Deloitte reinforces the role of the private sector with the legacy of B20 Brazil

The B20 Summit 2024, an important platform for dialogue between business leaders and governments around the G20, gathered influential voices from the private sector, public authorities, and NGO representatives in São Paulo in October to discuss solutions and policies for global economic challenges, covering topics such as environmental sustainability, digital transformation, social inclusion, and corporate governance. The event, an official part of Brazil’s presidency of the G20 Summit in 2024, aimed to create recommendations that contribute to sustainable global development.

During her visit to the country to participate in the B20 Summit and parallel events held in the same week, Anna Marks, Deloitte Global Chair, shared her vision on the forum’s legacy, the role of companies in social impact, and the importance of turning debates into concrete actions for building a more sustainable and equitable future. Deloitte, present at previous editions of the B20 in other countries, acted in 2024 as a knowledge partner in two of the initiative’s task forces: Finance & Infrastructure and Integrity & Compliance. Follow the interview with Anna Marks below.
 

Deloitte has consistently contributed to B20 editions. Why is it important to engage in initiatives with a social focus and major annual events like the World Economic Forum and the Conference of the Parties (COP)?
Anna Marks: Our global aspiration is to be one of the most respected and responsible organizations in the world. This is really important to us, particularly in relation to our clients, our people and the societal impact we want to promote. We focus on how we can generate and amplify this impact. To do this, we collaborate in environments like those provided by the B20, the World Economic Forum, and the UN, which bring together a wide variety of organizations from all sectors of the ecosystem – public, private, and civil society – to co-create solutions that promote a positive impact. This way, we can play our part in helping build a more sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future.

What is Deloitte’s vision of the potential legacy of B20 Brazil, considering the organization’s historical participation in other editions?
Anna Marks: We have been truly privileged to participate in the B20 over several years. This is the first year I have been personally involved as a member of the B20 International Business Advocacy Caucus and have seen firsthand the impact generated. I am very proud of Deloitte’s role as a knowledge partner to two of the two task forces – especially the work of our team in Brazil. The focus was on supporting the development of the task force recommendations for 2024, and thinking about the future. Part of the legacy of this year’s B20 will be the focus on continuity of the recommendations and also driving action through advocating for measurable and consistent KPIs. Looking forward, we are focused on contributing to the transition of the B20 presidency to its next edition in South Africa.

Why is it important for companies to collaborate with social impact agents?
Anna Marks: This is directly related to one of my personal passions – the work that social entrepreneurs and innovators do is inspiring and important. These organizations are often micro-enterprises, which are innovative, agile, and typically have a different risk appetite to large corporates. When we work with social entrepreneurs and innovators, we learn a lot about risk appetite and tolerance, access to new markets, new products, and innovations. In return, we offer knowledge, support, and contacts, connecting the dots and supporting their success – thus generating a greater social impact. Additionally, the impact is amplified when we collaborate with other large organizations that have complementary skills to ours. For example, Deloitte worked with Salesforce to launch UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s open innovation platform, with the goal of bringing together entrepreneurs and experts to source ideas and innovations in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Together, acting collaboratively across the ecosystem, we can better support social entrepreneurship, and amplify the positive impact generated.

How does Deloitte – and especially your Global Board, which you lead – view the purpose of this organization of 460,000 professionals in over 150 countries?
Anna Marks: If we want to achieve our aspirational goal of being one of the most respected and responsible organizations in the world, purpose must be at the center of everything we do, embedded in the services we offer to our clients every day and in the activities we perform alongside that to positively impact our societies, communities and planet. For us, as the Global Board, the focus is on enabling the success of our organization, and overseeing the execution of that strategy. In this sense, we have established a new committee on the Board, dedicated to deepening our focus on societal impact, sustainability, and culture, creating a safe, inclusive, and diverse environment where people can thrive and be themselves.

More broadly, what is the role of senior executives in private organizations in enabling the major transformations that B20 discussions bring?
Anna Marks: The role of leadership in the private sector is to turn these discussions into reality. Events like B20 bring the opportunity for very interesting discussions amongst leaders from business, NGOs and governments – the challenge is always the translation of recommendations into tangible actions. At the B20 parallel event on the Finance & Infrastructure task force, which I had the privilege of opening, my “ask” was that every attendee left with a practical action. If each leader participating in an event like that is inspired by something they heard or someone they talked with and leaves with a commitment to take action, no matter how small, it creates an amplification effect. Therefore, the role of leadership is not just to participate in strategic thinking, contributing knowledge, capacity, and viewpoints to create recommendations. Each of us needs to take these ideas and act on them within our own organization, as well as think about how to do more within the ecosystem. As leaders, this is our responsibility.

Changing the subject, can you tell us about your experience as a woman in a senior leadership position?
Anna Marks: Looking at the corporate world today, it is imperative for both Executive Committees and Boards to have greater diversity. And globally, companies as a whole are not doing so well. According to Deloitte’s most recent Women in the Boardroom report, which surveyed over 18,000 organizations to understand the composition of their boards, women hold less than one-quarter of the world’s board seats. Further, only 6% of CEOs and just over 8% of board chairs are women. So, there is much to be done by all of us. At Deloitte, we have programs to actively analyze succession planning, identify the next generation of leaders, and include a focus on diversity and gender equity in this process. We have made progress worldwide and particularly in Brazil, where local leadership has made great strides in terms of women on the team and continues its efforts in this regard. We have more to do, and we are focused on practical actions to ensure we achieve higher representation of women at our most senior leadership levels. Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to have many inspiring individuals – both men and women – who gave me advice, supported me, and opened my eyes to opportunities. Having great mentorship and sponsorship is a critical part of achieving gender equity in leadership structures. Alongside that listening to the needs of our professionals such introducing greater flexibility at work and providing the conditions to enable women to develop their full leadership potential. And we hope, in this way, to make the progress needed.