Corporate social responsibility and advocacy are table stakes in today’s marketplace. Yet, companies of all kinds fall short on strategy in these areas. Direct selling companies possess the most potent of assets—independent sales forces and employee bases numbering in the tens of thousands—but often lack the know-how or motivation to effectively activate them as grassroots ambassadors who can inform, educate and advocate for their products, manufacturing processes, operations, independent sales forces, causes and missions and—most importantly—the direct selling industry itself.

At a time when legislative gridlock in Congress means fewer regulations created by statute as well as increasing incidents of regulatory rule interpretation and expansion, direct selling companies are wise to step up or step into government affairs and advocacy at this time in order to proactively protect themselves. After all, once the Federal Trade Commission comes knocking, it really is too late.

Young Living Essential Oils, along with its philanthropic arm the D. Gary Young, Young Living Foundation, is working to address, mitigate and prevent the risk of modern slavery and labor trafficking through a partnership with Hope for Justice through the Slave-Free Alliance. Young Living is donating $10,000 to Hope for Justice as part of an Anti-Slavery Week campaign and to help spread awareness about the signs of modern slavery, while also sharing how businesses can safeguard their own supply chains from these abhorrent labor conditions.

Click here to order the December 2017 issue in which this article appeared. I look back over 2017 with great pride at what the DSA team accomplished on behalf of our industry. We brought member company executives together to share their advice and concerns, to support our vital advocacy efforts, and to commit to ever-higher ethical standards […]

Click here to order the November 2017 issue in which this article appeared. DSA’s mission is to police, promote and protect its members. That’s how we ensure a landscape in which direct selling companies can operate effectively and ethically while protecting consumers from bad actors. A large part of this mission is the work DSA does with […]