Podcast

How to Communicate and Build Trust, with Charlotte West

2026-09-16 · By Charlotte West, Vice President of Global Corporate Communications at Lenovo and Board Director of the Lenovo Foundation

Charlotte West, Vice President of Global Corporate Communications at Lenovo and Board Director of the Lenovo Foundation, explores how global businesses can turn corporate purpose into credible social impact. She shares insights on inclusive technology, community partnerships, employee engagement, ESG communications, reputation, AI and the importance of building trust through responsible, locally relevant action.

How can global businesses turn corporate purpose into lasting social impact, and communicate that work without losing public trust?

Meet social impact pioneer: Charlotte West. Charlotte has spent more than three decades navigating that challenge. As Vice President of Global Corporate Communications at Lenovo and a Board Director of the Lenovo Foundation, she works at the intersection of technology, business leadership, reputation and positive social change.

Her global role spans internal and external communications, executive positioning, ESG storytelling, social media, crisis response and reputation management. She also helps guide the Lenovo Foundation, which works to give under-represented communities greater access to technology and STEM education.

Charlotte began her career at specialist technology communications agency Harvard, where she spent 16 years and rose to Board Director. An early encounter with corporate social impact came through her work on Sky’s Bigger Picture programme. It demonstrated how communications could do more than promote a company: it could engage employees, strengthen partnerships and help effective community organisations reach a wider audience.

She joined Lenovo in 2011 and has since led communications across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Working within a company operating across 180 markets has shaped her belief that global inclusion strategies must respond to local cultures and realities, rather than imposing a single Western perspective.

In this episode of Social Impact Pioneers, Charlotte explores the responsibilities that come with corporate influence. Together we discuss how businesses can build long-term, balanced partnerships; support disaster relief, community programmes and employee volunteering; and use their scale to amplify the work of smaller organisations.

Charlotte also confronts one of the central dilemmas facing corporate leaders: how to talk credibly about purpose and ESG without slipping into performative communications. We talk about why reputation should be independently measured, how responsible business creates trust, and why companies must understand their wider impact on employees, families, suppliers and communities.

Looking ahead, she reflects on artificial intelligence as both a defining societal challenge and a potential “force multiplier” for small charities; And the growing importance of human resilience as businesses and civil society organisations contend with uncertainty, funding pressures and rapid technological change.

Links:

Lenovo Foundation:www.lenovo.com/us/en/about/foundation/

Charlotte West: www.linkedin.com/in/charlottewest/

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