April 7, 2025 • 25 mins
Learn how Prudential Financial continues to serve all stakeholders through clarity of purpose.
Prudential Financial has served its local community of Newark, New Jersey, for 150 years, and that's one reason it is a recipient of The Conference Board 2025 Corporate Responsibility Awards. How does the company choose when and where to invest, and how does it scale those efforts globally?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve Odland (00:00):
Welcome to C-Suite Perspectives, a signature
(00:02):
series by The Conference Board.
I'm Steve Odland from The ConferenceBoard and the host of this podcast series.
And in today's conversation, we're goingto talk about Prudential Financial's
commitment to corporate responsibility.
Joining me today is Lata Reddy, thesenior vice president of inclusive
solutions at Prudential Financial andchair of the Prudential Foundation.
(00:23):
Lata, welcome.
Lata Reddy (00:24):
Thank you.
It's great to be here.
Steve Odland (00:26):
So Lata, you're famous in the ESG world.
Tell us a little bit aboutyour background, and how did
you get going in this field?
Lata Reddy (00:35):
Well, I've been at it for a while, which may
explain why people may know me.
I'm not sure about being famous.
I am a lawyer by training.
So I began my career as a civilrights attorney, and I was working
in the education space tryingto ensure that all students had
access to a high-quality education.
And so my focus was around equity andaccess, again, in the space of ed reform.
(01:02):
I was looking for opportunities to getmore at some of the systemic issues
related to those challenges, and foundmy way to Prudential, where I had an
opportunity to work as an educationalprogram officer, addressing these
opportunities from a different vantagepoint, and then eventually had other
opportunities to run the foundation,and then to take on my current role
(01:23):
leading a function at Prudential.
Steve Odland (01:25):
Yeah, and Prudential has been around for a very long time.
It's a household brand, andeverybody has worked with Prudential
in one way or another over time.
But this is Prudential Financial's150th anniversary this year.
Congratulations to Prudential.
And it's amazing.
You've been in Newark, NewJersey, since the founding.
Most companies move around a littlebit for one reason or another,
(01:47):
but Prudential hasn't done that.
They've really been part of the Newarkcommunity for a long time, and that
seems like a good place to start.
Talk about the work thatyou all have done there.
Lata Reddy (01:58):
Well, it's a fascinating story.
So I think it's worth spendingjust one second on the history.
And as you mentioned, we're celebratingour 150th anniversary this year.
So a big milestone.
Founded and continue to be headquarteredin Newark, even as our footprint has
expanded to be a global footprint.
And it's really about leadership.
There have been successive boards andsuccessive leaders who have affirmatively
(02:21):
made the decision to stay in Newark,and that continues to be the case.
We just were going through a CEOtransition right now, and our incoming
CEO is as committed as our outgoing CEO.
And so it's a really interesting legacy.
The work in Newark has evolvedover time based on the city's needs
(02:41):
and the macro environment so thatwe can ensure we meet the moment.
As we've looked back to think aboutwhere we've come from and where we need
to go, we've summarized our work inthis way: pre-2000, and we began this
work in earnest in the early '70s.
The first few decades were focused onliterally rebuilding the city, which
(03:01):
as I'm sure you're aware, Newark wasone of the cities in the summer of
1967 that experienced civil unrest.
And so there's a need and opportunity tosignal that we were open for business.
And we did that by building somesignature, high-profile buildings.
One a residential building,one an office building.
We also at the same time were rebuildingthe civic infrastructure, and so the
(03:22):
nonprofit sector, in particular, andhelping to ensure that residents were
able to get the services that they need.
That then transitioned to buildingthe capacity of those organizations
and really investing in the servicedelivery aspect of that, as well
as piloting different things.
Charter schools werejust coming on the scene.
We invested in charter schools,facilities, financing, working
(03:46):
capital, that sort of thing.
And then move forward to pre-pandemic,we were really building out
systems change opportunities.
And so deep investments in publicsafety and intermediary organizations
that could care for all the variousdirect service organizations.
Then the pandemic hit.
As we've seen, cities across Americahave really suffered from those years and
(04:09):
are still rebounding from the impacts.
And so we're continuing to investheavily in the city in ways that can
help regain some of the losses butcontinue on the path to make Newark a
model for inclusive economic growth.
Steve Odland (04:23):
Yeah, and it's not unusual for a corporation to try
to support the community where itsheadquarters is located, but Newark is
a different kind of community and reallyhas an incredible number of needs.
It's relatively poor, it's very diverse,and it's really a kudos to Prudential
for really digging in and helping to makea difference in so many people's lives.
(04:47):
And so then the question is, how hasNewark responded to this and reciprocated?
Lata Reddy (04:54):
It's interesting.
So we did, a few years back, a surveyof our stakeholders in Newark because we
wanted to answer that question, right?
How do you feel aboutPrudential's work to date?
Where do you think we should be focusingour time and attention going forward?
And there were two things thatreally stood out, not surprisingly.
One was collaboration.
So people really appreciatedthe collaborative nature
(05:15):
in which we do the work.
The other was the singular and sharedfocus across Newark around economic
justice or inclusive economicgrowth and ensuring that residents
benefited from the upside of all ofthe investments that we were making.
Steve Odland (05:31):
Yeah.
And so there has been a good relationshipwith the community as a result.
You work closely with all pieces of thecommunity—elected officials and people in
the community, different community groups.
Any examples of things that you wouldsuggest are models for others to follow?
