The Intercultural Innovation Award finds and rewards the world’s innovators who advance initiatives for the good of global societies. - By Paul Lachhu

When the BMW Group started the Award for Intercultural Learning in 1997, the company was interested in recognizing, through funding, the organizations that were driving innovation in Europe and the Mediterranean area. It was a way to take the company’s internal passion for diversity outside its walls. In 2010, BMW was approached by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) about forming a partnership that capitalized on the company’s award initiative. The new award was renamed the Intercultural Innovation Award in 2011 and expanded to become a global initiative.

The goal of the initiative is to “select and support the most innovative grassroots projects that encourage intercultural dialogue and cooperation around the world.” Not-for-profit organizations are selected and get a small amount of funding, but it is the training and mentoring that delivers the most value. The awardees learn to present their ideas to investors and close the gaps in their business knowledge. BMW Group has remained a committed and active partner in this initiative, now under the UNAOC umbrella, reflecting the company’s history of diversity and innovation and vision of the future.

The Intercultural Innovation Award is bestowed on 10 (11 in 2014) organizations each year, and in 2014 they were selected out of 600 applicants. The awardees are organizations managing intercultural projects in areas of intercultural awareness, migration and integration, or intercultural education, or they represent a specific group like women or youth. The organizations selected get a one-year commitment from BMW Group and the UNAOC for support and consulting with a goal of achieving organizational sustainability and project replicability. The capacity building workshops address topics like fundraising, leadership, strategic communication, and planning and implementation. Selected nonprofits are assessed so that training and consulting is targeted to needs.

Achieving the Greatest Impact
Listening to Bill McAndrews, Vice President Communications Strategy, Corporate and Market Communications, BMW Group, describe the initiative is a rewarding experience in itself. “The awardees are people, some in their early 20s, who have great ideas but need more business savvy to achieve sustainability and the greatest impact,” he explains. The initiative blends well with the BMW diversity initiative because it enables BMW to utilize its connections to expand the awardees networks. For example, a 25-year old award winner from Mexico was introduced to BMW’s public relations colleagues in Mexico, who were asked to help him promote his nonprofit. As a result, he got TV time and made many more contacts, getting notoriety and the interest of investors. “The BMW commitment to the Intercultural Innovation Award Initiative is not (emphasis) a marketing ploy. It is a way for us to reach out to people,” says Bill. BMW puts every relevant resource it has in support of the awardees. There are currently 31 UNOAC initiatives in progress, and the vast majority is doing well.

BMW Group’s support of the Intercultural Innovation Award reflects the company’s remarkable ability to manage a company that is almost universally respected for the quality of its vehicle brand and the diversity of its workforce. BMW Group’s workforce represents a remarkable 108 nations. The Personnel Department has three regional hubs to attract top diverse talent. Bill says, “We are diligent about hiring the right people for the right jobs.” He also offers some advice to those who wish to succeed in foreign locations: Master the language. Bill is not German, but he speaks fluent German. “Go global, think local culture,” is his advice.

Focus on the Future One of the challenges BMW deals with is the shortage of female engineers, and it is an issue the company cannot solve alone. “Society – government, NGOs, corporations - must deal with the issue of getting girls interested in the technology fields,” explains Bill. BMW is doing its part through a number of programs, like an apprenticeship program that brings in high school youth.

In Germany, the company holds “girls day” in which young girls spend time in a BMW manufacturing plant in the hope it will instill an interest in technology. There is also the German-based JobLink which helps marginalized children having difficulty learning get the needed education to get viable jobs. BMW Group hopes to start a similar program in the U.S. at some point. BMW has diversity initiatives in most of the countries in which it operates. In South Korea, the BMW dealers pooled funds to create the Superfund. The money is used for Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, like traffic safety. The company also started the Junior Campus where BMW trains kids on how vehicles are efficiently produced and the role of recycling. The trainers are supplementing schools that could not afford programs like these. There is a Junior Campus in Germany too, but it is in the schools and is taught by teachers. “Be open to public-private partnerships, but be very clear up front about the roles each will play. Initiate initiatives on a step-by-basis,” Bill advises.

The commitment to youth is apparent in many of BMW’s initiatives. It is not surprising that Bill is careful to say, when asked, that all the Intercultural Innovation Award winners have excellent ideas and reflect BMW values. It is impossible to not recognize his affinity for the younger winners. He is most impressed by projects like the Youth Empowering Parents initiative which was a 2011 UNAOC award winner. Started by youth from Toronto’s Regent Park community, it is a program in which youth provide the one-on-one teaching for parents and other adults who need instruction in English and computer skills. Starting with nine adult students and nine youth tutors, Youth Empowering Parents has already served over 1,000 people in Toronto, Canada, Niger, and Ethiopia. The program began when immigrant parents taking English lessons came home and their children discovered their parents were too embarrassed to speak English publicly.

This is just one example of the innovate nonprofits named as Intercultural Innovation Award winners. It is well worth taking the time to read through the current and past awardee initiatives, remarkable for their innovative approaches to promoting interculturalism.

Diversity is the lifeblood of BMW Group, and that will never change. “Everyone uses the word globalization, but it has been around a long time,” Bill points out. “One of the big challenges is overcoming fear of globalization. We need to celebrate our differences and find our commonalities. It is human nature to say that something different cannot be good. But the trend for BMW is that we will keep going global. We will keep hiring diverse people.”