Sodexo’s Corporate Citizenship Manager to receive “Game Changer” Award for contribution to responsible business

Thomas Jelley, Sodexo’s corporate citizenship manager, is to receive a Business in the Community (BITC) Game Changer Award in recognition of his work to advance the responsible business movement.

Thomas Jelley, Sodexo’s corporate citizenship manager, is to receive a Business in the Community (BITC) Game Changer Award in recognition of his work to advance the responsible business movement.

This year BITC, which is celebrating its 30th year of campaigning on responsible business issues, has launched a oneoff ‘Game Changers’ accolade to honour inspirational individuals who have really managed to raise standards, to move the dial and to make a lasting impact on both the businesses where they operate and on the work, knowledge and capacity of BITC.

Thomas, who joined Sodexo in 2008, is corporate citizenship manager for the UK and Ireland business and co-author of Sodexo's award-winning global sustainability strategy to 2020, the Better Tomorrow Plan. He is also administrator of the Sodexo Foundation, the registered charity established to provide a framework for strategic community investment as part of the company’s STOP Hunger initiative. Its objectives are to educate and provide relief from financial hardship in relation to health, nutrition and wellbeing through the provision of grants, goods and services.

Thomas was nominated for the award by Kate Turner from BITC, the business-led charity which works to promote responsible business practice. Kate said: “Through his co-authoring of the Better Tomorrow Plan, Thomas has revolutionised the way corporate citizenship is viewed and lived by Sodexo employees, placing an emphasis not only on core values and business operations, but the essential role external stakeholders play in the success of the business.

“Thomas was instrumental in writing and launching the Better Tomorrow Plan (BTP) in 2009 - a sustainability roadmap for the whole Sodexo Group, covering 80 countries and over 400,000 employees worldwide. As a result Sodexo has turned a substantial corner in terms of the way in which it integrates responsible business practice into core business operations and reports on its progress.

“The success of the BTP was evident in Sodexo’s rising to the Gold band level in the 2011 and 2012 Corporate Responsibility Index results. On top of everything else, Thomas is an excellent people manager, and a joy to work with.”

Thomas was previously a City lawyer but he decided to change careers via an MSc in Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey after working on two pieces of corporate responsibility related litigation which made him realise that he would prefer to work on avoiding the need for legal disputes in the first place. Since joining Sodexo, he has supported the company’s efforts to be recognised as a sector leader and helped it win a number of industry awards for corporate responsibility.

Thomas said: "The Better Tomorrow Plan, Sodexo's sustainability strategy to 2020, is a complex and challenging change management project which tests us on a daily basis. I have been working on it since it was first conceived in 2008 so being part of its progress has been the mainstay of my work for more than four years. Recognition as ‘Game Changer’ from BITC was a surprise which I am thrilled to accept. It is especially gratifying having changed careers to act on a strong conviction: corporate responsibility has been my own personal change management project since I decided to leave legal practice."