Avangrid, TTEC, Coty, Polaris, Georgia Institute of Technology Join the Growing Ranks of Ethisphere’s Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA)
Membership Expands to 294 Companies Collaborating to Promote Best Practices in Business Integrity Globally
New York, NY – February 3, 2020 – The Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing standards of ethical business practices, announced today that more than 30 organizations, including academic institutions, have recently joined the growing ranks of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) community. To date, 294 leading companies have taken their corporate integrity programs and practices to the next level by joining BELA, a globally recognized organization of leading companies collaborating together to share best practices in governance, risk management, compliance and ethics, founded by Ethisphere.
“One of the most impressive aspects of this community is that it is in constant motion,” said Kevin McCormack, Senior Vice President and Executive Director for BELA. “We credit this to a growing set of data and resources that are supporting their program innovations and also credit the willingness of the member organizations to seek out new levels of shared practices—ranging from topically targeted working groups to research reports to pan-industry knowledge exchange through roundtables. Moreover, the global expansion into pivotal markets like South Asia, Latin America and Europe has enabled us to be more inclusive of the people and companies who have been seeking greater support for the complex work they are doing around the world. This is a community they can each rely upon.”
This growth in membership rewards the community with new shared insights that enable organizations to support and challenge one another as they innovate to address risks, improve business performance and place values and integrity at the center of all that they do. The complete list of new companies and academic institutions joining BELA includes:
- American Airlines, Inc.
- Avangrid, Inc.
- BNP Paribas RCC
- Coty Inc.
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Indiana University Kelley School of Business
- JDA Software Group
- LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.
- Polaris Industries
- The Prudential Assurance Company Singapore
- TrueBlue, Inc.
- TTEC Holdings, Inc.
“A trusted customer relationship is of utmost importance to us, and with that comes the need for ironclad compliance, governance and ethical processes for working with our 4,000+ customers, suppliers and partners,” said Martin Felli, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Corporate Secretary, JDA. “We’re proud to become a member of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, leveraging their tools and expertise to enhance ethical decision-making and processes throughout our company globally.”
“TrueBlue, Inc. is committed to putting people to work and helping change lives. Every day our employees and associates work with businesses to provide the workforce solutions they need to succeed. At TrueBlue, we are committed to our core values and to operating as an ethically responsible and trustworthy company,” said Monica Torrez-Pfister, Senior Director, Legal & Compliance, Associate General Counsel, TrueBlue, Inc. “Ethics and compliance form the foundation of our business activities and are at the forefront of every business decision every single day. That is why we are excited to announce that TrueBlue has joined the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) community. As a new BELA member, TrueBlue joins a family of companies and leaders who share the same spirit and motivation of continuously improving the way we serve our clients by doing business the right way. We look forward to being a member of this elite community in 2020 and beyond.”
“For over six decades, we have been driven to help people experience the outdoors to the fullest. Along with that passion comes an unwavering commitment to living our values; being good stewards of the environment; and making a difference in the lives of riders, our employees and the communities where we operate,” said Ash Mishra, Sr. Asst. General Counsel at Polaris. “By joining the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, we are sending a strong signal to our stakeholders that we do not compromise when it comes to ethics and integrity. We look forward to engaging in meaningful ways with BELA and its members in 2020 and beyond.”
In response to continued demands from the higher education community to incorporate more business ethics instruction in their curriculum, Ethisphere recently extended BELA membership to academic institutions, enabling educators to leverage premier content, data-driven insights and more so that students may network with practicing experts and learn from authentic information gathered from leading companies. Several academic institutions, including Colorado Mesa University, Fordham University, Indiana University Kelley School of Business and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), have recently joined BELA. These new members have joined an existing roster of academic institutions that include the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado Law School.
“As a public institution, transparency and trust are critical, and cultivating a culture where leadership decisions are made with the highest degree of integrity is the foundation of the Institute’s first formal ethics and compliance program,” said Ling-Ling Nie, General Counsel and Vice President for Ethics and Compliance, Georgia Institute of Technology. “Being a BELA member means that our ethics and compliance program will be inspired by the best and brightest through the many opportunities to benchmark and draw upon the expertise of corporations who have built and developed award-winning programs around the world, and we are thrilled to have a seat at the table.”
The more than 294 BELA member companies represent 60+ industries and are headquartered in 15 different countries. The BELA community of companies has become a pivotal platform of connected leadership dedicated to progressing company standards and practices across global and regional business ecosystems. Driven by a global desire to advance integrity and improve business performance, in 2017 BELA expanded to South Asia. The South Asia Chapter includes a community of select Founding Member companies and “integrity partners” who have taken on a leadership role in inspiring best practices in ethics, integrity and anti-corruption efforts across India and South Asia. Applying a similar model, new chapter expansion has now reached Mexico, Latin America and most recently Asia Pacific.
12th Annual Global Ethics Summit
Join leaders from the BELA member community at the upcoming 12th Annual Global Ethics Summit April 1-2, at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. Early registration and discounts are now available at https://globalethicssummit.ethisphere.com/register-2020/.
BELA Member Benefits—Request Guest Access
BELA members receive enterprise-wide access to the BELA Member Hub—a premier repository of resources featuring examples of work, presentations and research from select BELA companies intended to cultivate more idea exchange and inspiration for companies to continuously improve in the area of ethics and compliance. To request guest access to the BELA Member Hub, click here.
About BELA
Founded by Ethisphere, the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is a globally recognized organization of leading companies collaborating together to share best practices in governance, risk management, compliance and ethics. BELA’s membership has since grown to a large community of companies who recognize the inherent value of promoting ethical leadership and world-class compliance culture. Learn more about BELA by visiting http://bela.ethisphere.com. To nominate a company to join BELA, contact the Director of Member Engagement Sarah Neumann at [email protected].
About Ethisphere
The Ethisphere® Institute 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 Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking and guidance. More information about Ethisphere can be found at https://ethisphere.com.
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