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Date and Location
Kevin Moloney
Ethical Leadership: Luxury or Necessity?
A Discussion led by Dr. Aidan McQuade
Thursday, November 3, 2022
4:30-5:30 p.m.
Darman Room, T-135
Taubman Building, 1st Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Drawing on theory and research in various contexts, Dr Aidan McQuade will explain why and how some leaders, in their professional roles and as citizens, make choices to protect life and preserve the environment despite negative social pressures to do otherwise. Given the moral crises facing humanity, from modern slavery to climate change, Aidan will explain how individuals can take up the challenge to lead ethically in business, government and civil society to help “defend the weak against the strong, and protest against brutality in any shape or form”.
About the speaker:
Dr. Aidan McQuade is an independent consultant on human rights and humanitarian response. He was CEO of Anti-Slavery International from 2006 to 2017, and prior to that worked extensively in development and humanitarian operations for 13 years, including 5 years leading emergency responses to the brutal civil war in Angola.
He is an experienced researcher on business and human rights, with a PhD on the subject of ethical choice-making in professional practice. He is also an acknowledged expert on slavery and forced labour, with an honorary OBE for his work on elimination of modern slavery. His work has included extensive and sustained engagement with international businesses, advising them on strategies to eliminate forced and child labour in supply chains and operations. He has also undertaken ground-breaking work that has exposed caste and gender aspects of modern slavery, and, particularly in Myanmar and Bangladesh, on slavery as a development and humanitarian issue.
He is the author of a novel, The Undiscovered Country, described by Claire Hanna, MP for South Belfast, as, "A cracker read about morality and ethics in a time of conflict . . . A really accessible way of getting into complex stuff on nation-building and justice."
Speakers and Presenters
Dr. Aidan McQuade: Former CEO, Anti Slavery International (2006-2017); Author, Ethical Leadership: Moral Decision-making under Pressure