Dow develops leaders while addressing world challenges

Dow's Leadership in Action programme is kicked off this morning

In 2017, 43 employees from across the globe are collaborating with six strategic non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and universities in Hanoi and Haiphong to address issues related to water quality and access, environmental cleanup, education, and career readiness.

This year’s projects also include a special partnership with Ocean Conservancy to research and recommend waste solutions for non-biodegradable rural waste and to raise awareness of opportunities for the improvement of rural waste management issues globally.

As part of this year’s programme, Dow LIA, Ocean Conservancy, and Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) are teaming up on International Coastal Cleanup Day to help clean Vietnam’s coastlines.

Additionally, Dow’s Packaging and Specialty Plastics business remains a key collaborator in continuing the company’s commitment to combat marine plastic through its 30-year partnership with Ocean Conservancy, identifying main sources of marine debris and donating resources for the cause, such as plastic trash bags made from 100 per cent recycled barrier film scrap and Dow RETAIN™ modifiers that are being used to clean up beaches during the International Coastal Cleanup.

“At Dow we know that we do well when we do good. We pursue game-changing collaboration opportunities to set a higher bar for social and environmental progress. We aim to advance the well-being of humanity by helping lead the transition to a sustainable planet and society,” said Andrew Liveris, executive chairman of DowDuPont. “LIA is a key example of how we use our top talent, our skills, our expertise, and our science as the bridge between ideas to application and possibility to progress.”

Dow's employees spend one week in Vietnam after a long preparation of several local solutions

This year’s selected projects directly align with local needs defined through close partnership with various public sector groups. After five months of virtual consulting, employees will spend one week in the country as the pinnacle of their collaboration on the following local solutions:

- Reducing environmental engineering programme and industry gaps to support graduates to easily get jobs in both local and domestic companies without further training courses.

- Revising university curricula and developing new subjects related to green growth and sustainable development.

- Restoring and protecting the ecosystem of West Lake aided by the development of a comprehensive baseline database for West Lake’s depth, water quality, ecosystem health, and water pollution sources.

- Encouraging the greater participation of local people in the citizen science model in water resources monitoring, ultimately receiving greater and more accurate data to better inform the local government and future policy as well as to better address pollution and flood issues, along with disaster preparation.

- Creating sustainable solutions for rural waste reduction in partnership with Ocean Conservancy.

- Enhancing university training capacity on soft skills in an effort to increase student career readiness through the development of short courses on leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem solving skills that boost students’ confidence and English skills.

“Dow has been contributing to Vietnam’s industrial growth by bringing a wide range of advanced products to various manufacturing industries over the last 22 years. The LIA programme further affirms our long-term commitment to the country’s sustainable development. The six projects will address pressing challenges in the country and contribute to the betterment of the Vietnamese community,” said Sasama Tomoyuki, general director of Dow Vietnam.

To date, LIA has engaged 202 employees who have worked with 35 NGOs to benefit communities in the Philippines, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. For Dow, the benefits of these projects intersect its global citizenship, sustainability, business, and employee development efforts.

“An essential part of Dow’s leadership development philosophy is action learning. The LIA programme continues to be one of our flagship programmes, and has proven to help transform the way we develop superior leaders by introducing them to real world challenges, giving them learning experiences that test their ability to lead courageously, collaborate effectively, and deliver innovative solutions that generate value,” said Johanna Soderstrom, Dow senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

Dow has been present in Vietnam since 1995. From that year forward, Dow has been a partner in Vietnam’s progress and development and has always been committed to contributing to Vietnam’s long-term industrial growth to add value to most of the country’s advanced manufacturing industries that continue to creating jobs and revenue for the local economy.

Currently, Dow products are essential inputs to many downstream and supporting industries in Vietnam and have been providing products and solutions to Vietnamese manufacturers who are involved in electronics, appliances, drinking water and waste water treatment, home and personal care, communications, alternative energy, health, and nutrition businesses, as well as in transportation and construction.

Snapshot of Dow's capacity building course at the University of Transport Technology

The company’s corporate citizenship activities are an integral part of Dow’s business operations in Vietnam. Dow’s signature citizenship projects in Vietnam include donating more than 30 water purification devices to schools and hospitals in Vietnam to provide safe drinking water to thousands of pupils, patients, and people in need; donating an emergency water purification mobile unit to the Vietnam Red Cross; empowering more than 2,500 small- and medium-sized enterprises nationwide with knowledge in cleaner production and waste management; as well as promoting the circular economy concept for sustainability and environment protection for Vietnamese enterprises.

Significantly, in 2017, for the first time, Dow has launched the hands-on STEM education programme for chemistry students to develop a future chemical industry workforce in collaboration with Chemical Society of Vietnam.

Accordingly, Dow organised seven field trips for more than 400 of the country’s best chemistry students from all over Vietnam to arouse their passion for an occupation in chemistry and offering them an opportunity to access the Vietnamese chemical industry.

In addition, a workshop on human resources development was also organised with the participation of chemistry lecturers, chemical manufacturers, and managers to share experience on industry workforce training, green chemistry nurturing, as well as the sustainable development of the Vietnamese chemical industry.