Dr Ken Henry AC, Chair, National Australia Bank, has been named the 2017 Shared Value Champion at the 2017 Shared Value Awards ceremony held in Sydney on Tuesday evening while Bendigo and Adelaide Bank were named as the winning corporate organisation leading through shared value.

Henry was recognised for his efforts in bringing to attention the concept of shared value across his extensive professional network and through his many leadership roles including as Chairman of NAB, Director of ASX Limited, Governor of Committee of Economic Development of Australia and Chairman of the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation.

Chair of the Shared Value Project Peter Yates said “Ken Henry is a great champion for shared value. As one of Australia’s leading economists and policy thinkers, I know he is passionate about the role business can play in solving our social problems using its full resources and skills.”

The Shared Value Awards, presented annually by the Shared Value Project and media partner AFR BOSS, recognise new or existing efforts to address complex social challenges impacting society while creating measurable economic benefits and enhancing competitiveness.

They also recognise the adoption of shared value as a broader business strategy, and leaders who are championing this way of doing business. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, who recently made Fortune’s Change the World list, was recognised for its leadership in the corporate organisation category.

Through its Community Bank model, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has demonstrated the use of shared value as part of the organisation’s broader business strategy and to date has reinvested more than $165 million back into the community.

Mike Hirst, Managing Director, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said that, “shared value has been central to the bank’s strategy for more than 160 years.”

Ann Sherry, Executive Chairman, Carnival Australia and Member of the Shared Value Awards Selection Committee, highlighted that businesses have paved the way for more to adopt the concept of shared value into their business strategy. “It is encouraging to see many new examples of businesses adopting the concept of shared value and seeing the benefits that it brings, from both the social and economic perspectives,” said Ms Sherry. Success stories like these are testament to the growth of the shared value community in Australasia.