Lata Reddy (05:52):
One that I would cite is an entity that we created several years ago
called the Newark Anchor Collaborative,as the traditional definition of anchors
were the so-called eds and meds, andcorporations were left out of that,
as were other large institutions.
But many of us looked around,and we're like, wait, we meet the
definition of an anchor institution.
We are rooted in the community.
(06:13):
We've got a large number ofemployees, real estate, all of that.
So we formed a coalition of the willingwho wanted to come together to think
about how can we pull all the leverswithin our respective institutions and
truly behave like anchors to continueto further our shared goal of economic
growth and development for the city.
And so we created a strategy thatwas focused on buying locally,
(06:34):
living locally, and working locally.
Steve Odland (06:38):
Yeah.
Now, of course, as youmentioned, Prudential is a
global financial institution.
And so your work doesn't stop atthe borders of the city of Newark.
It cascades into other communities.
Talk about that.
Lata Reddy (06:52):
Yeah, so while Newark is our heart and soul, we are, as I mentioned,
expanded to be a global company.
And so we work with our business leadersacross the globe to understand what
their needs are locally and regionally,both from a business perspective, as
well as from a societal perspective.
And then we craft strategies withthem that, again, are specific
to those different places.
(07:13):
And so two examples I mightcite, which are very different.
One in Japan, following the GreatEast Earthquake and tsunami, where
we worked with our colleagues to helpwith relief efforts, recovery efforts,
and, ultimately, rebuilding efforts.
And one thing we're really proud of is anorganization called Ishinomaki 2.0, which
(07:34):
was something created by young people tohelp attract young people to the region
most impacted by the disaster and tocreate a sense of community and a sense
of place, two things that were taken awayfrom them as a result of the disaster.
So that's one example.
Steve Odland (07:49):
Like any company, Prudential's resources are not infinite.
So therefore you have to prioritize.
How do you think aboutprioritization of your investments?
Lata Reddy (08:00):
So we think about the opportunities at the intersection
of business and society.
And Newark is a given.
We're going to continue to investsignificantly in Newark, and we do so
in a way that speaks to a place, right?
People live their lives horizontally,not vertically, meaning we need to invest
in a lot of different things we mightnot invest in other parts of the world
because of the nature of a community.
(08:22):
In other places, we're really looking,again, at that intersection of
business and society, where we canplace our resources in a way that meet
multiple goals and aims of Prudentialthat are shared by the community.
And so, for example, in Brazil, weare working with our business there
to help hire, create a pipelineof talent locally into jobs that
people might not be thinking about.
(08:43):
Specifically, actuarial science.
How do people become actuaries?
Would anybody ever think to do that?
Well, we built out an "actuarial of thefuture" program to help young people who
might not even be thinking about collegeget into colleges and universities and
then learn about those pathways to thisreally successful career opportunity
Steve Odland (09:02):
Yeah, and a tough career, and a really important one,
particularly in the insurance world.
And that's a considerable investment.
How do you think aboutpartnering with other companies?
We talked about partnering with electedofficials and the community itself, but
there are other companies in each of thesecommunities where you operate and live.
How do you bundle resourcesand coordinate that?
Lata Reddy (09:25):
In Newark, as a corporate entity, we play a bit of
an outsized role, but we partnerwith everybody in the community.
And that's a little easier because again,you're talking about a defined geography.
So, we've all worked very hard toco-create a shared approach and
following the vision of our mayor.
So again, we're very fortunate thatwe have Mayor Baraka, our mayor, who
has outlined a set of aspirationsfor all of us to try to get to.
(09:49):
Outside of that, there's very littlewe do on our own, to your point.
These are big, intractable issues.
We've got to partner, andpartner across industries.
And so typically, it's coming togetheron a shared issue area, issue interest,
and where there's a natural way and anorganic way to begin to partner on things.
Steve Odland (10:06):
Yeah.
And I think that's really become a bestpractice where businesses and communities
look to each other and get together andthink about what the priorities should be.
Because, of course, the need isvirtually infinite, and you don't want
to just spread dollars everywhere, orelse you have no impact on anything.
So it does require someprioritization, and as well, it
(10:28):
requires people to coordinate
Lata Reddy (10:31):
And I would add, really, an understanding of what
you can uniquely bring forward.
So again, in Newark, we can do thingsthat others might not be able to
invest in, either because of theresources we have at our disposal
or the expertise we have and so on.
So we try to fill gaps, versus beingduplicative and doing things that others
could be or should be doing versus us.
Steve Odland (10:50):
Yeah.
The way we've talked, and the wayI've laid it out, it sounds like
all we're talking about is financialresources, but it's not, it's people.
And you have tens ofthousands of employees.
How do you marshal theirefforts, from volunteerism and
engagement in their communities?
Lata Reddy (11:08):
We have done a lot over the years to transform
how we think about that.
So we still have the traditional hands-onvolunteer opportunities that our employees
can engage in at their child's school orin their local community or what have you.
We also have a set of skills-basedopportunities that we've created.
So for example, we have the Pru Bonoprogram where we bring together our—so
(11:30):
pro bono—where we bring together ouremployees with specific skill sets to
match the needs of an identified challengethat our nonprofit partners or small
businesses might be facing, to help them.
So whether it's website design ormarketing, building a marketing
campaign, what have you, we'll pulltogether the internal expertise and
match it against the external need.
