As a health and beauty company, Amway employees get to be brand ambassadors of wellness, something that was recognized recently when Amway was honored at Michigan’s Governor’s Fitness Awards with the Outstanding Healthy Workplace award.

Amway was one of four finalists selected in the category among many nominees throughout the state of Michigan. Nominees were judged on criteria that included wellness programs and resources, policies and benefits, measurements of success, leadership support, community involvement and accolades.

Spend some time on Amway and Nutrilite campuses and you’ll notice the commitment to wellness. Employees are encouraged to stay active and achieve their physical and nutritional best through the Optimal You health and wellness program. This program offers nearly 40 physical, nutritional and emotional wellbeing resources, including a financial incentive for maintaining good health.

It’s those qualities that the Governor’s Council recognized. And it’s one more way that we are committed to Optimal Health.

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Our Amway One by One Campaign for Children had quite a week last week.

Amway staff attended the International Corporate Citizenship Conference, organized by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.

Our own Jesse Hertstein was one of the speakers, explaining how our campaign is organized globally, but is implemented with flexibility among the local country affiliates.

We also were honored with an award: Our film highlighting 10 years of our One by One Campaign was named one of the 10 finalists in a film festival sponsored by Boston College.

Many thanks to all who voted for it. That film has now been viewed more than 10,000 times. Thank you to everyone for helping us share our story!

When Amway and Microsoft recently hosted an event celebrating and promoting women leaders in business, people took notice – including Forbes.com contributor Anne Doyle, who wrote:

“When two global corporations with the economic impact and cultural  influence of Amway and Microsoft – both reach and employ millions of consumers and change agents all over the world —  recognize that the women’s leadership engine is revving up and they’d better get on board, the possibilities for paradigm shifting change are enormous.”

More than 200 women attended the event, which started with a conversation between Amway managers and their Microsoft account executive about the need to better support women seeking leadership roles.

It resulted in a daylong gathering that included keynote speeches from Amway Chief Marketing Officer Candace Matthews and Microsoft Americas Premier Support Vice President Kelly Rogan, who explained why being a “street fighter” is just as important as being a great collaborator.

We can’t wait to see where this conversation leads.

(Guest post by Nick Wasmiller)

“Amway was founded on the belief that, by helping people improve their lives, they could make the world a better place.”

So begins the message from our Chairman Steve Van Andel and our President Doug DeVos in the Amway 2012 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Report released today.

The annual report highlights the many ways our company, its more than 21,000 employees and more than 3 million distributors make a difference in the lives of others.

That includes building homes in Latin America, providing water filters in Haiti, building libraries in China and adopting schools right here in the hometown of our World Headquarters.

Corporate Social Responsibility is built into everything we do: our people, our products and our performance.

 Steve and Doug credit their fathers for recognizing the potential in this business for making a difference.

“They made it their mission to be more, do more, give more. And more than a half-century later, we’re still emulating their powerful example. … We’re awed by how far we’ve come and inspired to keep becoming more, together.”

Read the full report here.

It was mid-day, but the stars shone bright at Figure Skating in Harlem’s Skating with the Stars Gala Monday.

Amway was among the shining stars at the event where some of the world’s greatest skaters, celebrities and corporate and community leaders united for an evening of ice skating at the Trump Wollman Rink in New York City’s iconic Central Park.

Amway has been a proud sponsor of this event and organization for the past five years, but this was the first as presenting sponsor.

Candace Matthews, Amway Chief Marketing Officer, joined Figure Skating in Harlem’s Board of Directors in 2005 and has served several terms as FSH’s Board Chair and Gala Co-Chair, including this year.

Learn more about this fabulous event, including photos and some of the big names that were there, at our One by One blog.

About 140 eighth-graders received some hands-on job experience recently without ever leaving their classrooms.

Continuing longstanding partnerships between Amway, Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes and Grand Rapids Public Schools, students at Burton Middle School were visited by Amway employees from our World Headquarters as part of the Junior Achievement Reverse Job Shadow Day.

The employees told the students about their jobs and responsibilities, but also collaborated with them on real scenarios in their school.

“(We) were teaching the students about integrated marketing communications and how to put together a communications plan,” said Jerry DiTrapani, manager of marketing programs at Amway. “We did a group exercise to brainstorm the objectives for the upcoming Burton Field Day in May.

“The students had some tremendous ideas, which we will implement when we organize the field trip.”

The students also had some thoughtful questions for the employees.

“I wanted to know about the benefits of hard work,” said eighth-grader Victor Diaz, an aspiring home builder. “And what to do, if you put your all into a job, and don’t accomplish much.”

Through events like this, students become more likely to succeed in the workplace. JA’s research shows that students participating in programs like the Reverse Job Shadow Day have a better understanding of and interest in career opportunities.

It’s also a benefit for the employees who participate.

“Volunteering makes me a happier employee,” Sue Reahm, lead creative account representative at Amway, said. “It is great to give, and I also get so much out of spending time with the students. … I enjoy learning about them and with them and seeing first hand their hunger for knowledge.”

Check out more photos from the day at our Amway Facebook page.

One of the wonderful things about our Amway One by One Campaign for Children is how our employees and distributors reach out to make a difference right where they live. Because we operate in more than 100 countries and territories, in the 10 years since the campaign launched, lives have been changed all over the world.

This infographic represents only a small fraction of the more than 10 million children we’ve helped over the last decade. There are just too many projects to fit on one map!

Remember this video highlighting the wonderful accomplishments of our business owners and employees through 10 years of our Amway One by One Campaign for Children?  It has a chance to win an award and you can help.

It’s part of the film festival at Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. The website is recording public votes through March 1 for the best video.  Please vote and help us share our story! (Click here to vote.)

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Last night, cosmetics industry professionals gathered at the Beyond Beauty Gala in New York City to support the James E. Marshall OCD Foundation, which raises money for education and research into Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Clubhouse International, community centers for people living with mental illness, will also benefit.

The disorder affects millions of people worldwide and is considered among the top 10 most disabling diseases in the U.S. — more than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.

That’s why the cosmetics industry is taking a stand to expand its concept of beauty beyond physical attributes to include the beauty from within — and we’re proud to support this cause.

Congratulations to the Beyond Beauty 2013 co-honorees Nicolas Mirzayantz of IFF and our very own George Calvert, Ph.D, vice president R&D and supply chain at Amway, for their work to bring attention to this cause.

“We are proud of our association with this tremendous organization and the great work that it does in OCD awareness and research,” Calvert said.

Our Amway One by One Campaign for Children celebrates 10 years of providing hope, inspiration and generosity to children across the world. In those 10 years, 10 million children have been helped by the efforts of our wonderful distributors and employees. We celebrate that accomplishment and thank everyone who made a difference. We also look forward to the next 10 years of building better lives for children in our communities.

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