Corporate Social Responsibility: It Is Time to Get Involved

• Author: Megan K. Bannigan
• Pages: 38-42

Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 13, Number 4, a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

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Corporate Social

Responsibility

It Is Time to

Get Involved

By Megan K. Bannigan

R ecent years have shepherded in a new era for

brands as consumers—no longer satised with

simply supporting a corporation’s bottom line—

demand more. Many want their brands to be

accountable and have a conscience. The phrase

“corporate social responsibility,” or CSR for short,

as a result, has become a buzzword in brand man-

agement. But what does it really mean? The

concept is broad and may include a range of initia-

tives, such as supporting sustainability and

the environment, diversity and inclusion, access

to education and technology, new mothers, food shortages,

community volunteerism, and, of course, more traditional

pro bono assistance.

Studies have shown that CSR initiatives increase brand recog-

nition, enhance brand image, and ultimately grow brand value,

not to mention foster both employee and personal development.

Does that mean CSR is something all brands should be doing

and all employees, including attorneys, should be nding ways

in which to participate? To answer these questions, we’ve asked

four experts involved with CSR in different capacities—an in-

house counsel, a nonprot chief executive ofcer, a law rm

partner, and a law rm associate—to give us their perspectives

and offer practical tips for how and why you should get involved.

Nadia Makki is senior counsel at KIND LLC, producer of healthy snacks. She manages KIND’s intellectual property portfolio

and supports the marketing, communications, and product development teams.

Tell us about the types of CSR activities that KIND engages in.

I’m lucky to work at a company that has a long history of cor-

porate social responsibility. For instance, back in 2008, before

my time at the company, the KIND Movement was introduced

with the purpose of furthering the KIND mission to make the

world kinder by inspiring kind acts, whether big or small. Part

of growing the KIND Movement included our #kindawesome

cards program, where we encouraged team members and con-

sumers to give out a #kindawesome card redeemable for a free

snack every time they saw an act of kindness in action. The

movement inspired thousands of unexpected acts of kindness

and is still a foundation principle of the company today.

In 2015, the company established the KIND Foundation to

foster kinder and more empathetic communities. The foundation

Image: GettyImages