The purposes of the Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation, as set forth in Section 2 of Article 1 of its Bylaws, are to
- foster ethical practices within the business community of the greater Rochester, New York area;
- recognize ethical practices in the Rochester business marketplace through the annual Rochester Business Ethics Awards;
- promote community awareness of ethics in business via seminars, presentations, and film and book events;
- sponsor scholarships that recognize students who exhibit high ethical standards; and
- solicit, collect, invest, manage and administer funds and other contributions to the Foundation.
The Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation was established in June, 2006. Commencing January 1, 2007, the Foundation became operational and all activities are conducted through the Foundation.
The Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation has a close relationship with the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Rochester, NY Chapter, Inc., which is the local chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals (NSFSP), a national organization based in Newtown Square, PA.
The NSFSP founded The American Business Ethics Award in 1994. The Rochester Chapter established its local award in 2003 under the umbrella of the national society and bases its award program upon this model and abides by its rules and regulations.
Because of this affiliation, there is a close connection between the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Rochester, NY Chapter, Inc. and the Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation, and all directors of the Foundation must be active members of the Rochester Chapter.
The tremendous success of the Rochester program prompted the Steering Committee to form a separate foundation to handle the activities of the Rochester Business Ethics Award.
Financial Sponsors
The Award Partners -- The Society of Financial Service Professionals, Rochester, NY Chapter, Inc., St. John Fisher College and the Rochester Business Alliance -- seek strategic alliances with organizations that champion high standards of business ethics and wish to support this important program. Sponsoring institutions play a key role in publicizing the programs, identifying potential awards candidate companies, and hosting the awards and other events.
There are three levels of financial partners and sponsors – Diamond, Platinum, and Gold. Each level contributes a fixed amount to the Foundation and receives certain benefits in return.
Community Supporters
As Foundation events grow, there have been opportunities for companies not engaged in the financial services industry to actively support our activities through underwriting program expenses. We anticipate this model will continue to be utilized. We value the community involvement such support encourages and will publicly recognize our community supporters.
Charitable Contributions
We anticipate receiving contributions from benefactors who receive no benefits and/or which are not connected to any specific event or program. Our fundraising is limited to New York State. We raise funds to cover costs of our educational programs and our annual award luncheon.