Events

During the academic year, CRI works closely with the Kennedy School's Business and Government Policy Interest Council to plan events for students and the wider community. We are particularly grateful to the Visiting Practitioners who are featured at our dinner series and on our panels, and look forward to further opportunities for collaboration with our colleagues in the field. Spring 2014's current events listing is below and is updated regularly. Events from earlier in the academic year are listed as reference.

Fall 2017

Rethinking Collaboration for the SDGs

The event was co-hosted with Barclays and the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Responsibility Initiative, and with the support of CDC Group, the UK's Development Finance Institution.  The event was hosted in partnership with the Business Council for the United Nations, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Office for Partnerships, Business in the Community, BSR, the United States Council for International Business and C-Change.

Our keynote speakers included Barbara Byrne, Vice Chairman, Investment Bank, Barclays, Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, Minister of State at the UK Department for International Development and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and Rogerio Ribeiro, Area Head & SVP, Emerging Markets, GSK.  

 Watch the videos of Business Fights Poverty NYC 2017 

FALL 2016

19 September 2016
Please join us for an event during UNGA week in New York on the morning of September 19th. The event will focus on: “Business Collaborating to Deliver the SDGs” and has been designed to be highly practical and solutions-focused.You can find out more about the event and register here. The event is at Citi’s offices (14th floor, 153 East 53rd Street). 

The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is co-hosting the event in partnership with Business Fights Poverty, SABMiller, Mars and the UK’s Department for International Development, and we have a great line of speakers and invited participants.

Speakers include: 

  • The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, UK Secretary of State for International Development
  • John Fallon, CEO, Pearson
  • Jay Collins, Vice Chairman, Corporate and Investment Banking, Citi
  • David Nabarro, UN Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (tbc)
  • Anna Swaithes, Director of Sustainable Development, SABMiller
  • Kate Wylie, Global Sustainability Director, Mars
  • Natalie Africa, Senior Director, Private Sector Engagement, United Nations Foundation
  • Laurie Lee, CEO, Care International UK  

SUMMER 2016

Thursday, 25th August 2016
8:30am PDT / 11:30am EDT / 4:30pm BST
Jane Nelson's Webinar on The Healthcare Sector and SDGs – Emerging Trends
Register here
This webinar will explore recent trends and developments in the role of pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare companies in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be hosted by the UK-based Corporate Citizenship organization and Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School will be one of the speakers.

20 June, 4pm-6pm UK time
Building a partnership that delivers shared value and lasting impact
GSK and Save the Children - 3 Year Partnership Update

30 June 2016, 14:00 UK, 15:00 CEST, 09:00 EDT
Webinar: How do we scale up collaboration for the SDGs?
The webinar convenes a panel of four leaders in the field, with perspectives from the UN, business, and NGOs, to discuss the critical question:‘How do we scale up collaboration for the SDGs?’
The webinar marks the global launch of a major new policy paper by World Vision and The Partnering Initiative: “Delivering on the Promise: In-country multi-stakeholder platforms to catalyse collaboration and partnerships for Agenda 2030”
REGISTER NOW: agenda2030.eventbrite.com

SPRING 2016

April 2016
John Ruggie's 
Keynote address at the April 19-20 Asia Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in Doha
John Ruggie releases FIFA report: “For the Game. For the World.” FIFA and Human Rights. Read Harvard Kennedy School press release.

FALL 2015

October 28, 6:00-8:00 pm

How to Conduct Human Rights Impact Assessments for Multi-National Corporations
This workshop will focus on how to conduct Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) for corporates investing overseas. Expert consultant Chloe Poynton will walk participants through how CSR advisors help companies assess their human rights footprint. 
Location: Location:T-275
Please contact Amrita Vir for more information. 

