Organised by Volunteer Wellington and sponsored by the University, the Corporate Challenge is an annual employer-supported volunteering programme that this year saw over 1000 employees from the public and private sectors volunteer on over 100 projects for more than 40 community organisations in Wellington.
The celebration event, part of National Volunteer Week, saw awards given to businesses and community organisations collaborating through volunteering to address the Sustainable Development Goals #11 Sustainable Communities and Cities, and #15 Life on Land. Professor Karen Smith from Victoria Business School was MC for the event.
The University has been the naming sponsor of the Corporate Challenge since 2018 and has signed on for another year. Professor Larner says the partnership with Volunteer Wellington for the Corporate Challenge is an ideal fit for the University. “It demonstrates in a tangible way our commitment to being a capital city and global-civic University, one that values close involvement with the social, cultural, and economic life of its city and region.”
Professor Larner says the University has a tradition in, and a commitment to, civic engagement, and aims to foster confident, critically informed and civic-minded graduates.
Lucy Kenner, who is about to complete her LLB(Hons)/BA, is evidence of this. She is a member of the Student Vanguard, a group of students who worked alongside Volunteer Wellington’s Employee Volunteering Programme throughout the year and took a lead role in the event, held at KPMG. Lucy, Jordan Lankshear, Joshua Finnegan, Sunny Qi and Emma Green shared their perspectives on corporate social responsibility and the expectations that today’s graduates have of prospective employers.
“Providing a high-flying corporate environment is not necessarily a guarantee of attracting the best talent,” Lucy says. “Instead, graduates are thinking about the type of workplace where they can be part of something bigger, whether that is having volunteer days to help out with their own passions, or being part of an organised tree-planting or beach clean-up team.”
Lucy has also written about her volunteering experiences on the University's myview blog.
Professor Larner’s announcement that the University has signed on as the naming sponsor of the Corporate Challenge for another year brought a round of applause from the crowd.