Australian Woman Named Global CSR Leader

At Giva, we like to recognise not only organisations dedicated to corporate social responsibility (CSR), but also their leaders who work to make the world a better place. Emerald Araiza, a CSR strategist, is one of many Australians committed to advocating for social change both nationally and globally, and she was recently recognised for her accomplishments at the 2016 World CSR Congress.

Ms. Araiza, 34, is head of Corporate Social Responsibility at a Melbourne IT and software development firm, DS PRIMA. She is currently working on a shared value programme called Prime Technology for Our Community. The programme develops technological solutions to solve environmental and societal issues.

Prime Technology for Our Community is working with a sports medicine centre in hopes of developing software to monitor patients' treatment and outcomes. This software will enable patients to feel more engaged with their treatment, while also allowing practitioners to better monitor their patients' progresses.

The young Australian's accomplishments do not end there. In May of last year, Araiza co-founded the GoodBiz Network, an online platform that helps Australian professionals dedicated to corporate responsibility to interact with each other and share ideas. She is also very passionate about her work in Latin America. She founded a not for profit in Mexico when she was just in her twenties, and has worked for numerous charities and corporations throughout Latin America in hopes of connecting the two sectors.

Araiza had the honour of being one of the 100 Most Impactful Global CSR Leaders at the Congress's World CSR Day on 18 February in Mumbai, India. In addition to receiving the award, she delivered a presentation on CSR to 1,500 attendees from over 130 different countries.  Araiza's presentation focused on topics such as global diversity, circular economy, ethical supply chains, and creating shared value for shareholders and society. She goes into detail of her presentation in a Pro Bono Australia article she authored following the conference as well.

Araiza's passion for connecting technology with environmental and societal issues shone through at the conference, and we congratulate her for this major accomplishment.