(11:51):
And then we also place employeeson boards of nonprofits to help
them from the governance side.
Steve Odland (11:56):
Yeah.
So this is an important thing forour listeners in other companies
to think about it, particularly ifyou want to expand on this, is that
it's got to be a deliberate effort.
It's not just toss it out thereand say, "Hey, go volunteer."
It's really the orchestration ofthat, the alignment of needs with
skill sets, as you said, and time.
And that takes an effort, doesn't it?
Lata Reddy (12:17):
It does.
And it's also, I would add,about making sure that we really
understand the needs of our partners.
So we say we're trying to help them,but years ago, we used to have this
thing called Global Volunteer Day,and it was a lovely initiative.
People around the world everyday would go out and volunteer.
Massive undertaking for myteam to organize all of that.
But what we also found is it was quiteburdensome for our partners, because
(12:38):
while they appreciated the desire tovolunteer, to have them have to accept
us on a certain day of the year anddesign a program for us was a little
bit burdensome for them, as well.
And so we realized there'sa better way to do this.
Steve Odland (12:51):
Yeah, just having a hundred people show up, it probably
is overwhelming and more work.
It's the thought that counts, but if youdo it in a more orchestrated fashion,
you put the right amount of people,power, and skills at the right place
for the right time that meets the need.
Yeah, really great learnings.
We're talking about Prudential Financial'scommitment to corporate responsibility.
(13:14):
We're going to take a shortbreak and be right back.
Welcome back to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm your host, Steve Odland, fromThe Conference Board, and I'm joined
today by Lata Reddy, the senior vicepresident of inclusive solutions at
Prudential Financial, and she's alsothe chair of the Prudential Foundation.
So, Lata, before the break, we weretalking about how Prudential engages in
(13:37):
all the communities and not just in itshometown of Newark, but also global.
But as you think about the stakeholders ofthe corporation, it's not just community.
There are many.
There are customers, there areemployees, there are owners,
community, certainly environment.
How do you think about all ofthese stakeholders in your mission?
Lata Reddy (14:01):
We have a real commitment, and have over the years, decades, had
a commitment to stakeholder engagement.
And we like to think we come atthis honestly, again, because of
our work in Newark and the factthat we're rooted in Newark.
And so, that's one wholeset of stakeholders right
there that we see every day.
But we know that it's important to makesure that we're engaging proactively
with all of these different groups.
(14:23):
Because it's critical to the work,their engagement is critical to
the work, and it's critical, as yousaid, to our ability to do the work.
Steve Odland (14:30):
Well, it used to be said that all you had to do is
take care of the shareholders, thatwas what corporations existed for.
And you do have to do that becausethey are the one constituency and
they are investing in your company,and so they want a return for that.
But there is complete acknowledgementnow, or at least general acknowledgement,
that there needs to be a balanceacross all of these constituencies.
(14:50):
And you can't justdeliver for one of them.
You really have to take them all andget the right balance and deliver
for all of them in that balance.
And that's hard.
Lata Reddy (15:01):
It is hard.
And I would actually take it a stepfurther and argue that you can't
deliver for your shareholders unlessyou're delivering for all of these
other stakeholders at the same time.
Steve Odland (15:09):
Exactly right.
So I don't know what you've disclosedin terms of the many millions that
you contribute to this, both in termsof cash, but also employee hours.
And I'm sure that you spend timethinking about what's the return on that.
Well, obviously there's a return tothe communities but how do you think
about return on the impact of this?
Lata Reddy (15:33):
It's multifaceted, and I'll give you a couple of
different perspectives on it.
One is, so we think about the societalimpact and the business impact and,
increasingly, in a more integrated way.
We have a whole measurement,rubric or scheme, if you will, to
look at how we're doing on that.
And it's across philanthropy,corporate contributions, employee
(15:53):
engagement, impact investing.
So it's apples to oranges to bananas.
But we try to see what that allladders up to in terms of, as you
said, the actual impact we're having.
The other part of it isthe less quantifiable, the
employee sentiment, right?
We know it's important for usas a business that our employees
feel good about this work.
And so that's one otherdimension we look at.
(16:14):
But look, ultimately, this is aboutensuring that the people that we
are serving at the pleasure of, ortrying to help, have the agency
to make the best decisions forthemselves and their families.
Full stop.
Steve Odland (16:29):
You have a really interesting title.
Not the SVP part, although that's prettygood one, too, but the inclusive solutions
part is really unique to Prudential.
I don't know that there's anothercompany that has somebody
with that kind of a title.
How did that come about?
Lata Reddy (16:44):
So there are a lot of conversations with our marketing team
and our colleagues and communications totry to identify a term that spoke to the
totality of what we do as a function.
And nothing was perfect, but thiscame closest in the sense of, we
are not the traditional corporatecitizenship or CSR function anymore.
(17:06):
We've transformed to be somethingvery different, that's about
helping ensure we as a businessgo to market more inclusively.
And to do that, we need justmore inclusive solutions, more
inclusive distribution platforms,product services, et cetera.
So inclusive solutions was meant tospeak to that whole basket of things
(17:28):
that we need to do differently.
Steve Odland (17:30):
Yeah.
And I think, ultimately, it also speaksto the need to provide opportunity, right?
That's essentially what you'reattempting to do in your communities:
provide opportunity for peoplewho may be marginalized, may
not, equality of opportunity.
And it's not necessarily about equalityof outcome, because there's so many
other variables in that, but you'retrying to level the playing field,
(17:52):
which is really a unique approach.
