On September 15, 2020, Laura Chapman Rubbo, Director of Responsible Governance and Supply Chains for The Walt Disney Company, was awarded the McLane Leadership in Business Award by the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy. The award recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of business and public service.
Rubbo started the evening describing her introduction to the field of corporate social responsibility, a field that did not exist when she began her career in the mid-1990s. Growing up in different countries, she knew she wanted to seek a career that allowed her to engage with people from all over the world. Upon finishing graduate school, Rubbo began her first job working for a retailer, where she helped create codes of conduct for suppliers that banned certain working conditions, like child labor. That was in the early days of what is now known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Today, twenty-six years later, Rubbo oversees efforts to improve labor standards in the global supply chain of the largest licensor of consumer products in the world, The Walt Disney Company. She leads policy analysis, strategy development, and external stakeholder engagement for global human rights and other corporate social responsibility issues across all of Disney’s businesses.
Rubbo shared the importance of recognizing business and trade as a force for good while also acknowledging the unintended consequences it can present. She explained that working with policy makers, federal government workers, and nonprofit groups is vital in addressing the potential negative impacts of trade and, in exchange, advance better policies, practices, and responsibilities. Throughout her career, Rubbo has seen significant progress in global supply chain standards, such as internationally accepted human rights principles like the 2011 UN Guiding Principles to Business and Human Rights, which are acknowledged by over 187 countries and which have greatly enhanced global standards. In response to a question about whether cultural differences cause difficulties with compliance, Rubbo explained that with the progress in internationally accepted standards, most governments have adopted national labor laws, and she can point to the very laws the nation has ratified and the behaviors it already prohibits to guide discussions.
With regard to career advice, Rubbo urged students interested in promoting ethical supply chains not only to pursue jobs in CSR departments, but even better, to help mainstream CSR principles by working within any of many business departments, such as procurement, finance, technology, and marketing.
Dr. Raymond Robertson, Director of the Mosbacher Institute, asked Rubbo what she was most proud of in her career, to which she answered, “I always feel like I have not done enough.” She went on to mention breakthrough moments of progress that have occurred in her and her peers’ careers. She particularly acknowledged the creation of the Supply Chain Investment Program through the Disney Foundation that has set aside $20 million to contribute to innovation for understanding human rights issues in global supply chains.
Rubbo concluded her remarks by quoting President George H. W. Bush, “Public Service is a noble calling and we need men and women of character to believe that they can make a difference in their communities, in their states, and in their country.” The evening ended with Drayton McLane Jr. presenting Rubbo with the 2020 McLane Leadership in Business Award.
