**The Lifecycle of CSR Programs.**

**Inti Raymi Gold Mine.**

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*

Just as corporations have an organizational life cycle, so too do the
socially responsible programs that corporations create. Perhaps no
operation better knows that projects have a beginning, middle and end
then a mining company.\
\
The Inti Raymi gold mine is Bolivia's most important and is responsible
for over 60% of the gold production in the country. It has created 700
jobs filled by Bolivian citizens that combined represent USD \$8.2
million per year in salaries and benefits. The mine also spends USD \$18
million annually on local goods and services and pays USD \$4 million in
taxes. The Newmont Mining Corporation, a company that became the world's
largest gold producer in early 2002, is the majority owner of the Inti
Raymi mine. As is characteristic of extractive companies, Inti Raymi is
in constant interaction with the local community. Company commitment to
social responsibility through community engagement is a major
determining factor as to whether that relationship will be mutually
beneficial or antagonistic. With respect to business operations, the
Inti Raymi mine has one of the best reputations in Bolivia, evidenced by
its strong safety & health record and good relations with the union
representing the mine workers. In the area of community engagement, the
mining company created a Foundation to achieve its external social
responsibility objectives.

**Inti Raymi Foundation.**

The Inti Raymi Foundation was formed in 1991 in order to promote
sustainable development by creating an alliance between the public,
private, and civil sectors. Today, grassroots development is one of the
Foundation's key objectives and the organization works with the
communities surrounding the mine in two main thematic areas. The first,
called "productive investment" by the Foundation, centers on small
business and income generating opportunities and includes projects such
as a micro-business incubator and a micro-credit program. The second,
called "social or quality-of-life investment," focuses on community
empowerment through projects that build leadership capacity as well as
responding to infrastructure priorities identified by the local
population.

# 

# Early Years.

Early in its timeline of community involvement, the Inti Raymi
Foundation carried out a number of beneficial programs. Examples include
health initiatives such as the construction of a hospital and economic
development initiatives including a sheep production project. Some of
the projects were primarily intended for the mineworkers, but were made
available to the wider community as well. Others, such as the
sheep-raising and marketing projects did not include miners at all and
were targeted towards other segments of the population. Though the
programs were described as successful and well-received overall, the
Foundation managed a top-down model of program funding, with ideas and
implementation of projects being generated by Inti Raymi and communities
not included as part of the planning process. To capitalize on
corporate-sponsored social programs, communities must be able to
participate fully and equally in this and other aspects of the mine's
operations. When local people are equal stakeholders, sensitive issues
such as land tenure and usage rights can be resolved in a transparent
manner. Inti Raymi has discovered that if communities are part of the
negotiations process, agreements necessary for the mine's existence are
resolved much more quickly which in turn increases profitability. Those
agreements that have a certain legitimacy in the eyes of the people and
the mine's daily operations are less likely to be interrupted by civil
unrest.

# The Role of the IAF.

The IAF's methodology promotes the organizational motto "they know how."
In practice this means that communities have their own ideas for
development projects they would like to design and implement given
access to the necessary funding. This type of 'responsive funding'
concerns itself with the process of community development as much as the
actual results of the project. Beyond the physical benefit of a new well
or schoolhouse is the community's ability to participate as a full
partner and to hone skills necessary to manage its own destiny. More
than donating funds to Inti Raymi's programs, the IAF transferred its
method of funding. Included in this transfer was the IAF system of
project results measurement, the Grassroots Development Framework. The
result was a decentralized fund that would respond to community project
proposals, capitalized jointly by the IAF and Inti Raymi. Both
organizations shared the mutual goal of community development. The IAF
helped Inti Raymi to implement a more efficient way of accomplishing
this.

# The Future of the Mine and Foundation.

Whenever a large corporation has a physical presence in a specific
location, expectations are raised within the surrounding community. This
is particularly true in regions where residents have little or no other
means of economic security available outside of the company's
activities. Inevitably, extractivists are in the commodity business.
They, like the local community, depend on the supply of natural
resources available. There is one significant distinction however, in
that the mining corporation will eventually close operations and move
on, while the community cannot. In the case of Inti Raymi knowing that
the life of the mine is finite, community, corporation and Foundation
have worked together to develop a strategic plan to assure a smooth
transition once their concession is over. Their overarching goal is to
achieve continuity in the design, funding and implementation of social
programs, so that even after the mine shuts down the foundation can
continue.\
\
To that end, the Foundation is exploring an endowment fund with seed
capital from the company. As a first step, Inti Raymi created a U.S.
based foundation for the purpose of fundraising. However, like many
foundations since September 11^th^, this U.S Foundation has had limited
success in raising funds. Other sources of funding, such as the Bolivian
expatriate community, are also being explored. Beyond organizational
self-sufficiency, Inti Raymi is considering project specific
sustainability for certain activities like its micro-credit program.
Another important factor in long-term planning is the development of
sustainable leadership. Attracting visionary leaders to run the
Foundation could become more difficult once the business interest is no
longer behind the organization. In response, Inti Raymi expects to open
its Board of Directors to both community members as well as nationally
known leaders thereby increasing both the talent pool and the visibility
of the foundation's management. Finally, certain procedural issues have
already been planned in conjunction with community input, such as
ownership of land and payment/compensation for land use. Due to the
presence of the mine for so many years, the region enjoys good
infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and airport, etc. This could
open the door for new productive land use. Possible replacement
institutions once the mine shuts down are an industrial park, a
university, or a wildlife habitat. Whichever option is pursued will have
the strength of community consensus behind it.

**Lessons Learned:**

-   For corporations involved in socially responsible programs, there is
    a learning curve which can be accelerated by partnerships with
    institutions that have experience in community engagement;

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-   Though obvious for a mining company, a well planned exit strategy
    should be a part of every company's efforts in community engagement;

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-   Individual social projects are part of a strategic plan to build
    capacity and leadership within the community.

> **Kellee James** is an intern at the Inter-American Foundation and an
> MBA/MA International Development candidate at American University in
> Washington, D.C.