Lata Reddy (17:55):
That's exactly what it is.
And yeah, It's about ensuringthat people have, so I mentioned
use the word agency before, right?
So again, we're positioning peopleto be able to make those decisions,
whether it's because they're equippedwith the education, the knowledge
they need, whether it's becausethey have access to the tools that
they need, and then, the kind ofcapability, wherewithal to take action.
(18:16):
And so that is howwe're thinking about it.
Steve Odland (18:19):
So if a company was thinking—I think most companies have
some sort of community effort—but ifthey're trying to think about this
in a holistic way, as you have pulledtogether for Prudential, how would you
suggest they go about orchestrating this?
What's the starting point?
Lata Reddy (18:39):
Your core business.
So what are you in the business of?
And for us as a financial servicescompany, we are trying to help
people build generational wealth.
So that becomes, then, the touchstone.
And then you think end to endabout the continuum of resources
that you have as a company.
So at one end, we have our philanthropy,which is intended to help those
(19:00):
who are most vulnerable in society.
And then at the other extremeend, we've got our core business
lines, which as financial services,typically, that's going to skew right
to the other end of that spectrumin terms of income and wealth.
World events—2008, other things—havebrought both sides into the middle
a little bit more, if you will.
(19:20):
And so there's a real opportunityto operate at that sweet spot.
So that's what I would tell othercompanies to think about is, how do you
get to that point where you're not doingthe business of the business and where
the business isn't going so far down thatthey're not necessarily a viable business,
but what is that sweet spot where youcan create optionality for more people?
Steve Odland (19:40):
So I think what I hear you saying is it starts
with the business strategy.
So if you're in the foodindustry, you're feeding people.
And so hence, you want to start with thatas the core, what is your core business
strategy and build your philanthropy andyour community engagement around that.
If you're in the educationworld, same kind of thing, right?
That's what I hear you saying.
(20:01):
Now, as you partner with these othercompanies and industries, how do
you get to that complex weave, thatwoven fabric of intersecting goals?
Lata Reddy (20:12):
I would say we're not, we as an industry,
probably aren't quite there yet.
So a lot of the partnering we dois more on the philanthropic side.
We're identifying, again, sharedissues, organizations that we believe
in, and investing in them together.
We've not yet come across too manycompanies that are really in a deeper
(20:34):
way operating at that intersection.
And look, we have a lot to learn.
We're continuing to grow into it.
But we would love to find partnerswhere we can really do work together
in that deeply integrated way.
Steve Odland (20:47):
So looking ahead now, 2025 has started out in a strange way.
As usual, there's lots of stuff going on.
The environment keeps shifting,there's a lot of uncertainty.
I'm not sure that's ever going to goaway, but clearly, it must create some
introspection, not only for Prudential,but for all companies in this world.
(21:10):
How are you taking this all in,and how are you reevaluating your
strategies, and where do you thinkyou'll take it going forward?
Lata Reddy (21:18):
So again, with our reflecting on our 150th year, we've done a lot
of looking back see from whence we'vecome, and we've withstood, as you can
imagine, in that long time period, alot of change and turmoil and issues.
And so for us, it's alwaysbeen clarity of purpose.
That's what has been our North Star,how we've navigated through whatever
(21:41):
the external environment is, and howwe've also met the needs of all of our
stakeholders, to that earlier question.
Steve Odland (21:47):
Yeah, in 150 years, we've seen wars, famines,
pandemics, crashes, financialcrises, uprisings, social upheaval.
You go on and on, not to mentionweather events, you're in
the insurance industry, too.
You've rocked and rolled through allof it, and I guess your point is, stay
on track with what your goals are, makesure that you keep things in balance.
(22:08):
But that requires people who alsothen have some perspective to all
of this and aren't just buffeted bywhatever the winds are of the times.
Lata Reddy (22:18):
It does.
And again, I think that comes fromthat clarity of purpose, which can't be
overstated, because it gets hard sometimesto be purpose-led and make decisions,
right, that are rooted in that purpose.
But where Prudential is fortunate iswe were founded as a social enterprise.
150 years ago, our founder createdus to provide burial insurance to
(22:38):
working families, the so-calledindustrial class in Newark.
Three pennies a week.
It was unheard of.
It was a controversial idea at thetime because people didn't trust
working families to pay their premiums.
But he looked around a corner and, again,saw that intersection of societal need
and a business opportunity, and built acompany that 150 years later is within
(22:59):
the top 100 companies in the world.
Steve Odland (23:02):
And that story then creates a dozen other stories.
But over time, it's really theanchor for all that you do, isn't it?
Lata Reddy (23:10):
It is.
Steve Odland (23:11):
And hence your advice to stay true to your core values.
Any other advice before we closeout that you'd like to share?
Lata Reddy (23:18):
I think the purpose piece of it is evergreen, as well as, and
we touched on this, but it's to reallylook within, understand all of the
resources you can bring to bear.
And so if you've got a purpose, youunderstand what your mission is,
and why your company exists, whichfor us isn't just to drive profit,
it's to drive progress, then whatdo you need to do as a result?
(23:42):
And how do you need to spend and allocateyour time and your treasure, so to speak?
And so those to me are the twomost important aspects of this.
Steve Odland (23:51):
Lata Reddy, senior vice president of inclusive
solutions at Prudential Financial,thanks for being with us today.
