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Business is an unlikely hero: a force for good working to solve society's most pressing challenges, while boosting bottom line. This is social purpose at work. And it's a dynamic journey. Purpose 360 is a masterclass in unlocking the power of social purpose to ignite business and social impact. Host Carol Cone brings decades of social impact expertise and a 360-degree view of integrating social purpose into an organization into unfiltered conversations that illuminate today's big challenges and bigger ideas.
Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone and welcome to Purpose 360, the podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact.
Today, I have a wonderful and compelling conversation with a woman I have so long admired, Justina Nixon-Saintil, vice president and chief social impact officer at IBM.
Justina is at the forefront of driving strategic, socially responsible initiatives that leverage IBM's technology and talent to tackle some of society's most pressing challenges on a global scale. She drives the initiatives that enable IBM and its employees to transform their altruism into realities for communities and of the planet with a deep focus on career readiness and environmental sustainability.
Justina will share with us with great enthusiasm, the goal of IBM to upskill 30 million people by 2030 through a strategic focus on IBM's free, I want to say free education program, IBM SkillsBuild. Her global team is creating opportunities for underrepresented communities, upskilling adult learners, and connecting high school and university students and faculty with valuable new skills and career paths. We will also hear about IBM's new Sustainability Accelerator launched in 2022. It has been heralded as a blueprint for corporate responsibility.
So join us as we unravel the marvelous and intriguing layers of purpose and impact with Justina Nixon-Saintil, gaining insights into the visionary strides IBM is making in shaping a better, more sustainable future for us all. So welcome to the show, Justina.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Hi. Thank you so much for having me, Carol.
Carol Cone:
It's just absolutely, it's a joy to have you here. I've been following IBM of course for many, many years. So I'd love to start out with your background because your background, you're an engineer and you went to the University of Buffalo, and you were the only Black woman of color in your class to graduate. So talk a little bit about your background because it's extraordinary. And then we're going to say, how did you get to what you're doing today?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Oh, absolutely. So I'm an immigrant. I came to the United States around the age of nine, settled in the South Bronx in New York, and just always interested in problem solving and taking things apart. And eventually I had the great opportunity to attend the University of Buffalo. I majored in mechanical engineering.
But you are correct, in the mechanical engineering department, I was the only Black woman to graduate at the time. And even as I look back and I've gone to other graduations over the years, that hasn't changed significantly. There's still a very low number of Black women who are majoring in engineering. So that is definitely something that's a focus of mine.
Carol Cone:
And I understand that when you were growing up that your siblings were very cautious about you because you liked to take things apart. And I think that you said you didn't take the TV apart, but you did take some other things apart.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
So we had a typewriter that I remember taking apart, and they were not happy about that. I was the youngest of five, so they were already many grades ahead of me and had probably more use of the typewriter than I did.
But I had the great fortune of having siblings who also cared about me greatly and helped me advance as well. My sister is the one who recommended that I consider engineering. She was two years ahead of me. She was already in college. She said a lot of the people in college who are majoring in engineering had the same mindset I had, they loved to take things apart, they loved problem-solving. They were very respected on campus.
So although I did not know any engineers, of course we lived in the South Bronx, these were not people that surrounded my every day. I did not know people that were really in the STEM field except for my math teacher. I took a chance and majored in engineering because of her prompting and her support. And I had an older brother who helped me with math and my math homework. He eventually became a math teacher and an assistant principal. So I have to say my siblings really helped me be successful early on in life.
Carol Cone:
And your mother was an educator?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes, she was. She was. She came to the United States and her credentials did not carry over from Dominica to the United States. So she started teaching at a Catholic school in East Harlem, and eventually she went to school part-time. She went to school in the evenings. It took her a long time. She was able to get her undergraduate degree from a community college and then eventually a four-year college in the Bronx, and was able to move into the public school system, which had at the time more rigorous credentials that were needed.
