Naver Happybean said on Oct. 28 it held “Happybean Corporate Partners Day” on Oct. 27 at Culture Station Seoul 284 in Jung-gu, Seoul.

About 70 social contribution officials from 40 companies and institutions attended the event. They shared examples of collaboration between companies and nonprofit organisations and ways to sustain social contribution projects.

This year’s event was held under the theme “CONNECT.” The programme focused on cases in which companies linked their resources with social issues, partners and participants to run social contribution projects.

The keynote speech was delivered by Woo-jong Lee (이우종), a professor at Seoul National University’s business school. He said a system that can explain the performance and sustainability of social contribution and environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities is becoming more important as accounting and disclosure environments change.

Company collaboration cases were also introduced. Namyang Dairy Products presented how it expanded a campaign supporting young carers that began with consumer proposals into an actual support project, and its collaboration with Happybean.

Yuhan-Kimberly introduced support for diapers for premature babies and awareness-raising activities it has run since 2017. It currently provides related products free of charge to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) nationwide and to families of premature babies.

Mirae Asset Park Hyun Joo Foundation shared a case from its “Hope Sharing” open call project aimed at supporting children’s education, experiences and environment. It is a project that uses the Happybean platform to link public interest group projects with user participation and the use and disclosure of results of support funds.

Happybean also introduced “On: Youth,” a project supporting 300 youths preparing for independent living. Seven institutions and companies take part in the project: LH, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, Yuhan-Kimberly, Asung Daiso, Naver Happybean and World Vision.

The event also held a panel discussion on topics including the performance and sustainability of social contribution projects, donations and investment. Participants included Professor Lee, Jung-tae Kim (김정태), head of MYSC, and Yang-sook Jeon (전양숙), head of Yuhan-Kimberly’s sustainability management centre.

Il-gu Lee (이일구), head of Naver Happybean, said it will continue its role as a partner connecting the corporate social contribution ecosystem by focusing on data and performance, relationships and narratives.