This Fall we piloted an innovative new collaboration with the professional services firm EY that matched their talented employees with local environmental organizations in an 8-week skills development and coaching program. For the Free Range Beehives team and their EY coaches – Mike and Michelle – the experience proved to be transformative for all involved.
What advice could strangers offer us?
John Rosol, a founder of Free Range Beehives, was asking this question before entering the Zoom room with consultants from EY: “I know I was concerned about how the EY coaches would come in and be able to relate to a business model as unique as ours.”
What happened next was a magical meeting of the minds.
John continued, “When we first joined this cohort, we were very focused on environmental sustainability, bringing bees to buildings to help companies earn LEED certification. But through the SVP program and the advice of the EY coaches, we completely pivoted our business plan to be more people-focused, helping employees inside these buildings interact with our bees through employee wellness programs.”
Michelle Boggie, one of the EY coaches expressed, “It was fulfilling to jump into this organization that we previously didn’t know much about, dig in, and actually see their business case and theory of change completely evolve.”
The cohort experience left the EY coaches hungry for more.
Mike Heintzman, another EY coach, noted, “The EY Global Corporate Responsibility program is called EY Ripples, and it perfectly describes the impact of this immersive project. Even though we just had small meetings every couple of weeks, the ripples of impact are expanding day by day. These meetings became everyone’s favorite part of the week. If anything, it left us at EY wanting to do more.”
Michelle added, “As consultants who traveled nearly every week pre-Covid, opportunities to volunteer locally were more limited. So, being part of this cohort was very special and truly rewarding. I felt like I was finally able to give back to Denver in a way that I’ve been desiring to do.”
The potential for business to impact community
EY’s stated purpose is “Building a better working world” and they backed it up by getting their team members engaged with the Denver community in a meaningful way. At SVP Denver we believe that getting more talented local professionals to share their time and knowledge with social mission organizations can drive big impact for everyone involved. Want to explore ways to use your business or employees unique talents for good? Reach out to us at hello@svpdenver.org to start a conversation!