Carol Cone:
Oh, lovely. Lovely. So you have education and lifelong learning in your blood. So you have this amazing job at IBM, and you started out in, I believe it was COVID time. And you were VP of CSR, but now you're vice president and chief impact officer at IBM. Can you just say how did you get from being an engineer to being the chief impact officer of one of the world's most amazing companies?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
When I think about engineering, a lot of what I did when I graduated from college was really focusing on how I solve problems in the community.
So one of my first jobs was with the Department of Energy at a little town outside of Buffalo. My focus was how do I secure these tanks from having radioactive liquid seep into the local water supply? And when you think about what engineers do, they solve these big challenges, these big problems in society.
So when I even think about what I'm doing today, it felt that where I started was actually on the path to corporate social responsibility. So I started doing this work in engineering, eventually moved to a national telecommunications company. I'm sure everybody know of Verizon. At the time, it was called the New York New England Exchange, NYNEX.
Carol Cone:
I remember NYNEX. Okay, yeah.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I started working at NYNEX, creating products such as DSL, digital subscriber line, and eventually the precursor to Fios. A lot of what I was doing as well was solving the problems that customers had. So I was very focused on how we increase the quality of our products, how do we make sure we offer the right products? And even looking at pricing, how do we make sure people could access our telecommunications products as well? So eventually, that led to product development, marketing, and then corporate social responsibility.
And, Carol, I did have a gap during my career where I had three kids, five and under, and I left. I left for a few years, focused on my young family, and eventually came back into the workplace. So you would consider me a re-entry hire. I think a lot of women who leave the workplace take care of their families, whether they're young families or parents, and were able to come back in. So I was very fortunate to be able to do that.
Carol Cone:
And anybody that was going to hire you that if they knew you had three children under the age of five, that you were incredibly resilient and that you're very, very dedicated. Since you took some gap time, do you have any other insights for women or men who take time to nurture their families and then go back to work?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes, I do. So what I did during the time that I was off, in addition to focusing on my young family, there are a couple things that I did. Number one, I did project management classes. At the time, they were actually virtual. I was able to do it from home, and I kept up with those types of skillsets.
What was great about Verizon is during the time I left, I stayed connected with some of my colleagues. So I continued to consult with Verizon over the years for three months, six months, et cetera. There was a lot of flexibility to that, but that kept me connected to the workplace, connected to colleagues, increasing my skillsets.
And then I decided to move into education. I started on that path and that's when actually Verizon contacted me and said, "We have a great opportunity in corporate social responsibility. We want your engineering thinking and your focus in education and to come back and help us." It was a rigorous interview process, but I was able to come back into the company and move into the corporate social responsibility space.
Carol Cone:
And I bet you're teaching your colleagues every day about the context for why social impact is strategic.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Exactly. I think there was sort of a misunderstanding before that this was a very general place to be, right? You provided grants, you supported philanthropy overall. But over the years, CSR has moved to be very strategic and require deeper expertise.
It was actually my engineering expertise and the understanding of education that really allowed me to come back and focus on how do we increase STEM education for students that were in the K to 12 space, and how do you create programs that align with the strategy of your business? And that's really the place CSR is in today, but that is actually new over, I would say the last 10, 12 years.
Carol Cone:
Absolutely. Absolutely. So that's a great segue. I want to get right into IBM's purpose statement to be the catalyst that makes the world better and how you knit it into your work. How often does it come up?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
When you look at everything from our environmental work, environmental impact to equitable impact and what we want to do for the community, to our governance and our ethical impact, all of that comes together to really make the world work better.
So you pool all of that together and it really aligns with our purpose as a business. And when you go a little further on social purpose, a lot of that work is what we lead within corporate social responsibility. How do we make sure that we are using the assets and expertise and the technology and platforms of our business to really have an out-sized impact in our communities?
And I can tell you, IBMers are so passionate. Our leaders are so passionate about this work in so many pockets across the company, not just in corporate social responsibility. You have people who are leading that purpose for us.
