead the way.
Take KEEN, a well-known sustainable footwear company and the sponsor of today’s episode. After the devastating wildfires in LA in January 2025, KEEN supported local community relief efforts.
KEEN: We partnered with organizations like Mutual Aid Network Los Angeles, Boys and Girls Club, Hike Clerb, and the Pasadena Job Center. These mutual aid groups worked directly with those most affected by the fires, ensuring the right resources go to the right people who need them the most.
KEEN routed $30,000 in cash to three organizations working on the ground and delivered 15,000 pairs of shoes to firefighters and community-run groups. But these CSR initiatives aren’t new; KEEN has consistently centered community efforts in their partnerships, even using IE’s database in the past to identify organizations to donate to and support. KEEN’s efforts are a beautiful example of how CSR initiatives can make a lasting positive impact when companies approach philanthropic work with justice and collaboration in mind.
Community organizations like IE and Hike Clerb, and companies like KEEN, Patagonia, and many others are leading by example and showing what the future of climate resilience must looks like. A future where corporations tap into existing networks and frameworks of community. A future where CSR looks a lot more like solidarity than charity.
Our Community Calls to Action
Since no action is too small, and everyone has the power to help strengthen collaborations between workplaces and the communities they serve, here are some examples, practices, and questions for you and your team to reflect on:
Take inspiration from what’s happening around you. As the Trump administration threatens companies to take down their DEI initiatives, companies like Ben & Jerry’s, e.l.f. Cosmetics, and Costco are standing up to the administration by keeping their DEI policies intact, and it’s already paying off. The more companies that stay true to their commitments, the more likely communities and companies can work together to build a more equitable world.
Reflect on the CSR initiatives your company does have and ask what it means for CSR programs to be effective and beneficial to the communities being served. Are your company’s CSR initiatives community-informed, led, and centered? Do these initiatives put people over profit? Are they meeting a community need? Are these initiatives collaborative? Are they sustainable? Do the initiatives allow for people to grow and learn in the safety of community?
If we’ve learned anything these past few years, it’s that collective power is greater than the sum of its parts. The possibilities are endless when we collaborate and stand in solidarity with those on the ground. Together, we can reimagine CSR outside of its colonial roots and build toward a more equitable, inclusive future.
Other positive climate news
And here’s some other positive news you should know about…
In March of 2025, the Prairie Land Potawatomi Nation reclaimed 1500 acres of land in northern Illinois that was stolen by the federal government shortly after it was promised to them. Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick, the Nation’s chairman, said in response, ‘We are proud to once again call this land home.’
A Canadian startup, Agriplay Ventures, is converting empty office spaces in Calgary Tower into indoor vertical farms, growing kale, cucumber, and herbs. The sixty-five thousand square foot farm serves as an example of reimagining indoor spaces as a solution to help combat the climate and supply chain issues that impact farming.
Residents of Paris, France recently voted to make 500 more of their city streets car-free, in an effort to improve air quality and reduce reliance on cars.
Additional IE updates
And in the world of Intersectional Environmentalist:
We recently launched our Substack newsletter, and with it, our newest program - The Future is Intersectional: An Artivist Series. We’re spotlighting our favorite artists in every region across the US to help viewers unlock transformative lessons for radically imagining an inclusive future for people + planet. Follow along and pledge your support at intersectionalenvironmentalist.substack.com.
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And remember, fighting the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We need everyone to get involved in a way that feels right for them, now more than ever.
Our individual positive actions do have power, and they’re strengthened when we do them as a collective. We’ll be taking a bit of a break as we develop season 3 of the podcast, so stay tuned for updates: follow us on Instagram at @intersectionalenvironmentalist, make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so you’ll be alerted when new episodes drop, and if you’re a new listener, consider checking out past episodes we’ve released while you wait for season 3.
I’m your host, Arielle V. King, and thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Joy Report.