International Paper, Avnet, Wyndham, Mine Safety Appliances, Thrivent, BDP and Autoridad del Canal de Panamá Join the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance

Members cite the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from other companies while sharing successes as key benefit.

New York, NY – September 5, 2014 – Ethisphere, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical businesses practices, announced today new members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), a community of member organizations that understand the sharing of best practices in ethics and governance helps strengthen global commerce.

“As one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, we focus not only on what we do, but how we do it, and work to align our business and financial performance with the responsible way we operate in nearly 100 countries around the world,” said Wyndham Worldwide’s Senior Vice President and Corporate Compliance Officer, Korin Neff. “Partnering with BELA allows us to collaborate with companies with a shared commitment in strengthening ethical practices in a rapidly changing global marketplace.”

“On behalf of Ethisphere, we are delighted to have these well-respected global companies join the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, underscoring their commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Ethisphere’s Director of Engagement Services, Laara van Loben Sels. “We continue to expand the community of leading organizations and are excited to build up the next phase which will focus on industry-specific communities.”

“At International Paper, our high ethical standards form the core of our corporate culture, and our commitment to integrity means that we are always looking for ways to continuously improve – not just for ourselves, but also for those who follow in our footsteps,” said International Paper’s Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Steve Donovan. “Becoming part of the outstanding corporate community that makes up the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance will allow us to make our ethical core even stronger through the unique benchmarking and knowledge-sharing opportunities made possible through BELA. We also look forward to sharing our own experiences, compliance solutions and ethical approach to business with other BELA members.”

“Integrity is not only one of Avnet’s core values, it is our number one core value,” explained Avnet’s Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Harvey Woodford. “We joined BELA to share and promote best practices with other companies similarly committed to conducting business with uncompromised ethics globally.”

“Thrivent Financial has been selected as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the last three years. If we want to stay on top, we need to continue making ethics and priority,” added Alayne Russom, Code of Conduct Manager at Thrivent. “Joining BELA will help us by learning from other companies, and sharing our successes with other members. We are very excited to be members of BELA!”

“The credibility and confidence that the Panama Canal has constructed during 100 years, is based on a strong organizational culture with the highest ethics and transparency values,” said Autoridad del Canal de Panamá’s CEO/Administrator, Jorge L. Quijano. “We are pleased to join the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance for the opportunity to share best business practices and bring about joint efforts in the promotion of ethics and values for organizations worldwide. Being honored as a World’s Most Ethical Company 2014 reaffirms our core belief in integrity as an organization.”

“BDP is delighted to join the prestigious membership of BELA as recognition of our commitment to strong and sustained business ethics,” said BDP’s Chief Legal Officer, Catherine Muldoon. “BDP, through exceptional representation and involvement in BELA, is dedicated to advancing BELA’s purpose of encouraging and maintaining the highest ethical standards in business and look forward to sharing our best practices as well as leveraging the significant expertise of the member companies that comprise the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance.”

Membership enables companies to compare their programs against the World’s Most Ethical Companies®, provides access to Ethics Summits around the globe, peer-to-peer networking via local, global, industry-specific and virtual events, on-demand access to thought leadership content and webcasts, a corporate subscription to Ethisphere Magazine and more.

To learn more, download the brochure or visit: https://ethisphere.com/bela.

The Ethisphere® Institute
Ethisphere is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs that include: Ethics Inside® Certification, Compliance Leader Verification™ and Anti-Corruption Program Verification™. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.

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Ethisphere Media Contact
Clea Nabozny
480.397.2658
Clea.Nabozny(a)ethisphere(dot)com