Corporate Heartbeat: The Win-Win of Giving Back

Corporate giving is increasingly viewed as part of local economic infrastructure—not discretionary generosity. In the U.S., 13.7% of households experienced food insecurity in 2024, impacting millions of working families and signaling stress within regional labor markets. As cost-of-living pressures persist and metro regions like North Texas continue to grow rapidly, business leaders are reassessing how community stability directly affects workforce reliability, consumer demand, and long-term economic health.

So what does “giving back” look like when it’s treated less like a nice-to-have—and more like a strategy for resilience? If community health is a business input, not a side project, how can corporate giving benefit our organizations, our employees, our communities, and the world—at the same time?

That’s the question at the heart of this episode of The CG Hour, hosted by Fanny Dunagan, featuring Trisha Cunningham, the CEO of North Texas Food Bank, Saurajit Kanungo, the CEO of CG Infinity, and Raj Asava, the co-founder of HungerMitao. Together, they map the “win-win” mechanics of modern corporate philanthropy—from employee engagement and culture-building to scalable, repeatable community partnerships that can outlast any single news cycle.

What you’ll learn…

• Why “passive” donations are giving way to “active” involvement—and how volunteerism creates loyalty, culture, and stronger customer relationships.

• How to build CSR that actually sticks, including practical tactics like matching gifts, “dollars for doers,” and employee-led initiatives that make people feel heard.

• What scalable giving looks like in practice, from the “1% pledge” model to “CSR-in-a-box” templates that let even small businesses launch credible programs fast.

Trisha Cunningham is the president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank, leading one of the nation’s largest food acquisition and distribution organizations and advancing large-scale growth initiatives, including a $55M capital campaign and expanded logistics capacity to increase meal access across a 13-county region. She previously spent nearly 30 years at Texas Instruments, including as Chief Citizenship Officer, where she built global corporate citizenship/CSR and ESG reporting programs, scaled employee engagement and giving, and advised leadership and board committees on strategy and funding. Across nonprofit and Fortune 500 roles, her core strengths span enterprise communications and brand leadership, cross-functional program execution, crisis and change communications (including M&A and CEO transitions), and building high-impact partnerships across corporate, foundation, and community stakeholders.

Saurajit Kanungo is a technology execution strategist with 30+ years of experience helping organizations turn IT strategy into measurable business growth. As the president and now CEO of CG Infinity, he has led company-wide strategy and P&L, scaled global delivery teams across the U.S. and India, and driven client success in areas including CRM, application development, systems integration, and data analytics. A co-author of Demystifying IT, Saurajit is recognized for translating complex technology into clear, accountable business outcomes and building high-performance teams that turn technology into competitive advantage.

Raj Asava is a seasoned technology and strategy executive with over four decades of leadership experience across global organizations including Perot Systems, Dell, EDS, PwC, and General Motors, where he specialized in enterprise strategy, global delivery models, and large-scale technology transformation. As the co-founder of HungerMitao, he has applied his strategic and operational expertise to build a 100% volunteer-driven social impact movement that has enabled more than 40–50 million meals through the Feeding America network and scaled across multiple U.S. regions and communities. A former Chief Strategy Officer and trusted advisor to senior executives and boards, Raj is also a recognized global philanthropist, author, and mentor known for translating complex strategy into scalable execution in both corporate and social sectors.

Article written by MarketScale.