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What do Milwaukee, San Fransico, a post World War II entrepreneurial explosion, and the modern-day abolitionist movement have in common? Money, man! As in, keeping it away from human traffickers.
Manpower, a Fortune 500 company founded in Milwaukee in 1948, is joining forces -- and generations -- with the Not For Sale Campaign, founded in 2007 by David Batstone after he was rocked by news that his favorite Bay Area restaurant had trafficked workers. As a world leader in employment services with 82 offices worldwide, Manpower's decision to sponsor the grassroots movement’s “Stop Paying For Slavery” 2010 Tour could be the beginning of a new age in big business -- Granddaddy Warbucks meets Peace-Daddy-O. And it’s about time, says Manpower.
"Raising awareness and collective understanding of the breadth and impact of modern-day slavery is imperative to ending the scourge. The 'Stop Paying for Slavery' Tour has tremendous potential to arm emerging business leaders with the information they need to end human trafficking for good," said David Arkless, Manpower's President of Corporate and Government Affairs.
The tour will reach 40 cities worldwide with multiday events aimed at raising human trafficking awareness and equipping law enforcement, teachers, faith communities, business leaders, and the public at large to fight it. The most far out idea of all is partnering with some of the best business schools in the world to reach the next generation of leaders. Manpower and Not For Sale believe that teaching them how social entrepreneurship has the potential to end trafficking in our lifetime, starting with the supply chain, could actually end trafficking in our time.
"Manpower's leadership at the forefront of this movement demonstrates the enormous impact corporations can make in ending the modern-day slave trade," said Batsone. If tomorrow’s business leaders can be taught to avoid the mistakes of yesterday's, abolitionists have a fighting chance.
Because Manpower’s key to success is a viable workforce, it only makes sense that they’d want to protect it for generations to come. They may want you to get a haircut (hippie!) but they also want you to be safe, all of you, everywhere. So even though all big business doesn’t jive with those crazy tunes the kids are into these days, (a-hem, Kohlﾒs) it seems Manpower has no problem dancing to the Freedom Song. Shake it, man! Looks good on you.
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