Carol Cone:
You really dive into it. But you lead IBM's volunteering program and you say you want to transform the altruism of employees into reality for communities and the planet for the good of humanity. So it's baked into your work. So can you talk a little bit about why your volunteerism, how does it work, how many hours?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
So, we actually have an aspirational goal at IBM to log 4 million volunteer hours by 2025, and we are well on our way to that goal. But really, volunteerism is at the epicenter of the work that we do at IBM. You have volunteers who are leveraging our programming to increase their own skillsets. So we have people who understand AI, they want to work with our nonprofit partners through our Sustainability Accelerator, for example, and be able to provide that expertise to those nonprofits in the communities. But in the process, not just having an impact in the community, but also increasing their own skillsets around AI.
Then you have those who are just passionate about supporting community, whether it's through mentorship, whether it's through spending time in person with nonprofits through our corporate Service Corps program, whether it is through our virtual programs. We have an initiative called our cyber security program where IBMers actually spend time with school systems to make sure they understand cyber threats for their students, for their teachers. And they spend weeks out of the year working with those school systems.
Carol Cone:
You're probably turning them away. I mean, it's really incredible. And to our listeners, you can see Justina is so excited about what she does.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I love creating. I'm an engineer at heart, so I love creating new programs. I love creating new initiatives. I love bringing technology to be at the center of what we do. So it gets me excited to be able to create as well, and we have the great opportunity to do that in CSR.
Carol Cone:
Engineers are very creative.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
Okay. So towards that end, I know you are just so excited about your 30 million by 2030 goal.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
And SkillsBuild.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes.
Carol Cone:
It's a marvelous, marvelous initiative. So please share with our listeners what are the elements, why is it working so well? Why does it excite you?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
So SkillsBuild really enables us to provide access to free courses, free credentials in over, I think, 10 languages that we could launch globally and really make a difference in people's lives. I remember just I think late last year, in November, I had traveled to India and I met these beneficiaries who accessed the program, who were able to get mentors, who were able to get the training that they needed and the credentials. They were actually able to move into higher paying jobs.
And when you really think about marginalized, underserved, low income populations, a tech job that pays really well doesn't just impact them. They impact that person's entire family. So when you hear stories like that and you know you're making a difference, I mean, that's really what excites me.
So SkillsBuild is globally available. Anyone can access it. But we form partnerships with premier strategic nonprofits and governments to be able to bring that free training to those populations that have been underrepresented in the workplace, that are low income, marginalized populations. And we make sure they have not just access to the platform, but we provide the mentorship, we provide other supports that they need, and we also help them connect to job opportunities.
Carol Cone:
And you talk about specific groups, you talk about veterans, you talk about women, you talk about neurodiverse individuals.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
We have so many different examples of organizations that we've partnered with that are providing the access to the training and making sure, again, that these populations have opportunities at real higher paying jobs.
Carol Cone:
And you're calling these new collar jobs?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes, new collar jobs, and they're not blue collar, they're not white collar. These are jobs that have been proven where people are successful, even if they don't have a four-year degree. They've been able to come in with credentials, with some experience, and they've been proven to be successful at those jobs.
Carol Cone:
And if you look at recent New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the stories are, is there value in a college education? So you are ahead of the curve and you're helping these individuals to get digital credentials and certificates. Can you talk about the power of those?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Exactly. I think around 50% of the jobs we post do not require a four-year degree. And around 15 to 20% of the people we hire do not have a four-year degree. And it's not against the people who have a four-year degree. Let's be clear, a four-year degree is actually worth pursuing. The higher level order of skills that are needed through a four-year degree has a place absolutely in the workplace, and there are lots of jobs that require that four-year degree.
What we are trying to do is reach those who do not have the opportunity at a four-year degree, whether it's because of cost, whether it's because of other responsibilities that they have. We want to make sure that we are giving them access to the same types of job opportunities, and credentials allow them to do that.
So they can spend, for example, four to six weeks or three months accessing learning pathways, getting the right credentials, building their resume, and that could actually help them obtain an entry level position that is high paying in the tech field. And that's what we focus on doing.