Lata Reddy (23:57):
Thank you for having me.
Steve Odland (23:58):
And thanks to all of you for listening to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm Steve Odland, and this series has beenbrought to you by The Conference Board.
Welcome to C-Suite Perspectives, a signature
(00:02):
series by The Conference Board.
I'm Steve Odland from The ConferenceBoard and the host of this podcast series.
And in today's conversation, we're goingto talk about Prudential Financial's
commitment to corporate responsibility.
Joining me today is Lata Reddy, thesenior vice president of inclusive
solutions at Prudential Financial andchair of the Prudential Foundation.
(00:23):
Lata, welcome.
Lata Reddy (00:24):
Thank you.
It's great to be here.
Steve Odland (00:26):
So Lata, you're famous in the ESG world.
Tell us a little bit aboutyour background, and how did
you get going in this field?
Lata Reddy (00:35):
Well, I've been at it for a while, which may
explain why people may know me.
I'm not sure about being famous.
I am a lawyer by training.
So I began my career as a civilrights attorney, and I was working
in the education space tryingto ensure that all students had
access to a high-quality education.
And so my focus was around equity andaccess, again, in the space of ed reform.
(01:02):
I was looking for opportunities to getmore at some of the systemic issues
related to those challenges, and foundmy way to Prudential, where I had an
opportunity to work as an educationalprogram officer, addressing these
opportunities from a different vantagepoint, and then eventually had other
opportunities to run the foundation,and then to take on my current role
(01:23):
leading a function at Prudential.
Steve Odland (01:25):
Yeah, and Prudential has been around for a very long time.
It's a household brand, andeverybody has worked with Prudential
in one way or another over time.
But this is Prudential Financial's150th anniversary this year.
Congratulations to Prudential.
And it's amazing.
You've been in Newark, NewJersey, since the founding.
Most companies move around a littlebit for one reason or another,
(01:47):
but Prudential hasn't done that.
They've really been part of the Newarkcommunity for a long time, and that
seems like a good place to start.
Talk about the work thatyou all have done there.
Lata Reddy (01:58):
Well, it's a fascinating story.
So I think it's worth spendingjust one second on the history.
And as you mentioned, we're celebratingour 150th anniversary this year.
So a big milestone.
Founded and continue to be headquarteredin Newark, even as our footprint has
expanded to be a global footprint.
And it's really about leadership.
There have been successive boards andsuccessive leaders who have affirmatively
(02:21):
made the decision to stay in Newark,and that continues to be the case.
We just were going through a CEOtransition right now, and our incoming
CEO is as committed as our outgoing CEO.
And so it's a really interesting legacy.
The work in Newark has evolvedover time based on the city's needs
(02:41):
and the macro environment so thatwe can ensure we meet the moment.
As we've looked back to think aboutwhere we've come from and where we need
to go, we've summarized our work inthis way: pre-2000, and we began this
work in earnest in the early '70s.
The first few decades were focused onliterally rebuilding the city, which
(03:01):
as I'm sure you're aware, Newark wasone of the cities in the summer of
1967 that experienced civil unrest.
And so there's a need and opportunity tosignal that we were open for business.
And we did that by building somesignature, high-profile buildings.
One a residential building,one an office building.
We also at the same time were rebuildingthe civic infrastructure, and so the
(03:22):
nonprofit sector, in particular, andhelping to ensure that residents were
able to get the services that they need.
That then transitioned to buildingthe capacity of those organizations
and really investing in the servicedelivery aspect of that, as well
as piloting different things.
Charter schools werejust coming on the scene.
We invested in charter schools,facilities, financing, working
(03:46):
capital, that sort of thing.
And then move forward to pre-pandemic,we were really building out
systems change opportunities.
And so deep investments in publicsafety and intermediary organizations
that could care for all the variousdirect service organizations.
Then the pandemic hit.
As we've seen, cities across Americahave really suffered from those years and
(04:09):
are still rebounding from the impacts.
And so we're continuing to investheavily in the city in ways that can
help regain some of the losses butcontinue on the path to make Newark a
model for inclusive economic growth.
Steve Odland (04:23):
Yeah, and it's not unusual for a corporation to try
to support the community where itsheadquarters is located, but Newark is
a different kind of community and reallyhas an incredible number of needs.
It's relatively poor, it's very diverse,and it's really a kudos to Prudential
for really digging in and helping to makea difference in so many people's lives.
(04:47):
And so then the question is, how hasNewark responded to this and reciprocated?
Lata Reddy (04:54):
It's interesting.
So we did, a few years back, a surveyof our stakeholders in Newark because we
wanted to answer that question, right?
How do you feel aboutPrudential's work to date?
Where do you think we should be focusingour time and attention going forward?
And there were two things thatreally stood out, not surprisingly.
One was collaboration.
So people really appreciatedthe collaborative nature
(05:15):
in which we do the work.
The other was the singular and sharedfocus across Newark around economic
justice or inclusive economicgrowth and ensuring that residents
benefited from the upside of all ofthe investments that we were making.
Steve Odland (05:31):
Yeah.
And so there has been a good relationshipwith the community as a result.
You work closely with all pieces of thecommunity—elected officials and people in
the community, different community groups.
Any examples of things that you wouldsuggest are models for others to follow?
Lata Reddy (05:52):
One that I would cite is an entity that we created several years ago
called the Newark Anchor Collaborative,as the traditional definition of anchors
were the so-called eds and meds, andcorporations were left out of that,
as were other large institutions.