October 18-21
Corporate Social Responsibility Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School
In this intensive program, you'll improve your ability to create and evolve a high-impact CSR strategy, build a strong foundation for delivering results, and contribute more fully to your company's success.
Register here

October 15, 2015
John Ruggie's PolicyCast UN Guiding Principles and their applicability to mega-sporting events

October 5, 6:00-7:30 pm
Sustainability in Times of Adversity: A Dinner Discussion with Jon Coleman, Manager of Fleet Sustainability, Ford Motor Company
Location: Fainsod(3rd floor, Littauer building)
Please RSVP to Justin Milleti

September 27
Extractive Industries and the SDGs, CRI Director Jane Nelson moderates a panel at the SDGs in New York on preparing an atlas of how the SDGs will affect corporations in the mining sector. The organizers are also charting out opportunities for the mining sector to contribute to the SDGs. A draft for public consultation of the Atlas will be launched at this event.

SPRING 2015

February 25, 2015
Summit: human rights must be in business DNA – Blair

March 3, 6:00 pm, Fainsod Room(3RD Floor Littauer)
Dinner and Discussion: Jeff Richardson, Vice President, AbbVie Foundation and Kim Taylor-Smith, AbbVie’s Director of Community and Employee Engagement. Jeff and Kim will discuss the challenges and opportunities around new models of community engagement and partnership to expand health care access for the under-served.

FALL 2014

December 8, 3:30-4:30 pm, Malkin Penthouse
Coffee and discussion with Mark Kramer, Managing Director, FSG and Senior Fellow, CSR Initiative Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Mark will discuss the new role of business in society with regard to creating shared value followed by Q&A
Mark is co-founder and Managing Director of FSG and the author of influential publications on shared valuecatalytic philanthropycollective impactstrategic evaluation, and impact investing.  Mark oversees FSG‘s consulting practice and helps drive the vision and growth of the firm. He has led consulting engagements across all of FSG’s impact areas, with particular emphasis on philanthropic strategy for private foundations, shared value initiatives, strategic evaluation, and impact investing. Mark also leads the research on many of FSG’s publications and publishes regularly in Harvard Business Reviewand Stanford Social Innovation Review. He is a frequent speaker around the world on topics in catalytic philanthropy, collective impact, creating shared value for corporations, new approaches to evaluation, impact investing, and social entrepreneurship.
 Refreshments will be served.

October 21, 6:00 pm, Nye A (5th Floor Taubman)
Dinner and Discussion: Jon Coleman, Manager of Fleet Sustainability, Ford
 Jon will discuss the challenges and opportunities around the implementation of sustainability--and lead a discussion on what "sustainability" means to various disciplines.
 RSVP to Jennifer Nash at jennifer_nash@hks.harvard.edu with a statement of interest by October 15.

SPRING 2014

April 29, 6:15 pm, Allison Dining Room (5th Floor Taubman)
Panel Discussion: Oil, Gas and Mining: Emerging Good Practices and Ongoing Challenges

By their nature, most extractive industry projects result in environmental, social, human rights and economic dilemmas. They often have a profound impact on local communities, both positive and negative, as well as on regional and national economies. With the expansion of the sector over the past decade due to growing demand for products and high commodity prices, extractive industry projects have a broader footprint than ever before, increasingly in difficult locations. What are oil, gas and mining companies doing and what more can they do — working unilaterally, with other industry partners, and in partnership with governments, NGOs and community groups — to respect human rights, improve risk management and accountability, avoid conflicts, and create more sustained socio-economic benefits for local communities? The Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative is pleased to host a panel discussion addressing the sector’s evolving stakeholder engagement and community development practices as well as ongoing challenges. Professor John Ruggie will make opening comments. Panel participants include Chris Anderson, Americas Director, Communities & Social Performance, Rio Tinto; Dennis Flemming, Project Director, Niger Delta Partnership Initiative; Caroline Rees, President, Shift; and Jane Nelson, Director, Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative. Seating is limited; please RSVP to marli_porth@harvard.edu. Refreshments will be served.

