For Eileen Howard Boone ’86, “the social responsibility part of corporate leadership started as a side job and blossomed into an entire career,” according to a recent article in The Christian Science Monitor.
Howard Boone, who worked as the vice president of corporate communications and investor relations for Office Depot in Florida, the article noted, inspired her to co-create the company’s well known National Backpack Program, an initiative that donates school supplies to millions of underprivileged students.
“It was important for me to see the art of taking an asset and building it into something that was a wonderful opportunity not just for the kids, but for us and for the partners we were working with,” said Howard Boone, who majored in psychology while at Holy Cross.
An article by Forbes reported that Howard Boone, currently the senior vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility & Philanthropy and president of CVS Health Foundation, has been a key player in the company’s campaign “Be the First,” a $50 million venture with multiple other organizations working to decrease the rates of smoking and tobacco use. Through the campaign and her other work in the antismoking front, she is “shaping and evolving the company’s tobacco prevention initiatives,” according to the article.
“‘Be The First’ consists of comprehensive education, advocacy, tobacco control and healthy behavior programming that is delivered by a group of national partner organizations and directed at youth and young adults who use tobacco or are at risk of becoming tobacco users,” Howard Boone told Forbes.
- July 7, Yahoo! Finance: CVS Health Foundation and American Academy of Pediatrics Announce New Initiative to Reduce Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
- July 6, Forbes: Two Years After The Ban: How CVS Continues To Take On Tobacco
- June 24, Drug Store News: CSM profiles the architect behind CVS Health's CSR and philanthropy initiatives
- June 23, The Christian Science Monitor: She’s been instrumental in CVS taking a stand against tobacco
This “Holy Cross in the News” item is by Jessica Kennedy.