But many of us looked around,and we're like, wait, we meet the
definition of an anchor institution.
We are rooted in the community.
(06:13):
We've got a large number ofemployees, real estate, all of that.
So we formed a coalition of the willingwho wanted to come together to think
about how can we pull all the leverswithin our respective institutions and
truly behave like anchors to continueto further our shared goal of economic
growth and development for the city.
And so we created a strategy thatwas focused on buying locally,
(06:34):
living locally, and working locally.
Steve Odland (06:38):
Yeah.
Now, of course, as youmentioned, Prudential is a
global financial institution.
And so your work doesn't stop atthe borders of the city of Newark.
It cascades into other communities.
Talk about that.
Lata Reddy (06:52):
Yeah, so while Newark is our heart and soul, we are, as I mentioned,
expanded to be a global company.
And so we work with our business leadersacross the globe to understand what
their needs are locally and regionally,both from a business perspective, as
well as from a societal perspective.
And then we craft strategies withthem that, again, are specific
to those different places.
(07:13):
And so two examples I mightcite, which are very different.
One in Japan, following the GreatEast Earthquake and tsunami, where
we worked with our colleagues to helpwith relief efforts, recovery efforts,
and, ultimately, rebuilding efforts.
And one thing we're really proud of is anorganization called Ishinomaki 2.0, which
(07:34):
was something created by young people tohelp attract young people to the region
most impacted by the disaster and tocreate a sense of community and a sense
of place, two things that were taken awayfrom them as a result of the disaster.
So that's one example.
Steve Odland (07:49):
Like any company, Prudential's resources are not infinite.
So therefore you have to prioritize.
How do you think aboutprioritization of your investments?
Lata Reddy (08:00):
So we think about the opportunities at the intersection
of business and society.
And Newark is a given.
We're going to continue to investsignificantly in Newark, and we do so
in a way that speaks to a place, right?
People live their lives horizontally,not vertically, meaning we need to invest
in a lot of different things we mightnot invest in other parts of the world
because of the nature of a community.
(08:22):
In other places, we're really looking,again, at that intersection of
business and society, where we canplace our resources in a way that meet
multiple goals and aims of Prudentialthat are shared by the community.
And so, for example, in Brazil, weare working with our business there
to help hire, create a pipelineof talent locally into jobs that
people might not be thinking about.
(08:43):
Specifically, actuarial science.
How do people become actuaries?
Would anybody ever think to do that?
Well, we built out an "actuarial of thefuture" program to help young people who
might not even be thinking about collegeget into colleges and universities and
then learn about those pathways to thisreally successful career opportunity
Steve Odland (09:02):
Yeah, and a tough career, and a really important one,
particularly in the insurance world.
And that's a considerable investment.
How do you think aboutpartnering with other companies?
We talked about partnering with electedofficials and the community itself, but
there are other companies in each of thesecommunities where you operate and live.
How do you bundle resourcesand coordinate that?
Lata Reddy (09:25):
In Newark, as a corporate entity, we play a bit of
an outsized role, but we partnerwith everybody in the community.
And that's a little easier because again,you're talking about a defined geography.
So, we've all worked very hard toco-create a shared approach and
following the vision of our mayor.
So again, we're very fortunate thatwe have Mayor Baraka, our mayor, who
has outlined a set of aspirationsfor all of us to try to get to.
(09:49):
Outside of that, there's very littlewe do on our own, to your point.
These are big, intractable issues.
We've got to partner, andpartner across industries.
And so typically, it's coming togetheron a shared issue area, issue interest,
and where there's a natural way and anorganic way to begin to partner on things.
Steve Odland (10:06):
Yeah.
And I think that's really become a bestpractice where businesses and communities
look to each other and get together andthink about what the priorities should be.
Because, of course, the need isvirtually infinite, and you don't want
to just spread dollars everywhere, orelse you have no impact on anything.
So it does require someprioritization, and as well, it
(10:28):
requires people to coordinate
Lata Reddy (10:31):
And I would add, really, an understanding of what
you can uniquely bring forward.
So again, in Newark, we can do thingsthat others might not be able to
invest in, either because of theresources we have at our disposal
or the expertise we have and so on.
So we try to fill gaps, versus beingduplicative and doing things that others
could be or should be doing versus us.
Steve Odland (10:50):
Yeah.
The way we've talked, and the wayI've laid it out, it sounds like
all we're talking about is financialresources, but it's not, it's people.
And you have tens ofthousands of employees.
How do you marshal theirefforts, from volunteerism and
engagement in their communities?
Lata Reddy (11:08):
We have done a lot over the years to transform
how we think about that.
So we still have the traditional hands-onvolunteer opportunities that our employees
can engage in at their child's school orin their local community or what have you.
We also have a set of skills-basedopportunities that we've created.
So for example, we have the Pru Bonoprogram where we bring together our—so
(11:30):
pro bono—where we bring together ouremployees with specific skill sets to
match the needs of an identified challengethat our nonprofit partners or small
businesses might be facing, to help them.
So whether it's website design ormarketing, building a marketing
campaign, what have you, we'll pulltogether the internal expertise and
match it against the external need.
(11:51):
And then we also place employeeson boards of nonprofits to help
them from the governance side.
Steve Odland (11:56):
Yeah.
So this is an important thing forour listeners in other companies
to think about it, particularly ifyou want to expand on this, is that
it's got to be a deliberate effort.