FALL 2013

September 6
Happy Hour and Discussion: Jeffrey Avina, Director of Middle East and Africa, Microsoft Citizenship and Community Affairs
 Based in Istanbul, Jeffrey is responsible for setting Microsoft’s corporate social responsibility strategy in 79 countries in the Middle East and Africa, linking activities to government and donor expenditures in health, education, governance, and disaster management. Prior to joining Microsoft, Jeffrey was director of operations of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna from 2006 to 2008. For two years previously, he was deputy director for Africa and deputy assistant secretary general of the United Nations Development Program. In other assignments with the U.N., he was resident coordinator for four years in Honduras, deputy resident representative for five in Laos and assistant resident representative for five in Bhutan. Jeffrey earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and holds an MPA from HKS and a JD from Harvard Law School.

September 19
Dinner and Discussion: James Segel, M-RCBG Senior Fellow
 Jim recently returned from serving for four years as Special Counsel to Congressman Barney Frank, then Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (2007-2011). He was extensively involved in working on what became the Dodd-Frank Bill, as well as the activities surrounding the financial crisis beginning in 2008. Jim began his professional career in the Massachusetts State Legislature as a State Representative from Brookline, served as chairman of Barney Frank’s first Campaign for Congress in 1980, and then served as the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association dealing with the response of cities and towns to Proposition 21/2 and other municipal finance, environmental, and labor issues. Following MMA, he served as of counsel at Hale and Dorr in Boston (now Wilmer Hale) for ten years and then as a partner at Smith Segel Ruddock. Jim graduated cum laude in government from Harvard College, received his MPA from HKS and earned his JD from Boston College Law School. As a senior fellow, he will research the passage of TARP by the US Congress.

October 9
Dinner and Discussion: Jon Coleman, Manager of Fleet Sustainability and Technology, Ford Motor Company
 At Ford, Jon works with fleet customers to develop sustainable solutions to their specific needs through the use of technology, fleet optimization and understanding driver behavior. Jon has been involved with sustainability at Ford for more than 10 years and has represented Ford at venues ranging from the United Nations to the Academy of Management to TED and other thought-leading conferences. His passion for sustainability is evident in his research focusing on how large organizations engage in sustainable behavior and how that decision making process can be embedded in the organization’s day–to-day operations. This research provides unique insights into the evolution of corporate sustainability. Jon’s view of sustainability goes far beyond “green” to include human rights, urban mobility and societal well-being, embracing the ideal that true sustainability involves “doing more good, not doing less bad.”

October 18
Happy Hour and Discussion: Matt Hamilton, Sustainability Director and Executive Director of the Environment Foundation, Aspen Skiing Company (ASC)
 Matt oversees ASC's community philanthropy and runs ASC's day-to-day environmental programs, including the monthly Greenletter, and GREENTRACK, ASC's ISO 14001 certified environmental management system. Matt is also consultant with Aspen Sustainability Associates. He currently serves as President of the Roaring Fork School District Board of Education, and on the boards of the Carbondale Tourism Council, Colorado Youth Corps Association and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. Previously, Matt was a Research Officer at The Piton Foundation, working with low income neighborhoods on issues of education reform, affordable housing and economic development. Matt has a BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science from Middlebury College and an MPP from Georgetown University.

November 14
Dinner and Discussion: Eric Jacobsen, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Dolphin Capitaland current Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow
Eric recently served as CEO of Winder Farms. He was the founder and CEO of TNT Sound, which was sold in 1983; Vice President of MECA Software, which went public and was sold to H&R Block in 1994; and Founder and President of Home Financial Network, which was sold to Sybase in 2000. Early in his career, he was an investment banker with Smith Barney. Eric sits on the boards of Ragnar Events, Dynamic Confections and Winder Farms. He also chairs the board of the Park City Education Foundation and is a trustee of the St. Paul's School in Concord, NH. Eric received a BA from Stanford University and is currently mid-launch of a venture capital company focusing only on companies practicing “compassionate capitalism.”

November 21
Dinner and Discussion: Liam Brody, Senior Vice President of Value Chain Relations, Root Capital
 Liam manages Root Capital’s business development activities and oversees fundraising, brand management, and private sector collaboration. He draws on 15 years of experience working in rural economic development and agricultural value chains in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Prior to joining Root Capital, Liam was a program manager and campaign director for Oxfam America. He also served as director of sustainable coffee for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Liam holds an MEd in social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BS in agricultural and extension education from Cornell University.

