Celebrating EY Connect Day With 100 Volunteers

We recently were honored to work with 100 EY volunteers as a part of their EY Connect Day on April 28, 2023. We’ve been teaming with the EY organization since December 2022, and we’ve had so much fun putting our heads together to create programming that fits their needs, from client collaboration events to sessions focused specifically on the relationship between food insecurity and climate change.

For our latest corporate partner interview, I had the honor of sitting down with Kate Sando, Assistant Director of Americas Corporate Responsibility, Ernst & Young LLP. We talked about how the EY organization supports impact entrepreneurs and her unique perspective on corporate responsibility work as someone who started out on the business side.

If you're interested in learning more about volunteering with Lemontree, you can check out more info here. And, if you have suggestions for future guests, you can email me at Kasumi@lemontreefoods.org

Kasumi: Kate, thank you again for taking the time to chat today! Excited to jump into these questions. What is your role at the EY organization?

Kate: Hi Kasumi, thanks for having me today! In my role at the EY organization, I lead our Americas impact entrepreneurship work through EY Ripples. EY Ripples is our global corporate responsibility program that mobilizes people across the EY network to help solve the world’s most urgent social and environmental challenges. My main responsibility is to connect EY professionals with founders such as yourself to help scale your business and impact. We do this in several ways. One way is through workshops that cover common topics of interest for entrepreneurs, such as how to understand and engage your customer base. Another way is through a newer program called “Impact Hives,” which are designed to help entrepreneurs overcome a key challenge through an ideation session with EY professionals. This program has become really popular with our people, allowing them to think creatively and generate innovative ideas. In addition, I think the reason why EY people love engaging with impact entrepreneurs so much is because entrepreneurs like you give our people hope that there are solutions out there to the really pressing problems that our society is facing. It’s certainly my favorite part of the role. I remember connecting with you back at the Fast Forward Pitch Camp and you just blew me away! Your poise and passion for ending hunger left a lasting impression with me. I’m so glad we’ve been able to collaborate on volunteer programs.

Kasumi: I remember when we met at Fast Forward as well! So glad we got the opportunity to chat then. And I know that you didn’t start out in corporate responsibility – I’d love to hear a little bit more about how you got involved.

Kate: I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and admiration for entrepreneurs. I remember – my elementary school had a partnership with the local community college where I took entrepreneurship classes and learned to build a business. Then as I grew older, I developed a passion for philanthropy. I worked at a nonprofit during college, thinking I would enter the nonprofit world when I graduated. But I ultimately decided to work in a traditional business environment to gain professional skills and exposure to various industries. I joined the EY organization as a forensic technology consultant where I gained exposure to different clients and industries, which broadened my perspective on how the world and business work. After working for 10 or so years, you learn some things about yourself, and I learned that I’m most passionate about and skilled at creating a positive environment for those that I work with, my clients, and the world at large. I started exploring other career paths, conducting informational interviews with people in the social impact space both internal and external to the EY organization. This is when I learned about corporate responsibility (CR) – I had volunteered through firm initiatives before but never realized how much goes into setting the strategy and direction for an entire corporate responsibility program. I saw a career in CR as a perfect marriage between my business skills and my passion for philanthropy. But, in full transparency, it took a couple of tries to make it onto the team. CR roles are extremely competitive (I learned there were hundreds of people who applied to my role!). But it turned out to be a valuable exercise in resilience and believing in myself, and I think that shone through in my interview (I’m pretty sure a direct quote from my interview is “I can do this!”). And, fortunately, it worked out well because, here I am! This job is truly a dream come true, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be in this position. I just want to be transparent about my CR career journey in case anyone out there looking to transition into the CR space reads this. There oftentimes isn’t a direct path to get there, but don’t give up!

Kasumi: That’s awesome. You know, I love my job. I wake up every morning feeling motivated, but every time I ask this question, I get such a wonderful answer. Everybody has their own journey to corporate responsibility, but it’s always about following their passion. And–obviously, we have this in common, of wanting to make an impact and wanting to make a difference–so, every time I ask that question, working in corporate responsibility sounds more and more appealing!

Thank you for sharing your journey. You touched on some of the really great EY programs before, but I’d love to hear more about what makes CR at the EY organization special.

Kate: We have had EY Connect Days for as long as I can remember. EY Connect Days are our biggest call to action for all EY people to volunteer together on the same day every November. Seeing the pictures roll in each year of the 15,000+ people in the Americas volunteering together in their yellow T-shirts is truly moving. I also love our focus on skills-based volunteerism. We are really intentional about how to harness the use of the unique skill set of our 400,000+ global employees. Our team is truly special, too. Everyone has diverse backgrounds and skill sets, and we care deeply about what we do.

Kasumi: And you sort of touched on this, because you mentioned 2020 being a turning point, but I’m curious as to how the pandemic changed your work and your priorities.

Kate: We’ve shifted a lot of our programming to virtual “locations.” And virtual programming has actually been incredibly popular for both our people and entrepreneurs. It enhances our ability to reach more entrepreneurs and match them with the profile of EY professionals they need support from. You may need someone to help you think through product pricing, and we may not have someone available in your city. For example, you’re in New York and I’m in Texas – it would be hard for us to meet in person. But through virtual programming, we can more readily connect you with the people and resources you need.

Kasumi: Yes, it definitely opens up a lot more possibilities, especially if your focus is skills-based. The hardest part of most volunteering is just organizing the logistics of where and how you’ll meet.

Kate: Yes, exactly! Now we can make an impact no matter where we live and work.

Kasumi: Alright, last question: what are you looking forward to this year?

Kate: Last year, we started doing our EY Connect Days four times a year, which means more opportunities to volunteer with your team and get involved in the community. The first three EY Connect Days of the year align with each of the three EY Ripples focus areas – Supporting the Next Generation, Accelerating Environmental Sustainability and Working with Impact Entrepreneurs. So, the thing I am most looking forward to this year is the EY Connect Day focused on working with impact entrepreneurs – on August 18! It’s inspiring to see our people donating their skills and time to entrepreneurs, and it’s a joy to give a platform to impact entrepreneurs.

Kasumi: OK, I’ll mark my calendar! Kate, thank you so much. It’s really been great to have this time with you. Like I said, everybody has different reasons for getting into this work, so I love having the chance to connect on that deeper level.

Kate: I completely agree. Thank you for having me today and for all that you and The Lemontree do.

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ernst & Young LLP or other members of the global EY organization.