It's not just toss it out thereand say, "Hey, go volunteer."
It's really the orchestration ofthat, the alignment of needs with
skill sets, as you said, and time.
And that takes an effort, doesn't it?
Lata Reddy (12:17):
It does.
And it's also, I would add,about making sure that we really
understand the needs of our partners.
So we say we're trying to help them,but years ago, we used to have this
thing called Global Volunteer Day,and it was a lovely initiative.
People around the world everyday would go out and volunteer.
Massive undertaking for myteam to organize all of that.
But what we also found is it was quiteburdensome for our partners, because
(12:38):
while they appreciated the desire tovolunteer, to have them have to accept
us on a certain day of the year anddesign a program for us was a little
bit burdensome for them, as well.
And so we realized there'sa better way to do this.
Steve Odland (12:51):
Yeah, just having a hundred people show up, it probably
is overwhelming and more work.
It's the thought that counts, but if youdo it in a more orchestrated fashion,
you put the right amount of people,power, and skills at the right place
for the right time that meets the need.
Yeah, really great learnings.
We're talking about Prudential Financial'scommitment to corporate responsibility.
(13:14):
We're going to take a shortbreak and be right back.
Welcome back to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm your host, Steve Odland, fromThe Conference Board, and I'm joined
today by Lata Reddy, the senior vicepresident of inclusive solutions at
Prudential Financial, and she's alsothe chair of the Prudential Foundation.
So, Lata, before the break, we weretalking about how Prudential engages in
(13:37):
all the communities and not just in itshometown of Newark, but also global.
But as you think about the stakeholders ofthe corporation, it's not just community.
There are many.
There are customers, there areemployees, there are owners,
community, certainly environment.
How do you think about all ofthese stakeholders in your mission?
Lata Reddy (14:01):
We have a real commitment, and have over the years, decades, had
a commitment to stakeholder engagement.
And we like to think we come atthis honestly, again, because of
our work in Newark and the factthat we're rooted in Newark.
And so, that's one wholeset of stakeholders right
there that we see every day.
But we know that it's important to makesure that we're engaging proactively
with all of these different groups.
(14:23):
Because it's critical to the work,their engagement is critical to
the work, and it's critical, as yousaid, to our ability to do the work.
Steve Odland (14:30):
Well, it used to be said that all you had to do is
take care of the shareholders, thatwas what corporations existed for.
And you do have to do that becausethey are the one constituency and
they are investing in your company,and so they want a return for that.
But there is complete acknowledgementnow, or at least general acknowledgement,
that there needs to be a balanceacross all of these constituencies.
(14:50):
And you can't justdeliver for one of them.
You really have to take them all andget the right balance and deliver
for all of them in that balance.
And that's hard.
Lata Reddy (15:01):
It is hard.
And I would actually take it a stepfurther and argue that you can't
deliver for your shareholders unlessyou're delivering for all of these
other stakeholders at the same time.
Steve Odland (15:09):
Exactly right.
So I don't know what you've disclosedin terms of the many millions that
you contribute to this, both in termsof cash, but also employee hours.
And I'm sure that you spend timethinking about what's the return on that.
Well, obviously there's a return tothe communities but how do you think
about return on the impact of this?
Lata Reddy (15:33):
It's multifaceted, and I'll give you a couple of
different perspectives on it.
One is, so we think about the societalimpact and the business impact and,
increasingly, in a more integrated way.
We have a whole measurement,rubric or scheme, if you will, to
look at how we're doing on that.
And it's across philanthropy,corporate contributions, employee
(15:53):
engagement, impact investing.
So it's apples to oranges to bananas.
But we try to see what that allladders up to in terms of, as you
said, the actual impact we're having.
The other part of it isthe less quantifiable, the
employee sentiment, right?
We know it's important for usas a business that our employees
feel good about this work.
And so that's one otherdimension we look at.
(16:14):
But look, ultimately, this is aboutensuring that the people that we
are serving at the pleasure of, ortrying to help, have the agency
to make the best decisions forthemselves and their families.
Full stop.
Steve Odland (16:29):
You have a really interesting title.
Not the SVP part, although that's prettygood one, too, but the inclusive solutions
part is really unique to Prudential.
I don't know that there's anothercompany that has somebody
with that kind of a title.
How did that come about?
Lata Reddy (16:44):
So there are a lot of conversations with our marketing team
and our colleagues and communications totry to identify a term that spoke to the
totality of what we do as a function.
And nothing was perfect, but thiscame closest in the sense of, we
are not the traditional corporatecitizenship or CSR function anymore.
(17:06):
We've transformed to be somethingvery different, that's about
helping ensure we as a businessgo to market more inclusively.
And to do that, we need justmore inclusive solutions, more
inclusive distribution platforms,product services, et cetera.
So inclusive solutions was meant tospeak to that whole basket of things
(17:28):
that we need to do differently.
Steve Odland (17:30):
Yeah.
And I think, ultimately, it also speaksto the need to provide opportunity, right?
That's essentially what you'reattempting to do in your communities:
provide opportunity for peoplewho may be marginalized, may
not, equality of opportunity.
And it's not necessarily about equalityof outcome, because there's so many
other variables in that, but you'retrying to level the playing field,
(17:52):
which is really a unique approach.
Lata Reddy (17:55):
That's exactly what it is.
And yeah, It's about ensuringthat people have, so I mentioned
use the word agency before, right?