December 5
Lunch and Discussion: Lance Pierce, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ceres
 Lance oversees programs, operations and strategic planning. He previously served with the Union of Concerned Scientists as Director of the Climate & Energy Program, and Harvard Business School, where he was Project Director in the launch of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. Lance has worked in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, with much of his professional background focusing on sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR). In CSR, he has worked with AFP, the world's third largest news agency, the World Bank, and served as Director, Corporate Issues Management for Fortune 20 food and consumer goods holding company Altria Group. He began his career in sustainable development, having been principal of a consultancy working with United Nations agencies and leading international development NGOs, and serving in the Peace Corps. Lance currently sits on the board of The Nyanya Project, an organization supporting African grandmothers caring for their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren. He has co-authored Harvard Business School cases with leading HBS faculty on corporate sustainability and leadership transition. Lance holds an MA in Anthropology from New York University and an MPA from HKS.

SPRING 2014

January 23
Dinner and Discussion: Tom Blathwayt, Senior Manager at Deloitte/Monitor Inclusive Markets
 Tom will discuss the importance of ecosystem-building when catalyzing market based solutions to benefit the poor, with examples from their work on housing and sanitation. Prior to his current role with Deloitte/Monitor, Tom was Social Investment Manager with BG Group, Senior Project Manager with Monitor, and Founder and Executive Director of Ethical Goods. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge and an MPA from the Kennedy School.

February 6
Dinner and Discussion: Daniella Ballou-Aares, Senior Advisor for Development, U.S Department of State
Daniella Ballou-Aares is the Senior Advisor for Development to the U.S. Secretary of State, where she advises the Secretary and the State Department on strategies and policies to strengthen diplomatic engagement on behalf of economic growth and development priorities and informs US government policy priorities including the next round of UN global development goals that will follow the MDGs post-2015. Prior to her role with the State Department, Daniella worked at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, where she was instrumental in building the organization from start-up to global firm and led the firm's North and South American offices. She advised leading foundations, international agencies, companies, and non-governmental organizations on strategies to increase their impact on development. Prior to Dalberg, she was a management consultant in the US, UK and South Africa.Daniella is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a fellow with the International Rescue Committee in Liberia. Daniella holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from HKS, and a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.

February 7
Breakfast and Discussion: Ellie Bertani, Senior Manager in Walmart’s Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative
Ellie is responsible for Walmart’s corporate goal to double sourcing from women-owned businesses for its eleven international markets (26 countries) by 2017. In that role she manages the initiative’s international sourcing strategy development and program implementation, collaborating with counterparts in each of the markets and with the Global Sourcing team. Ellie joined Walmart in July 2013 after receiving her Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. Ellie’s professional career has included over seven years of work in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors, including positions with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. State Department, Third Sector Capital Partners, and Rotary International.

February 18
Dinner and Discussion: President Felipe Calderón
CRI was honored to host a dinner and discussion with Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico from 2006 to 2012, to discuss the New Climate Economy. President Calderón currently chairs The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, a major international initiative that seeks to analyze and communicate how decision-makers can achieve their economic and social goals while simultaneously reducing the risk of dangerous climate change. The New Climate Economy is the Commission's flagship project. It aims to provide independent and authoritative evidence on the relationship between actions which can strengthen economic performance and those which reduce the risk of dangerous climate change. It will report in September 2014.

