The 43rd Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee, recently did an interview with the New York Times. The interview covered a variety of topics such as his activism history, being invited to the White House, but also the relationship with tech companies in San Francisco.

Link to the Interview: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/mayor-ed-lee-tech-workers-are-not-robots.html?ref=business

Mayor Ed Lee, courtesy of The New York Times

The idea of shared value comes to mind when reading this interview. The concept of shared value is a company operating under policies that provide benefits to itself and the community in which it is located.

Mayor Lee seems to recognize that concept in the policies he has undertaken as mayor. A big part of his career so far has been keeping companies like Twitter in San Francisco. He says in the article that for every tech worker in SF, 5 other jobs are created or sustained. While it may not be an example of a company actively making shared value policies, Lee uses the study as an example of inherent shared value. Not only that, but Lee offered a tax break for certain parts of the city so twitter could grow without being punished. That in turn, has lead people to develop in “seedy” areas of the city.

Twitter HQ in San Francisco

The shared value in this case would be the value created from keeping a company like Twitter in San Francisco.