Ask not what your company can do for you: Column

When Peace Corps was founded in 1961, President Kennedy laid out a unique vision for service that would send America’s best to countries around the world. That call to service is still strong 55 years later — and so, too, is the talent pool from which to draw.

Today, those who want to give back have numerous ways to pursue service. In one growing trend, talented employees of American corporations are using their experience and professional skills to address some of the world’s most critical issues, from climate change to infectious disease to girls’ education.

This trend developed somewhat quickly: Since 2008, over 25 major U.S. companies have sent more than 8,000 employees to serve in at least 80 countries, according to PYXERA Global.

Why would companies put their brightest employees on hiatus? They recognize the return on investment from sending their most valuable assets — their people — overseas to make a difference. International service offers employees the opportunity to lead multicultural teams, speak other languages, understand emerging markets, help communities become more self sustaining, and address pressing problems on a global scale.

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Take IBM. Since 2008, its Corporate Service Corps — the largest program of its kind in the nation — has sent 3,000 of its top experts on highly competitive assignments to nearly 40 countries around the world. There, while earning their regular IBM salaries, teams of up to 15 employees work collaboratively with local counterparts on multiple month-long projects at the intersection of technology and society.

They are not just computer geeks — they are also management pros, marketing and business consultants, legal or finance experts, and more. They have helped a network of food banks in Latin America expand their reach and become more self-sufficient; enabled a remote Peruvian women's clinic to plan for dramatically expanded services; created a business plan to expand an Indian company that employs disabled people; and helped Turkey increase the study of math and science.

In turn, IBM benefits from a more committed and culturally knowledgeable workforce. Evaluations of IBM's program show improved workplace skills and retention of top talent. This is especially true for Millennial employees, many of whom choose their workplace based on benefits such as opportunities for public service.

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Recognizing the return on investment and seeking additional ways to make a difference in communities around the world, IBM teamed up with the Peace Corps, the world’s leading international service organization. Through this unique public-private partnership, IBM and Peace Corps Response, the agency's short-term program for skilled professionals, are sending teams to three locations around the world to help communities address their most critical issues.

This past spring, IBM and Peace Corps Response Volunteers worked together in Ghana to bring education closer to girls in rural communities as part of Let Girls Learn, a U.S. government initiative dedicated to expanding access to education for girls around the world. Volunteers helped create an online platform to expand a national girls’ mentorship program and assisted a local company to develop technology that will deliver educational content to young women in remote villages.

These are the kinds of public-private partnerships that are changing the way we do business. For companies seeking a competitive edge, this is the future of leadership development, corporate citizenship and global impact — a future that delivers results at the last mile, where it matters most.

Carolyn "Carrie" Hessler-Radelet is the 19th and current director of the Peace Corps and Stanley S. Litow is the president of IBM's International Foundation. 

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