The role of president of the Corporate Social Responsibility Institute (CRI) is assumed by Yannos Grammatidis, honorary president of the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, while Nikos Avlonas assumes the role of vice president. Also, by unanimous decision of the general assembly of the Institute’s partners, Dimitrios Mavros, founder of the Institute and prominent member of the Greek business community, was declared Honorary President of the Institute.

The Corporate Responsibility Institute CRI is a non-profit organization that has been operating in Greece since 2008 and is the first body to introduce ESG criteria in Greek business, as the exclusive representative of the National CR Index, in collaboration with the British organization Business in the Community (BITC) which is under the patronage of King Charles. The CR Index is a management tool of strategic importance that enables companies and organizations to assess their actions and actual performance in terms of Sustainable Development and ESG integration, as well as to compare their practices with the practices of pioneers in the field corporate responsibility of businesses in Greece and abroad.

As every year, this year too the Institute of Corporate Responsibility starts the evaluation procedures for 2024 by announcing the hosting of CR INDEX on a renewed platform, with its main features being enriched content, faster browsing, improved and user friendly navigation for users, but also with a renewed design. CR INDEX, which has emerged as the most important tool for improving the performance of businesses in sustainable development, proceeded with this important technological upgrade with a dual purpose: On the one hand, the upgrade and evolution of its existing services, and on the other hand, the integration of new, advanced capabilities in the tool, which make the assessment even more targeted and reliable. Now – more than ever – companies will have access to comparative data (quantitative and qualitative) that will allow them to easily and quickly identify the strong and weak points in the sustainable development strategy and design the plan that will allow them to improve not only the ESG ratings but also their annual corporate performance as a whole.

With his statement, the new president Giannos Grammatidis recalled that the Institute of Corporate Responsibility has, since its foundation, supported more than 90 Greek and multinational companies from 12 different sectors, representing approximately 20% of the Greek GDP, to systematize their actions and initiatives they undertake in the field of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development (ESG), to effectively integrate responsible practices into their strategy and to record reliable data and measurables and results, through the internationally recognized CR Index performance evaluation tool. Mr. Grammatidis characteristically noted that “the goal of the Institute’s new management is to utilize the strong footprint and the relationship of trust that the Institute has built over the years with the Greek business community, but also to intensify its role and action in order to support even more businesses – especially in the Greek region – so that they can participate decisively and effectively in the sustainable economic development of the country and in the improvement of social conditions. In 2024, with multiple challenges and mainly that of the climate crisis, businesses can and must contribute to the creation of a new development model that will be based on the principles of sustainability. CRI is here and will continue to lead the way in showing businesses the way in this very important endeavor.”

For his part, the new vice-president Nikos Avlonas emphasized, among other things, that “having served CRI for 17 years, I am particularly happy that we contributed together with Dimitris Mavros, as a pioneering organization, to the introduction and updating of ESG criteria for the first time in Greece, but also in enhancing the performance of dozens of businesses that have trusted it over time. CRI, with its renewed tools and international methodologies, supports companies that are truly committed to Sustainable Development, to establish the appropriate goals and achieve top performance in ESG criteria, today more than ever, the legislative requirements but also the essential economic business survival, are directly linked to Sustainable Development”.

The founder and honorary president of the Institute Dimitris Mavros said “I feel particularly happy that the long-term activity of the Institute of Corporate Social Responsibility has offered businesses a tool to measure and evaluate their efforts to adapt to the demands of modern entrepreneurship. I am sure that the efforts of businesses to transform themselves into proper corporate citizens will continue with the support of the Institute’s new management.”