So again, we're positioning peopleto be able to make those decisions,
whether it's because they're equippedwith the education, the knowledge
they need, whether it's becausethey have access to the tools that
they need, and then, the kind ofcapability, wherewithal to take action.
(18:16):
And so that is howwe're thinking about it.
Steve Odland (18:19):
So if a company was thinking—I think most companies have
some sort of community effort—but ifthey're trying to think about this
in a holistic way, as you have pulledtogether for Prudential, how would you
suggest they go about orchestrating this?
What's the starting point?
Lata Reddy (18:39):
Your core business.
So what are you in the business of?
And for us as a financial servicescompany, we are trying to help
people build generational wealth.
So that becomes, then, the touchstone.
And then you think end to endabout the continuum of resources
that you have as a company.
So at one end, we have our philanthropy,which is intended to help those
(19:00):
who are most vulnerable in society.
And then at the other extremeend, we've got our core business
lines, which as financial services,typically, that's going to skew right
to the other end of that spectrumin terms of income and wealth.
World events—2008, other things—havebrought both sides into the middle
a little bit more, if you will.
(19:20):
And so there's a real opportunityto operate at that sweet spot.
So that's what I would tell othercompanies to think about is, how do you
get to that point where you're not doingthe business of the business and where
the business isn't going so far down thatthey're not necessarily a viable business,
but what is that sweet spot where youcan create optionality for more people?
Steve Odland (19:40):
So I think what I hear you saying is it starts
with the business strategy.
So if you're in the foodindustry, you're feeding people.
And so hence, you want to start with thatas the core, what is your core business
strategy and build your philanthropy andyour community engagement around that.
If you're in the educationworld, same kind of thing, right?
That's what I hear you saying.
(20:01):
Now, as you partner with these othercompanies and industries, how do
you get to that complex weave, thatwoven fabric of intersecting goals?
Lata Reddy (20:12):
I would say we're not, we as an industry,
probably aren't quite there yet.
So a lot of the partnering we dois more on the philanthropic side.
We're identifying, again, sharedissues, organizations that we believe
in, and investing in them together.
We've not yet come across too manycompanies that are really in a deeper
(20:34):
way operating at that intersection.
And look, we have a lot to learn.
We're continuing to grow into it.
But we would love to find partnerswhere we can really do work together
in that deeply integrated way.
Steve Odland (20:47):
So looking ahead now, 2025 has started out in a strange way.
As usual, there's lots of stuff going on.
The environment keeps shifting,there's a lot of uncertainty.
I'm not sure that's ever going to goaway, but clearly, it must create some
introspection, not only for Prudential,but for all companies in this world.
(21:10):
How are you taking this all in,and how are you reevaluating your
strategies, and where do you thinkyou'll take it going forward?
Lata Reddy (21:18):
So again, with our reflecting on our 150th year, we've done a lot
of looking back see from whence we'vecome, and we've withstood, as you can
imagine, in that long time period, alot of change and turmoil and issues.
And so for us, it's alwaysbeen clarity of purpose.
That's what has been our North Star,how we've navigated through whatever
(21:41):
the external environment is, and howwe've also met the needs of all of our
stakeholders, to that earlier question.
Steve Odland (21:47):
Yeah, in 150 years, we've seen wars, famines,
pandemics, crashes, financialcrises, uprisings, social upheaval.
You go on and on, not to mentionweather events, you're in
the insurance industry, too.
You've rocked and rolled through allof it, and I guess your point is, stay
on track with what your goals are, makesure that you keep things in balance.
(22:08):
But that requires people who alsothen have some perspective to all
of this and aren't just buffeted bywhatever the winds are of the times.
Lata Reddy (22:18):
It does.
And again, I think that comes fromthat clarity of purpose, which can't be
overstated, because it gets hard sometimesto be purpose-led and make decisions,
right, that are rooted in that purpose.
But where Prudential is fortunate iswe were founded as a social enterprise.
150 years ago, our founder createdus to provide burial insurance to
(22:38):
working families, the so-calledindustrial class in Newark.
Three pennies a week.
It was unheard of.
It was a controversial idea at thetime because people didn't trust
working families to pay their premiums.
But he looked around a corner and, again,saw that intersection of societal need
and a business opportunity, and built acompany that 150 years later is within
(22:59):
the top 100 companies in the world.
Steve Odland (23:02):
And that story then creates a dozen other stories.
But over time, it's really theanchor for all that you do, isn't it?
Lata Reddy (23:10):
It is.
Steve Odland (23:11):
And hence your advice to stay true to your core values.
Any other advice before we closeout that you'd like to share?
Lata Reddy (23:18):
I think the purpose piece of it is evergreen, as well as, and
we touched on this, but it's to reallylook within, understand all of the
resources you can bring to bear.
And so if you've got a purpose, youunderstand what your mission is,
and why your company exists, whichfor us isn't just to drive profit,
it's to drive progress, then whatdo you need to do as a result?
(23:42):
And how do you need to spend and allocateyour time and your treasure, so to speak?
And so those to me are the twomost important aspects of this.
Steve Odland (23:51):
Lata Reddy, senior vice president of inclusive
solutions at Prudential Financial,thanks for being with us today.
Lata Reddy (23:57):
Thank you for having me.
Steve Odland (23:58):
And thanks to all of you for listening to C-Suite Perspectives.
I'm Steve Odland, and this series has beenbrought to you by The Conference Board.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.