Most for-profit companies still confine nonprofit relationships to corporate philanthropy. Donations flow through foundations, annual reports highlight community contributions, and nonprofit engagement is framed as evidence of corporate responsibility.
However, instead of getting busy with your regular Monday work rituals, you learn about the team's volunteering at the local community center to help the homeless. Your day suddenly changes. It's no longer about the deadlines and meetings. Now you will be a part of something more meaningful and do your bit for society. This is what Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about. It creates connections with the community and makes work personally meaningful.
During their 26-year tenure building the Prax Group from a startup oil trading company into a global integrated conglomerate, Sanjeev and Arani Kumar Soosaipillai embedded philanthropy into the organisation's identity. Prax Foundation Roots, the charitable arm they established, focused on supporting orphanages in Sri Lanka and communities near Prax operations on a zero-cost basis. Philanthropy entered the company's DNA from the start, and the Foundation's structure bore the imprint of the co-founders' shared outlook.
As the Trump administration has ramped up its assault on American democracy, many corporations have chosen to look the other way or to curry favor with the president. They have fired employees who were too outspoken in their criticism of Donald Trump ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talkshow, after Kimmel's remarks about Maga's reaction to the killing of Charlie Kirk, is the latest example.
None of this (Trump Media deal, subtle DEI rollbacks, etc.) was ever openly addressed. Since the firm advertises its commitment to socially progressive causes, I thought this was a tension that warranted conversation.