February 19
Lunch and Discussion: Sakena Yacoobi, Founder, Afghan Institute of Learning
Born in Herat, Afghanistan, Sakena Yacoobi came to the United States in the 1970s to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees in public health. In the 1980s, she worked as a health consultant at D'Etre University in Michigan. From 1992 to 1995, she worked for the International Rescue Committee in Pakistan, increasing the number of Afghan refugee girls enrolled in IRC-supported schools from 3,000 to 15,000. During that time, she also served on the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief delegation of the United Nations, as well as on the United Nations Rehabilitation Plan for Afghanistan. During the mid-1990s, funding for education and health programs in Afghanistan was cut dramatically as a result of the Taliban’s grip on power. Sakena was determined to keep education and health programs going, despite the Taliban's opposition, and thus she founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995. Having impacted the lives of more than 9 million Afghans through education, teacher training, and workshops on human rights, women's rights, peace, and leadership, AIL has helped Afghans to move to the next level of self-reliance. Today, AIL is the largest Afghan NGO and is registered with the Ministries of Health, Education, Women's Affairs and Social Welfare. On Nov. 13, 2013, Sakena won the $1 million Opus Prize.

February 27
Dinner and Discussion: Esko Aho, Former Prime Minister, Finland
Mr. Aho will lead a discussion of Nokia’s innovative Bridge program, which offers employees who lose jobs due to corporate restructuring the opportunity for reassignment within the company, coaching and seed funding for entrepreneurship, and training and skilling programs. Bridge is the current subject of an HBS case; Mr. Aho will be joined by Professor Sandra Sucher of HBS, who is the lead author of the case, as well as Matti Vänskä, who directs Bridge. The discussion will be part of Mr. Aho's study group on Reframing Government.

March 11
Dinner and Discussion: Chevron Corporation
This dinner discussion focused on embedding responsibility into a global energy company with leaders from Chevron Corporation, including Linda Padon, General Manager for Global Corporate Public Policy; Thomas Wise, Manager of Global Issues and Policy; and Rebecca Hummel (MPP'07), Senior Advisor, Corporate Responsibility.

March 26
Dinner and Discussion: Talya Bosch, Vice President, Social Ventures, Western Union
 In her role as Vice President of Social Ventures at Western Union, Talya is responsible for Western Union’s shared value, corporate responsibility, and cause branding initiatives. In this role, she focuses on leveraging all of the company’s assets for greater business and social impact, including its products, operations, and cause marketing programs. Her portfolio spans the 510,000 locations in 200 countries and territories where the company does business. Bosch also manages international nonprofit and NGO relationships for the Western Union Foundation. She helped conceive and implement Western Union’s award-winning Our World, Our Family® program, a five-year, $50-million commitment to creating global economic opportunity.

April 3
 Lunch and Discussion: Christine Bader, Author, "When Girl Meets Oil: The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist"
 Moderated by Glenn Rifkin, Author and Journalist
Christine is the author of “The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil" (Bibliomotion 2014). She is a Visiting Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia University, where she co-teaches a course on Human Rights and Business, and a Human Rights Advisor to BSR. After earning her MBA from Yale in 2000, Christine joined BP and proceeded to work in Indonesia, China, and the U.K., managing the social impacts of some of the company’s largest projects in the developing world. In 2006 she created a part-time pro bono role as Advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for business and human rights, a role she took up full-time in 2008 until the U.N. mandate ended in 2011. Christine has also served as a corps member with City Year, a special assistant to the New York City Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor, and a Teaching Fellow in Community Service at Phillips Academy Andover. Christine has published numerous op-eds and articles and given talks to conferences, companies, and universities around the world, including a TEDx talk entitled “Manifesto for the Corporate Idealist.”

April 3
Dinner and Discussion: Dr. Raj Pannu, Former Director of Global Public Health, McCann
 Raj served as the Director of Global Public Health at McCann Health, part of McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s largest global marketing and communications companies, with offices in 132 countries. Raj advises numerous global public health entities on private sector approaches to demand creation, and strategic design of behavior change communication. He has advised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on scaling chlorhexidine antisepsis for the Behavior Change and the Spread of Family Health Innovations Panel; currently represents McCann Health on the Essential Medicines Working Group, part of the UN Millennium Project; and works with of the UN Every Woman Every Child initiative on the importance of demand creation. Prior to his current position, Raj was Chief Science Officer at McCann Health, where for eight years he oversaw medical and scientific issues related to major health care brands and led numerous initiatives in strategic planning. Raj earned his MS in Immunology in 1996 and his PhD in Biochemistry in 2002 from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.