“I always knew I wanted to help people at every opportunity,” said Isabel Ashley (19). “I would give presentations to my class in elementary school about global warming and recycling and saving the polar bears.”
The international development graduate didn’t know it at the time, but her passion would lead to a career at Amazon as a communications manager in social responsibility.
Social responsibility, or corporate social responsibility (CSR) as it is also referred to in the business world, is the strategic combination of corporation and care. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) defines CSR as “a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders.”
“Corporate responsibility as a term I was clearly unfamiliar with when I was a kid, but those passions were being stirred up, and I was excited to put them into practice when I graduated high school,” said Ashley who originally applied and was accepted to a large public university to pursue an undergraduate degree in international business.
During Ashley’s first few months in the program, she found she was learning a lot about how to make money and the steps to becoming a successful CEO. The merits behind business for profit and the glamor of travel and wealth were often being touted over concern for the people working at the business or in the community.
“I wasn’t feeling the spark that I had felt as a kid, but I thought I should make it work because it was affordable,” said Ashley. “But most of the time it felt like a class on how to make money in Singapore and get rich.”
Corporate social responsibility: A management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders.
The Bay Area native recalls growing up feeling pressure to be high achieving and live the life of a successful businesswoman. She thought that her choice of school and major would help her fall in step with that goal. But after a while in the program she decided rather than just pursuing success, she wanted to marry success with her internal passion for helping people and making a bigger impact on the world. Coincidentally, she came to these conclusions right before she took a tour of PLNU’s campus.
“A friend of mine was looking at colleges in the area, and she wanted someone to go on a tour with her,” said Ashley. “I had never heard of Point Loma at the time, so I went with her and picked up a pamphlet. I saw the majors offered and noticed things like sustainability, nonprofit management, and I thought, “This is for me; I am so ready for this.’”
Within a year of taking her PLNU campus tour, Ashley was walking Caf Lane and taking classes toward a degree in international development with a minor in Spanish.
“I learned a lot while I was at Point Loma and found some lasting friendships.” said Ashely. “My major advisor, Robert Gailey, was such an advocate [for students] and so empathetic and genuine and caring. He was always willing to roll up his sleeves to help me.”
Classes like “Sustainability in Action” and “Nonprofit Management” came alongside classes in economic development, marketing, and finance to create an educational experience Ashley was excited to put into practice. In 2018, she had the opportunity to take a year abroad studying in Geneva, Switzerland, and Athens, Greece, to learn about sustainable investing, corporate responsibility, and the refugee crisis.
“[Study abroad] really helped me crystallize what I was interested in. It taught me about social impact and how corporations play a role in that.”
“It was a very good use of my time,” said Ashley. “It wasn’t like taking art history in Barcelona with friends. It was definitely work, but it really helped me crystallize what I was interested in. It taught me about social impact and how corporations play a role in that.”
After her time abroad and as she was approaching graduation, Ashley began the job search for a position where she could leverage her passions and skills. Initially her search started with companies like World Bank Group and other large nonprofits. She soon found, however, that she was attracted to the corporate sustainability world for the unique, socially conscious business practices it offered.
“There’s so much more money behind the corporate space when it comes to social responsibility,” said Ashley. “I started to learn about the kinds of third-party certifications related to social and environmental performance a corporation can earn and realized I wanted to work for a company with those kinds of qualifications.”
So, she applied to around 50 positions. She heard back from two. One was a corporate Bay Area job – nice office, good perks, plenty of compensation. The traditional path. The other was a partially compensated role working in purpose-driven marketing in Encinitas. Ashley accepted a position with the latter.
“There’s never one path forward,” said Ashley, recounting the moment she made her decision to stay in San Diego despite many of her friends and professors coaching her to take the Bay Area role. “You can be a real co-creator in your own destiny.”
Her role in Encinitas eventually turned full time. Ashley moved on from there to other positions with similar responsibilities at bigger companies until she found herself working 15-hour days, somehow living the Silicon Valley-esque pace of life she had never wanted.
“I was super burnt out,” said Ashley, who recalls sitting down one evening after work, around 10 p.m., deciding to make a change.
“I went on TikTok to see how to make my resumes and cover letters stand out,” said Ashley. “I sent them out, and Amazon was the only one to respond. I was so motivated for that interview that I studied for it like it was all I had.”
The interview process took a whole month, but Ashley was finally rewarded with the role in July 2022. Her job now includes a healthy work-life balance, great coworkers, and plenty of room to grow.
“I think a lot of people would be skeptical of Amazon thinking they’re such a big employer and you might get lost,” said Ashley. “That’s somewhat true, but at bigger companies you have your smaller team, and your team is almost like a mini company, so you still get that smaller culture feel.”
“Loma helped solidify the belief for me that you can be successful but still care for people and hold your values and faith and make an impact.”
And now Ashley spends her time putting together internal communications supporting Amazon’s corporate and social responsibility arm.
Ultimately, her team’s role is concerned with a longer term goal than quick sustainability trends. For instance, a large company, like Amazon, may have data centers in Arizona. One of their major operational costs in a location like this is paying for air conditioning to keep those data centers cool. If the summers are getting hotter, the company has to pay more to keep those same data centers at their proper temperature, costing the company more. But if this company invests in renewable energy to run their data centers, it can not only lower the costs of their operations for that site, it also decreases their environmental footprint.
“I get to be a part of a team that helps the company pursue its sustainability and supply chain commitments,” said Ashley.
“There are these moments in my role where I realize my responsibility; my team works to actually positively impact people’s livelihoods,” said Ashley. “I’m surrounded by talented people who all realize that the opportunity for impact here is huge.”
Ashley and others like her working in the corporate sustainability and responsibility space enjoy a unique position poised between traditional corporate values and more modern employee and community care. For Ashley it feels like the most natural place to be.
“Loma helped solidify the belief for me that you can be successful but still care for people and hold your values and faith and make an impact.”