Carol Cone:
Fantastic. So now let's go to something you're even more excited about or equally as excited, and that's the IBM Sustainability Accelerator. So can you explain what it is, the focus of it? You just awarded I think six really impressive grants in critical environmental issues. So please explain the accelerator.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
The IBM Sustainability Accelerator is a pro bono social impact program that uses IBM's technologies such as hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence in partnership with nonprofit organizations and governments to really iterate on solutions that can help vulnerable communities. And actually, late last year, right before COP28, we announced four, I think five new partnerships that support the water management cohort of the IBM Sustainability Accelerator.
We usually bring on five partners at a time. Every partner gets around $2 million of in-kind and cash support from IBM. So that includes the access to our platforms, access to expertise, and in some cases a cash grant to support capacity building for that nonprofit organization.
We first started with a focus on sustainable agriculture almost two years ago. After sustainable agriculture, we launched a clean energy cohort. And then as you just mentioned, we launched our water management cohort late last year. And then we're going to implement a request for proposal in late February for our next cohort, and that's going to be focused on resilient cities.
Carol Cone:
Wonderful. Oh, that's really, really great. And just for our listeners, some of the grants dealt with forecasting water conditions in the Middle East and North Africa. You had democratizing access to water is another. Model rainfall with the University of Illinois, that's an interesting one. You did a WASH program in Brazil and water quality analysis in West Australia. So is it a competitive grants program or do you identify the recipients?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
No, actually it is competitive. So we issue the request for proposal. We get a significant number of applications. And then across the company and even with external organizations, we come together to choose which of the projects that should be a part of the accelerator. So for example, for water management, we actually worked with a very well-known organization called Water.org. They brought their expertise in with us to help us choose the best five projects. And I love that you talked about them. The one that I really, really love, I mean all of them are great, but-
Carol Cone:
All your children are equal. You love all your children.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes, all my children are equal. But the one I'm really excited about is actually in the Appalachian Mountains. And that's where we're actually going to work on how do we make sure that we can forecast flash flooding and other big environmental threats because sometimes that can wipe out an entire small village or community. And then you have the risk, you could lose lives if the community does not know that these weather threats are coming towards them. So forecasting that is going to be a huge win in the Appalachian Region, and I'm excited to see what we can do there.
But as you mentioned, there are so many other projects that's great, whether it's with the Aboriginal community in Australia and in other areas. And that tells you we are very, very focused on vulnerable communities, those communities that we do not want to leave behind, especially because of climate change and environmental threats.
Carol Cone:
Is there volunteerism as part of that?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Absolutely. This is one area where we do have a long list of volunteers who want to engage and participate, one that actually is extremely interesting. So last year, I traveled to Japan and one of our clean energy projects is on Miyako-jima Island. Miyako-jima Island has had the threat of typhoons regularly.
And what happens is they don't know it's coming. A typhoon hits a whole area, a community. They lose crop. They lose electricity. They're now struggling to really make sure that they have electricity and make sure that they're not losing money because of their crop yield. And what we did is we're working with the government of Miyako-jima Island to make sure that they have access to our forecasting tools to support the community, to implement a grid system there.
Let me tell you how this ties into volunteerism. So when I traveled to Japan, I met with the team that is working with that community. One of the young men grew up on the island. He grew up on Miyako-jima Island. When he went to college, he left the island. His family is still there, and he's working on this project. He has gathered all of the expertise and all of the people that can help actually his family.
So when we traveled there together, we went to eat at a restaurant and his sister is at the restaurant with us and family. This is where there's such a nice connection with IBMers in helping the community. In this case, there was a direct connection with the community that we are supporting with our IBM volunteer.
Carol Cone:
It just works so well to IBM being a social purpose company because there's no barrier. There's no line between the business and social impact and solving big problems and bringing your incredibly talented workforce to do this kind of good. But it's got a personal impact, an economic impact, it's beautiful.
