University Citizenship
“In a democratic society we must live cooperatively, and serve the community in which we live, to the best of our ability. For our own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Chair:
National Conference, “Productivity and Quality of Working Life in the 80s” (1981).
Admissions Committee, Department of Organizational Behavior (1976-78, 1983-85).
School of Management Communications Committee (1978-79).
International Conference: “Ethics and Business in the Pacific Rim” (1988).
National Conference: “Organizing for the 90s” (1990).
Department of Organizational Behavior Chair (1989-92).
Co-Director, International Executive Study/Travel Tour to Asia (1991).
Organizational Behavior Department, New Faculty Search Committee (1993-95, 2008-2010).
Executive Education Committee, OB Department (1993-95).
Latin American Business Strategies Conference (1995).
Graduate Studies in International Development (1997-98).
Co-chair: BYU Annual Global Microenterprise Conference (1998-2011).
Co-chair: Committee to Alleviate Family Poverty Through Microcredit (1998-2002).
International Development Network (1998-2003).
Member:
BYU Annual Microenterprise Conference (2003-2004).
Reviewer, Journal for International and Area Studies (1994-99).
MSM Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (1996).
Executive Masters of Organizational Behavior Committee (1995-96).
Marriott School, Faculty Recognition and Development Committee (1993-96, 2002-2003).
University Task Force on Creating New MA/MOB Joint Masters Degree (1993-94).
Executive MBA Curriculum Committee (1992-94).
Executive MBA Policy Committee (1992-2002).
Marriott School of Management Executive Committee (1989-92).
MBA Executive Committee (1989-90).
International Development Committee, Kennedy Center for International Studies (1988-90, 1997 2002).
Marriott School Ethics Committee (1985-86, 1987-89, 1998-99).
International Management Committee (1985-86, 1987-90).
OB Department Steering Committee (1977-79, 1985-86, 1988-2002).
Marriott School Entrepreneurship Committee (1985-88).
Human Resource Management Committee (1984).
School of Management Publications Committee (1983-84).
Research and Professional Development Committee (1981-83).
New Library Planning Committee (1981-83).
Marriott School Faculty Tenure and Promotion (1979-81, 2002-2005).
Executive Committee, Latin American Studies Program (1979-80).
University Task Force on Women’s Concerns (1977-78).
MBA Executive Committee (1977-78, 1989-91).
Faculty Advisory Board Center for Economic Self-Reliance (2003-2005).
MBA Admissions Committee (2005).
Faculty Advisor to Student Clubs:
Independent Voters, Student Organization–Faculty Advisor (1986).
Ouelessebougou-Utah Alliance Student Club (1997-99)
Grameen Support Group, BYU Chapter (1997-2000).
Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity, BYU (1999-2002).
FINCA Chapter, BYU (2004-2005).
BYU Microfinance Club (2008-2013, 2018-2020)
Practicum:
Beginning in 1981-82, I established a program on Industrial Democracy within the School of Management, which led to the creation of several new courses, internships for graduate students from the MBA and OB departments, joint faculty-student research, writing of papers and conference presentations. With other faculty from sociology, manufacturing, engineering, and OB, we redesigned the original system and launched a five-year effort, Program on Economic Innovation and Revitalization (PEIR) beginning in 1987. It combined theory in business management and manufacturing with practical, hands-on leadership and entrepreneurial experience. Both graduates and undergraduates participated in this innovative practicum for up to two years, learning concepts and practicing them through an on-campus enterprise we established, Equitech (through 1993).
Since 1996 I have launched a number of stewardship initiatives to collaborate with students, scholars, and practitioners around the globe designing programs to counter poverty, especially in developing nations or those of Eastern Europe in transition. We have jointly designed project proposals for funds, scholarships for young people, graduate student awards and I have supervised these social entrepreneurs as they have started new NGOs in Russia, Thailand, and Bulgaria; evaluated programs like that of FINCA in El Salvador and Mentores Empresariales in Guatemala; served as interns at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and/or Grameen Foundation, USA; developed new programs in Jordan, Western Samoa, Zimbabwe, Fiji, and high in the Andes of Peru, as well as other projects in Nigeria, and Dominican Republic. More recent action research teams have been creating sustainable programs in Kenya, Brazil, the Goshute Tribe, and Navajo Nation, as well as domestic efforts in Utah and Florida. The major thrusts from 1998 are in Peru, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, and Sichuan, China. During 2002, I offered pro bono consulting to Reach the Children, a New York-based NGO working in 7 countries; Paramita Group (Thailand); Engage Now (Ethiopia); HART (Ghana); NAME (Navajo Mentoring and Education), Empowering Nations NGO (Somaliland and Brazil). In 2005 I launched Wave of Hope (Empowering Nations NGO), a project to rebuild the lives of the Asian tsunami survivors in Thailand after 230,000 people died in the countries around the Indian Ocean. In 2010, a massive earthquake wreaked havoc with the Carribean island nation of Haiti. My social entrepreneurship class came together the next day and we decided to launch a new NGO, Sustain Haiti, that has now been operational for 10 years providing clean water systems for the refugee camps, microfinance loans, agriculture, square-foot gardening, rebuilding orphanages and schools, and teaching business classes and English. The most recent start-up NGO is Arise Armenia, which emphasizes women’s empowerment, microfinance, healthcare, and orphanage support in the poorest country of Europe.
“You may remember that song, “We Are the World,” by my friend, Sir Bob Geldof, who issued a challenge to feed the world. It was a great moment, and it utterly changed my life…. That summer, my wife, Allie, and myself went to Ethiopia. We lived (there) for a month working at an orphanage…. We found Africa to be a magical place – big skies, big hearts, big shining continent, beautiful royal people. Anybody who ever gave anything to Africa got a lot more back…. And, in that moment, I started this journey. In that moment, I became the worst thing of all. I became a rock star with a cause . Except this isn’t a cause, is it?
Six and a half thousand Africans dying every single day from AIDS, a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can get in any pharmacy. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. Eleven million AIDS orphans in Africa, 20 million by the end of the decade. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. Today, every day, 9,000 more Africans will catch HIV because of stigmatization and lack of education. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. So what we’re talking about here is human rights – the right to live like a human. The right to live period. What we’re facing in Africa is an unprecedented threat to human dignity and equality.
The next thing I’d like to be clear about is what this problem is and what this problem isn’t, because this is not all about charity. This is about justice. Really, this is not about charity. This is about justice. That’s right. And that’s too bad, because we’re very good at charity. Americans, like Irish people, are good at it. Even the poorest neighborhoods give more than they can afford. We like to give, and we give a lot. Look at the response to the tsunami. It’s inspiring.
But justice is a tougher standard than charity. You see, Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice. It makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties. It doubts our concern. It questions our commitment. Because there’s no way we can look at what’s happening in Africa and, if we’re honest, conclude that it would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else.
—Bono