Alumni Spotlight: Salerno on Careers in Corporate Responsibility
When Christine Salerno (Pardee ’95) graduated from Boston University with a BA in International Relations and a minor in Italian Studies, she had two immediate goals on her mind.
“There were two things I knew for sure when I graduated from BU: I wanted to have a career that focused on making the world a better place, and I wanted to live abroad,” Salerno said.
Salerno is now the Global Head of Corporate Responsibility for Marsh and McLennan Companies, with an extensive background in corporate social responsibility.
“Back in 1995, the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ didn’t exist, and I really didn’t know exactly how I wanted to make the world a better place anyway,” Salerno said. “Was it pursuing a career in the foreign service, joining the Peace Corps, or something else?”
Following graduation, Salerno’s first job was at Swiss Bank Corporation in New York City working in emerging markets, and helping developing countries refinance their debt.
“It was a rewarding time helping these countries at a macro level and I was learning a lot, but I didn’t have a degree in finance or accounting,” Salerno said.
Through her work at Swiss Bank, Salerno was able to participate in a bank-sponsored graduate training program in Singapore, which allowed her to experience a totally different culture and travel through parts of South Asia.
Salerno was then offered a position with Swiss Bank in Zurich, injecting her into one of the largest mergers in Switzerland’s history, and offering her extensive exposure to global operations.
“A few years later, I moved back to New York to work in the private bank. Though I appreciated my team and the company I was working for, it felt like I fell off my path a bit,” Salerno said. “So I left my job at the bank, sublet my apartment, and spent the next few months traveling and volunteering through South Africa and Central America, trying to decide what my next move would be.”
After going back to school at the Johns Hopkins Paul S. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), studying abroad in Italy, and interning at the United Nations Foundation, Salerno accepted a role with a marketing company in London where she led a department across Western Europe.
It was during that time that Salerno happened across an advertisement for the Global Leadership Fellows program at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva.
“Reading about the requirements and the role sounded like a dream come true! Did I have a master’s degree? Did I speak a foreign language? Did I have international work experience? Was I committed to improving the state of the world? The answer was yes to all of it, so I applied,” Salerno said.
According to Salerno, the opportunity to work at the WEF helped her to realize the goal she set for herself when she graduated from Boston University to make the world a better place.
“Working at the WEF is not for the faint of heart, but it was an unforgettable experience – helping to organize the Annual Meeting in Davos, researching corporate engagement in society, working with companies who were actively engaging in society, and taking courses from professors who taught at great schools around the world,” Salerno said.
In 2008, one of the WEF’s partner companies, Marsh & McLennan, approached Salerno with the opportunity to create a new role within the company.
“At the time Marsh & McLennan did not have a dedicated corporate social responsibility program, so I jumped at the opportunity to create one,” Salerno said. “Building a department from scratch in a long-established organization was no easy task, but I’ve been able to work with an incredible group of people over the past nine years. We have built a cohesive, global CSR framework for the company, which focuses on employee engagement and enhancing our brand to potential employees, clients and investors.”
Salerno said that the grounding in international relations she received at the Pardee School remains crucial to her current role.
“Studying international relations has given me the perspective to see things at both a macro and a micro level,” Salerno said. “The way I write, the way I interact, the programs and policies I create – they have to resonate globally. Additionally, having a grounding in foreign policy strategy and implementation has come in handy when creating global volunteering and philanthropy policies.”
According to Salerno, classes she took on the history of international relations from Professor of International Relations and History William Keylor and on intelligence studies from Associate Professor Emeritus of International Relations Arthur Hulnick were especially influential to her development as a global professional.
“Professor Keylor’s courses on the history of International Relations were ahead of their time. Keylor created not only a substantive framework, but a visual one too,” Salerno said. “He had two photo projectors – on either side of him – with photos from the events he was lecturing on. He was humanizing history as he was teaching it. And he also ensured that we were getting the point of view from those who were experiencing it.”
Salerno said her advice to current Pardee School students who might be interested in pursuing a similar career path to hers is twofold: develop communications skills and study abroad.
“Participate in a study abroad program if you can. And go somewhere off the beaten path,” Salerno said. “Immerse yourself in a culture and a language different from your own. You will learn so much about yourself as a person.”