Social Impact Leaders — Interview w/ Raymond M. Brown, Esq.
Raymond M. Brown has decades of experience as a highly respected civil and criminal litigator. He focuses his practice in white collar criminal defense, international human rights compliance, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation on behalf of individuals, corporations, and government entities.
He counsels foreign and domestic multinationals on a broad range of corporate risk management, governance, and transactional issues. He has been a leader in the development of the practice of law concerning the regulation and enforcement of business requirements for human rights compliance, both domestically and on the international stage.
A devoted advocate for human rights, Raymond was a student activist and an important participant in the 1968 occupation of Columbia University; he and other participants contributed to “A Time to Stir,” a collection of essays written by participants. A documentary film is also in production.
Social Impact — What meaning do you personally associate with this term?
Social impact describes the ways in which a business’s core activities as well as its direct outreach impact its customers, vendors and the communities connected with it geographically, economically and as a matter of conscience.
Social Responsibility — What is your best practice to integrate it into your daily life?
Become hyper conscious of the ways that your conduct impacts others. Learn unflinchingly about how your biases, implicit and explicit, affect those with whom you interact and take corrective action. Invite criticism from friends, allies, fellow workers or employees if you are in leadership or the C-suite.
Purchasing Power — What is it all about, and why is it real power?
Purchasing power is fundamental because it profoundly influences our fellow man and woman. Dependents, competitors, suppliers, customers and the world around us have to respect the conduct of those who inject cash into the community.
Conscious Living — Why is it important to live our life consciously? And how do our actions influence and affect each other, and therefore connect us?
The poet Rilke says “the only journey is the journey within.” Conscious living involves being mindful about how our actions touch the world around us.
Conscious Consumerism — Why, now more than ever, it is important to reflect on our buying habits, and research the brands we are consuming?
There is some evidence that younger consumers are more conscious about the social impact of spending on the world around us. Whether we are focused on our grandchildren, future employees or consumers our perspective on ethical practices, justice and preserving the planet when we make purchases will affect our legacies and our bottom lines.
Commercial — From your point of view, what are the commercial practices that are unhealthy to humanity?
Selling or manufacturing products or conducting business in a way that does not “respect human rights” and the future of our planet can make us “hostis, humanis generis” — the enemy of mankind.
The Future — What is your personal outlook on the future?
An abolitionist named Theodore Parker famously said just before the Civil War that the” arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” however, some of our humanitarian malpractice and our palpable neglect of our planetary home suggests that we may not have enough time to get to the end of the arc.
Change — What do you personally think needs to change — from a consumer perspective and within the corporate world?
We require a greater commitment to the norm that “business must respect human rights”. The largest corporations have gross revenue that exceeds the GDP of many nations. Local businesses invariably have sufficient clout to affect policies that impact the poor and the vulnerable in society.
Is there anything you would like to share that we have not asked you here?
There is a great need to see that “otherness” based on race, nationality, gender, lifestyle and disability do not cloud our judgment or obscure our sense of humanity as a value that must constantly outweigh greed and acquisition.
THANK YOU!
Learn more about Raymond M. Brown, Esq., here.
Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on Social Impact:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur practising conscious entrepreneurship. This is an interview series about social responsibility and the best practices in incorporating it into our daily lives.
Every day, we make an impact consciously and subconsciously. It is implemented through our actions.
A great example of this is the practice of our Purchasing Power where we can actually direct our impact by consciously deciding which brands and companies we nourish.
I interview change advocates about best practices for incorporating social consciousness into our daily lives, and practices in the business world that need to change for the benefit of social responsibility.
With this interview, we invite the reader to reflect their every day actions. We all have an impact, and if we are consciously aware of that, we can be empowered to start the change for a better future.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from each one of you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
