Milwaukee Rescue Mission receives $20,000 grant to advance quality processes
Milwaukee, Wis., April 22, 2009 —ASQ (American Society for Quality) launched a major national initiative today called The SRO (Socially Responsible Organization) to help the world understand the value of, and the business case for, social responsibility (SR) and the role of quality to achieve results. Today’s kick-off: "Sustaining the Future: A Social Responsibility Event" at Discovery World in Milwaukee, Wis., illustrated how aligning quality and social responsibility will help achieve bottom-line results. The event also highlighted leading-edge socially responsible organizational practices.
Northwestern Mutual Foundation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., was the executive sponsor of the event. In addition to ASQ President Roberto Saco and Executive Director and Chief Strategic Officer Paul Borawski, program speakers included Deanna Tillisch, director of corporate affairs, Northwestern Mutual; City of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett; Dr. Joan Prince, vice chancellor for partnerships and innovation at UW-Milwaukee; and Greater Milwaukee Committee President and CEO Julia Taylor. Event Growth Sponsors included Marquette University, Johnson Controls, and ASQ’s Section Affairs Council and Division Affairs Council.
"ASQ is using its presence in Milwaukee to make the community a demonstration center to learn, study and explore how being socially responsible can achieve bottom-line results," Saco said. "As organizations develop further initiatives, quality will provide the tangible methodologies to produce sustainable results while increasing operating efficiencies and cost savings."
Seattle-based photographer and environmentalist Chris Jordan was the keynote speaker for the event. His photography sheds light on the societal and environmental implications of daily life in a consumerist, throwaway society.
To view a sampling of Jordan’s work, visit http://thesro.org/sustaining-the-future-a-social-responsibility-event/.
Milwaukee Rescue Mission Receives Grant
ASQ awarded the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, Wisconsin’s largest homeless shelter, a $20,000 Community Good Works grant during a news conference just prior to the program. The Milwaukee Rescue Mission will use the grant to implement a quality process using case management software, exemplifying how quality can help to achieve socially responsible goals that can impact an entire community.
"The ASQ grant will have a huge impact on our organization and the Milwaukee homeless community," said Patrick Vanderburgh, executive director of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. "The database will be a critical tool for our dedicated staff and volunteers to provide men and women with the resources they need to leave our shelter and go out to provide for themselves and their families." The software will help the Milwaukee Rescue Mission track programs and enable it to analyze success results and tailor programs to better fit the needs of clients.
Metro Milwaukee Green Initiative Update
Barrett provided the first comprehensive update on the Metro-Milwaukee Green Initiative, launched January 9, 2009, by the City of Milwaukee, ASQ, Milwaukee County, and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce. To date, 52 companies and organizations have committed to the initiative.
"I want to personally thank each of the organizations that are participating in the Metro-Milwaukee Green Initiative," Barrett said. "Their dedication is an important step to the area’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility."
The next step of this initiative will include a series of quarterly meetings where area organizations can learn best practices in sustainability from SR experts and each other.
SR Case Studies Available
As part of The SRO effort, ASQ will publish a monograph of case studies — success stories that describe how leading businesses are using quality tools to achieve their social responsibility initiatives. Success stories from Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc., Johnson Controls, Aurora Health Care, Intel, Manpower, MillerCoors and others will be featured in the upcoming monograph. The monograph can be viewed at http://thesro.org/.
Next Steps
The next steps for The SRO initiative include:
- Establishing an International Social Responsibility Think Tank that will bring together some of the world’s leading experts later this year.
- A conference in Milwaukee in 2010 featuring executive roundtables to celebrate the release of the new ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility Voluntary Standard.
Further information on ASQ’s social responsibility initiatives can be found at www.TheSRO.org.
About ASQ
The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.