And actually, I have to give you some kudos that the Sustainability Accelerator was called, quote, "a blueprint for corporate responsibility." But I don't know who ... Who gave you that wonderful accolade? And then how do you feel about that?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I don't recall who gave us that accolade, but even one better. Late last year, we won the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Best Global Sustainability Program.
Carol Cone:
Oh, that's huge. Congrats.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I was so proud of that, because number one, the competition was so stiff. These were all big global companies. Everyone is invested in this space. I was very proud that this program that we've put our heart and soul in, that you have IBMers engaged with, that you have leaders who have given us free access to experts and platforms and solutions where we work so closely with other IBMers to make it a reality. I was really proud of that for me and my team and all of IBM. So that was one of the latest accolades that we received.
But I would say when you think about social responsibility now, aligning with the strategy of your business, leveraging the expertise and the technology and other resources you have in the business, when all of that comes together and you could actually measure the outcomes, you can measure the impact, that to me is the blueprint of social purpose and corporate social responsibility today.
Carol Cone:
Beautiful. You brought up measurement, and I would love to know ... How do you measure the impact of your initiatives?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
We work with our nonprofits to be able to do that. So I'll give you a couple examples. For example, in SkillsBuild, we're able to measure how many people come on the platform, how many people complete the learning pathways, how many people are able to get a credential. So we have all of those stats and that we can report in our annual ESG report, our IBM Impact Report.
Same with our Sustainability Accelerator. We're able to work with our partners to see how many people have we impacted through our work, and I'll give you an example. With Plan21 Foundation in Latin America, in Costa Rica, we implemented a program with them where we provided insights to weather data that helped them with increasing the yield of their crop.
Carol Cone:
Oh, that's fantastic. And I know that you're giving very specific examples of ... You say in your reports that you have uncompromising ethics and transparency in your operations and environmental footprint, and you aren't kidding. So that's great.
I want to ask you something that I have been asking a lot of my colleagues right now since AI was the talk of Davos. And it's like, okay, is it good, is it bad and such? I'm curious about your vision, just your point of view. It doesn't have to be IBM, it's yours, Justina. What is the future of AI for social impact?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
So I've been thinking about this. I tend to be a glass half full person. So I'll tell you from what I think is very positive. When we look at AI, even from a sustainability perspective, and I'll start there, I think there's a lot that AI can help us to do around analyzing data and helping us figure out where we need to focus our efforts, how we can help certain communities. Geospatial data already allows us to really focus in on some of the biggest environmental threats and issues that we have, and we can use AI to solve some of those biggest issues.
I think when you look at it from a skills perspective, you can use AI to support some of the areas where learners, for example, can learn prompt engineering, and that is actually a real thing.
So I think there are areas where AI can help do that. And even on some platforms, AI can better understand what you need and help connect you to the right jobs, help connect you to the right learning pathways, etc. So I do believe that it will actually help raise the skillset and the opportunity for many of the communities that we work with.
I do think on the other side, just as in any technology that accelerates quickly, you have to be very careful that you do not leave those underserved communities behind. I remember the launch of the Internet, the launch of broadband. I was a huge part of that working in telecommunications and we were very focused on how do we eliminate that digital divide? How do we make sure those communities understand how to use the Internet for their own benefit, for their own job opportunity, for learning?
I think it's the same thing here. We have to make sure we are reducing biases and making sure that we make the technology available for all. And that is what I think we're driving across IBM, but I think everybody has to focus on that.
Carol Cone:
And you have an actual physical AI ethics board?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Yes, I'm a part of it.
Carol Cone:
Oh, great. I don't think our listeners know that. I read that new technologies are coming through that you want the board to review them. Is that correct?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
That is correct. We actually had a board meeting earlier today. So at least once a month we meet. We look at new test cases. We look at new technologies. We look at technologies that clients may want to purchase from us. And we do go as far as to understand how are they going to use it and we make decisions, should we sell that technology, making sure that we understand is it going to be used for good? Is it going to be used in a negative way? And we make those tough decisions. So yes, we do have an AI ethics board that looks at all of these different issues and we vote and we make decisions. That's it.
