Why business and philanthropy must merge to tackle climate and inequality – Phillip Mills
In this photo, taken on October 19, 2016 and released by Unicef, a young girl queues for food aid at a food distribution made by the World Food Programme in Bentiu, South Sudan. Photo / AP
Most companies still treat philanthropy as something separate from business. I think that model is increasingly outdated.
After travelling to South Sudan with Unicef several years ago, I came away convinced that the traditional boundaries between business, philanthropy and social responsibility no longer make sense.
When you see both the scale of human need and the extraordinary resilience of communities under pressure, it becomes obvious that organisations with global reach have an opportunity, and arguably a responsibility, to contribute beyond their own commercial success.
We are living through an era of overlapping crises. Climate instability is accelerating. Conflict is displacing millions of people. Inequality continues to widen, and the pressure this creates falls hardest on children.
For decades, many companies treated philanthropy as a side activity. You made your money over here and did your charitable work over there. Often, the two had little connection.
The most effective businesses in the future will be those that understand their influence extends far beyond the products they sell. Companies influence how people live, connect and behave at enormous scale.
At Les Mills, we have tried to think carefully about what responsibilities come with reaching millions of people globally through fitness.
Fitness, at its best, is not superficial. It is transformational.
Movement improves physical health, but it also affects mental wellbeing, confidence, resilience and connection. Anyone who has experienced the energy of a great group fitness class understands this instinctively. Human beings are wired for collective movement and shared purpose.
That same collective energy can be directed towards helping others.
At the end of June, hundreds of Les Mills clubs and partner gyms, here in New Zealand and around the world – in places as far-flung as Alaska, Armenia, Brazil and Thailand – will take part in Workout for the World. This global activation, made up of tens of thousands of gym-goers, will support Unicef’s emergency response work for children and families caught in crisis through its US$1 million ($1.7m) fundraising target.
Some people still dismiss initiatives like this as symbolic, but I think that misses the point.
When large organisations mobilise their communities well, small, individual actions become something much more powerful.
One class becomes thousands of people. One gym becomes hundreds of locations. One donation helps deliver practical support quickly in places where children are facing extreme circumstances.
Importantly, the fundraising supports flexible emergency funding. That may sound less emotionally compelling than attaching money to a single crisis or headline, but in humanitarian work, flexibility is critical.
Whether the crisis is conflict, drought, flooding, disease outbreak or displacement, organisations like Unicef need the ability to move rapidly and direct resources where the need is greatest.
I saw first-hand in South Sudan how important that responsiveness is.
What also became clear to me during that visit was how interconnected many of these issues now are, particularly climate and child wellbeing.
Children are among the least responsible for climate change, yet they are among the most affected by it. Climate disruption affects food systems, water access, health, education and stability. In many regions, it acts as an accelerant for conflict and displacement.
I sometimes think businesses still underestimate the scale of what’s coming.
Climate change is not simply an environmental issue to be managed through reporting frameworks and sustainability language. It is a destabilising force with profound human consequences, and younger generations understand this far more clearly than many corporate leaders do.
What gives me optimism is that businesses are already incredibly good at organising people and driving behaviour at scale.
Large organisations are very effective at bringing people together around shared habits and goals. These are precisely the capabilities the world needs more of.
I do not believe companies need to choose between commercial success and social contribution. In fact, I think the opposite is increasingly true.
People want to work for organisations that stand for something meaningful. Consumers are more discerning about where they spend money. Younger generations especially expect companies to play a positive role in society.
Purpose cannot be manufactured by marketing departments after the fact. People see through performative corporate messaging very quickly. Authenticity comes from long-term commitment and action.
Our partnership with Unicef works because it is grounded in shared values and practical outcomes, not branding exercises.
Unicef brings extraordinary expertise, local knowledge and frontline capability in some of the world’s most difficult environments. Les Mills brings a global community connected through movement. Together, that combination can genuinely help people.
One of the most encouraging things I see during initiatives like Workout for the World is the willingness of instructors, gym operators and members to contribute their time and energy to support people they will never meet.
Most people want to help when they are given a practical way to do it. Business can either nurture that instinct or ignore it.
Too often, the corporate world talks about scale purely in financial terms. Revenue scale. Market scale. Scale of expansion.
Those things matter, but there is another question worth asking: what scale of positive impact is possible if businesses genuinely mobilise their communities around issues that matter?
Governments cannot solve these problems alone, and neither can NGOs.
The scale of the challenges we face now requires collaboration between sectors, communities and countries.
Business has resources, infrastructure, influence and reach that can be extraordinarily useful when applied thoughtfully.
That does not mean every company should suddenly try to save the world. But it does mean every company should ask itself a more ambitious question than simply how to grow.
The question is how growth, influence and success can be used in service of something larger.
For Les Mills, supporting Unicef through Workout for the World is one practical answer to that question.
There will always be pressure to treat social responsibility as secondary. But one of the most powerful things I have learned through both business and philanthropy is that large organisations can mobilise people in extraordinary ways when they choose to.
Businesses are incredibly good at building movements, creating engagement and bringing communities together around shared goals. Increasingly, I believe those capabilities should also be directed toward the broader challenges shaping the world around us.
In an increasingly fragmented world, there is real power in that kind of shared participation.
When businesses bring people together around something bigger than consumption alone, they can become a force for real positive change.
To me, that is one of the most important opportunities modern business has in front of it.
To find out more about Workout for the World, visit www.workoutfortheworld.org.nz
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