Speech Excerpts:

Thank you all for being with us and congratulations to all of the Pro Bono Award winners.

These are confusing days for American companies. Just last summer a Roper poll showed that 72 percent felt that wrongdoing was widespread in American business. Only 2 percent checked the box that said CEOs were “very trustworthy.” And although people might not trust us they still expect a lot from us. A 2005 survey by Boston’s Center for Corporate Responsibility showed that the public expects us to: restore the environment, protect human rights, improve education, and reduce poverty. So in these times of low trust, high expectations, we have to answer a couple of important questions.

Do we care what the world thinks of us or should we go with economist Milton Friedman? He said that our only responsibility is to obey the law, make money for our shareholders and let them decide if they want to use it to make a better world. But if we do care what the world thinks of us, can we really make a difference? So many of you corporate soldiers here so early this morning say: yes, we do care. And the work we’re honoring today says: yes, we can make a difference.

At Time Warner we have a huge philanthropic and volunteer effort and we’re proud of it. Worldwide, we donate substantial money each year to non-profits and various causes but it’s the elbow grease we contribute that’s most impressive. Our employees donate more than 250,000 volunteer hours a year. Our Time to Read program helps 27,000 kids and adult learners each year. And we’re a big supporter of public education.

We thought about where the skills and experience of the people that make up a company like Time Warner could best come together with the needs of non-profits. And the answer we came up with - infrastructure. Taproot exists to help non-profits develop infrastructure in areas like marketing, people, IT and communications. They engage business professionals to make it happen and they break down the barriers between business and non-profit sectors. We set up a Taproot office at Time Warner headquarters in a pilot program called the Time Warner Pro Bono Consulting Practice. It’s been a lot of work for a lot of people. We’ve already tackled two projects.

It’s all about being the kind of company that can attract great people, develop them and energize them. You aren’t going to get the best people unless you make them proud. Our Taproot pro-bono projects give our people experiences they might not otherwise have and they put them together with people they might not otherwise meet.

One of our hottest and newest magazines, Real Simple, ran an Editor’s Note last year that reminded me why we are here supporting Taproot. It was a Rabbi’s advice at a wedding ceremony to a new bride and groom:
    If you want to be happy for an hour take a nap, said the Rabbi.
    If you want to be happy for a day go fishing.
    If you want to be happy for a week go on a honeymoon.
    If you want to be happy for a year inherit a fortune.
    If you want to be happy for a life time help other people.

Thank you.