Carol Cone:
I love that. I'm sorry we're getting to the bottom of this conversation because it's been so rich. I would love to take your wisdom, which is like, I bet, oh my God, there's got to be thousands that are going to listen to this and go, "I want her job." So any suggestions that you have to early stage professionals that want to truly have a career in social impact?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
Number one, in whatever role they have, they could make an impact. When you really think about true corporate social responsibility, when you've really accomplished it in the best way possible, it is embedded in everything that you do. So whether you're in marketing, whether you're creating products and solutions, whether you're working with clients or partners, you should be considering social impact. What does this mean for society? What does this mean for the community?
Now separately, if they want an actual job in corporate social responsibility or in ESG, I would say they need to make sure they have some deep expertise in the areas of importance, for example, sustainability is huge, right? In some companies, health is a big focus. Others it's education, specifically STEM education or tech education. So I do hire a lot of people that have deep expertise in sustainability and education.
Then the ability to work with partners and clients to form partnerships, to create solutions, to integrate technology. All of that you could say is product management, project management, creating products. So having a background in creating, or even in a STEM field can be very useful in this space.
And then the other area I would say is in data analytics. ESG is becoming more let's look at the data and let's make decisions based on the data. How do we report this data? How do we make sure that we can abide with the impending regulations, right? Analyzing the data, understanding what to report, understanding how to integrate it across the company more. Those are all skillsets that are needed.
Carol Cone:
And so as I say to all my colleagues, be a sponge. You've got to be a sponge. You've got to be learning constantly. So this has been an amazing conversation and I love it.
So in closing, what are two or three recommendations you have for your peers who are advanced in their social impact, sustainability roles, but they want to continue to have ... Maybe they don't have the top job, but they want to get there.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I think there are a couple of things I would recommend. First of all, like I mentioned, tech and AI are at the center of all of this work. So understanding what role they play in the programs or initiatives that they have. It's going to have a bigger part of everyone's lives. And I think it's important to understand those technologies and what it means and how it's going to impact people and how it's going to permeate across society. So that's the first recommendation I would have.
The second one is climate change is pushing another social impact agenda on many fronts. And I think a lot of my peers, especially those who are leading sustainability and ESG work, need to understand what that means and how do you accelerate progress? Because we're not meeting the goals right now around climate change as a society globally, and this is something that needs to progress quickly and needs to be accelerated.
Carol Cone:
Those are two big ones, really, really big. I always like to give the last word to my guests. We have gone all over. We understand your excitement, your growth, amazing initiatives from IBM. What would you like to just leave our listeners with?
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I love when I look back on my journey because it has not been a straight path. It's had twists and turns and I've gone a bit backwards to go forwards. And I think that everybody needs to just understand that not everyone's journey is the same and what is the right path that people need to be on. And I stress that because I think comparing one person's career trajectory and path to another is not the right thing to do. Everybody needs to understand what journey that they are on as an individual. So that's the first thing.
The second thing is everyone can have a social impact where they are. I think that's important because sometimes people see, oh wow, corporate social responsibility, I want to be a part of that. But in reality, everyone should look at the work that they're doing and figure out how can I have the biggest impact in the community, in society, in what I'm doing today? And that's where we'll actually make a difference.
Carol Cone:
Great. That's wonderful. Well, Justina, I am just going to keep watching and seeing how your 30 million by 2030 is progressing. I'm going to keep looking for the next round of the accelerator grants in resilience because resilience is absolutely key. And you are just such a bright light, dare I say, in the entire field of social impact. And I know all our listeners are going to be signing up to follow you if they haven't done it already. And we'd love to, in a way, our special guests, we always like to invite you back. So I hope you'll come back and we'll talk about your progress.
Justina Nixon-Saintil:
I am happy to come back anytime. Thank you so much for such a great conversation.
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people and I'd love to thank them, Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney at Carol Cone ON PURPOSE, Pete Wright and Andy Nelson, our crack production team at TruStory FM, and you, our listener. Please rate and rank us because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.
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