UW Tacoma alumnus to head corporate social responsibility center

The University of Washington Tacoma has named Master of Business Administration alumnus Joseph Lawless as the first executive director of the Milgard School of Business' Center for Corporate Leadership & Social Responsibility.

"We are delighted that a national search yielded one of our alumni as the top candidate to lead this program," said Shahrokh Saudagaran, dean of the Milgard School of Business. "Joe Lawless' experience in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors gives him a solid understanding of how business and community work together. I am confident that he will help build this center into a leading resource on corporate social responsibility for our region and beyond."

Funded as part of a 2003 pledge from Gary E. Milgard, James A. Milgard and the Gary E. Milgard Family Foundation, The Center for Corporate Leadership & Social Responsibility was established to help promote socially responsible business practices in the South Sound. Under Lawless' leadership, the center will help develop programs to enhance social responsibility in local businesses, incorporate corporate social responsibility into the university's curriculum, facilitate research into socially responsible business practices and provide a forum for community discussion on the topic.

"The center will help to explore the intersection between leadership and social responsibility," Lawless said. "We want to help local business leaders understand what social responsibility means and how they can put it to work for the community and their businesses."

In today's corporate landscape, Lawless said, there are many definitions of social responsibility. Many businesses consider the "triple bottom line" - profits, people and planet - when making important decisions. In addition to working with large organizations, he hopes to help local small-business owners, who make up a significant percentage of Tacoma's business community, learn to apply social responsibility in a practical way.

Lawless, who graduated from UW Tacoma with an MBA in June, brings nearly 20 years of experience in fundraising and community relations to this position. He was previously the executive director of the Mary Bridge Children's Foundation and director of corporate partnerships for Tacoma Goodwill Industries.

For information about the Center for Corporate Leadership and Social Responsibility, contact Lawless at (253) 692-5685, or in room 410 of the Dougan Building on the UW Tacoma campus.