CSR Leaders Keynote Panel: Barend van Bergen, Director, KPMG Sustainability

Barend van Bergen is director at KPMG Sustainability, which is advising (multi)national companies in the area of Sustainable Development (SD), including the management of environmental, health, safety, social issues and corporate philanthropy. His experience covers a range of sectors, including automotive, finance, oil and gas, food and beverages, construction and aviation.  Recently Barend was seconded (part-time) by KPMG to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) for a period of one year in Geneva were he initiated the workstream 'Involving the Capital Markets'. He is also the lead author of KPMG's publication 'Climate Changes Your Business' (March 2008). 

Stefan Crets is deputy general manager of the CSR department of Toyota Motor Europe. Toyota Motor Europe is the European head office for Toyota manufacturing, R&D and marketing and sales operations in Europe. Currently Toyota has 8 different plants in the UK, Poland, France, Czech Republic and Turkey where it produces 60% of the vehicles it sells in Europe.  The CSR department is part of the Corporate Planning division of Toyota Motor Europe. Its mission is to support the business units in enhancing their economic, social and environmental performance to meet better stakeholders’ expectations to contribute to sustainable development.

CSR Leaders Panel moderated by Michael Fields, Sr. Community Relations Manager, Booz Allen Hamilton

Michael C. Fields joined Booz Allen Hamilton in 1996 and was appointed Community Relations Manager in 1999.  Mr. Fields has the responsibility of actively supporting firm-wide pro bono engagements.  These pro bono efforts include working with domestic and international communities in which Booz Allen operates.   Current client engagements include: Special Olympics International, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Children’s Hospital, San Francisco Aids Foundation, Dance Theater Harlem, Children’s Defense Fund, Cabrini Foundation, Virgin Unite, and the MTV Foundation.  Mr. Fields has experience in developing and implementing high profile projects with domestic and international non-profit organizations as well as wide experiences on nonprofit boards and as a volunteer leader, advocate, and public speaker.

Simon Zadek, Chief Executive, AccountAbility

Simon is currently a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Government and Business of Harvard University’s Kennedy School, and a ‘Professor Extraordinaire’ at the University of South Africa’s Centre for Corporate Citizenship. He sits on the International Advisory Board of Instituto Ethos, the Advisory Board of Generation Investment Management, is a Member of the Clinton-Dalberg Task Force programme effectiveness in leveraging private enterprise for development. In 2003 he was named one of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Leaders for Tomorrow’.

Simon’s previous roles include Visiting Professor at the Copenhagen Business School, the Development Director of the New Economics Foundation, and founding Chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative. He has served on numerous Boards and Advisory Councils, including the State of the World’s Commission for Globalisation, the ILO’s World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation, the UN Commission for Social Development Expert Group on CSR, and the founding Steering Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative.

He has authored, co-authored, and co-edited numerous publications, including more recently Responsible Lobbying (2005), and two Harvard Working Papers on the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships in development and governance, Governing Partnership Governance (2006) and The Logic of Collaborative Governance (2005). He has written extensively on the impact of corporate responsibility on the competitiveness of nations Responsible Competitiveness (2005). His PhD thesis was published as The Economics of Utopia (1994), and published an anthology of his writings Tomorrow’s History (2004). His book, The Civil Corporation: the New Economy of Corporate Citizenship (2001), has become a classic in the field, and has been recognised by the Academy of Management by being honoured as the Best Book Social Issues Award 2006.

Tamsin Smith became president of (RED) in March 2006, to help form a team and organization to support the initiative launched by Bono and Bobby Shriver earlier that year at the World Economic Forum in Davos.  

(RED) is a brand designed to engage business and consumer power in the fight against AIDS in Africa.  (RED) works with the world’s best brands to make unique (PRODUCT) RED-branded products and direct up to 50% of their gross profits to the Global Fund to invest in African AIDS programs with a focus on the health of women and children. Current product partners include Converse, Gap, Motorola, Emporio Armani, Apple, Hallmark, Dell, Microsoft and American Express (UK only).  Since its launch, (RED) has generated $100 million for the Global Fund. Every dollar generated by (RED) consumers is spent on the ground in Africa.
 
She brings to this role over fifteen years of work on economic development, political engagement, and corporate social responsibility, with a deep focus on sub-Saharan Africa.  She is broadly recognized as a driving force behind the creation of trade ties with the continent and a champion of building sustainable business opportunities for African entrepreneurs and workers.
 
Prior to joining (RED), she shepherded Gap Inc.'s public policy strategy and engagement.  She joined Gap Inc. in 1997 to create and lead the company's government affairs department. Before moving to California to represent the San Francisco-based international specialty apparel retailer, she spent six years on Capitol Hill. During that time, she served as senior legislative assistant to two members of the U.S. House of Representatives and associate staff to the House Appropriations Committee. Ms. Smith holds an M.A. in International Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University and a B.A. from Kenyon College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with highest honors in English Literature. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society.

Ms. Smith lives in San Francisco with her son and daughter.

Responsible Marketing Keynote Panel: David Hayward Evans, Manager for Private Sector Resource Mobilization, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

David Hayward Evans is Manager for Private Sector Resource Mobilization at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  He supervises the Global Fund’s work in securing resource flows from corporate partnerships, consumer marketing initiatives and major philanthropic gifts. A dual Swiss-British citizen, David has more than ten years experience creating public-partnerships bridging business, governments and international organizations.  In recent years, he performed this role for UK projects launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair, including the UK-India Education and Research Initiative, and the “Think UK” public diplomacy campaign in China. Previously he was responsible for international development at the Paley Center for Media in New York.  A fluent Chinese speaker, he is a graduate of Oxford University, Columbia University and INSEAD, and in a previous ‘life’ was an award-winning documentary film-maker.

Curriculum Overview

In 2008, Net Impact will bring the model of their hugely successful American conference to a European audience for the first time.  The American conference is seen as the leading world forum bringing MBA students, graduates and leaders of tomorrow to exchange ideas, energy and passion with leading professionals from across sectors to discuss how business and business skills can impact social change.  Net Impact is eager to host a similar event to offer this opportunity for engagement to the students, graduates and professionals within Europe.

This year’s Europe conference will address the theme Sustainable Prosperity: Taking on the Global Challenge. The word prosperity captures the economic and social factors that are expected to contribute to improvements in the welfare of the global population.

In June, Geneva, Switzerland will play host to the 2008 Net Impact Europe Conference as well as EURO 2008.  We have the unique opportunity to welcome Mel Young, founder and President of the Homeless World Cup to offer a keynote address providing a link between these two major events.  The Homeless World Cup is an impressive example of how football, passion and creative thinking can impact the sustainable prosperity of individuals from over 60 countries. 

The two-day conference will cover a variety of topics within four main tracks that participants will have an opportunity to follow throughout the event.  The themes for the 2008 Europe Conference are as follows:

Innovation:  What Creates Sustainable Prosperity
Within this track we will hear from social entrepreneurs, business leaders and partnerships that are offering innovative ways to tackle the challenge of sustainable prosperity.  These individuals and organizations have lead the way in creating social impact by harnessing the power of creative and original thinking to create new means to addressing issues of development, climate change, and sustainable business practices. 

Panels/Speakers

• Corporate Innovation for the Bottom of the Pyramid with Francois Perrot, BoP Project Manager at La Farge (moderator): Kate Ives, Corporate Partnerships Officer at CARE International; Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Knowledge and Communications at the Acumen Fund, and a representative from Microsoft
• Trends in Clean Tech with Christian Seelos, Director of IESE Business School (moderator); Simon Francis, Vice President of Energy Solutions at 1e; Jurgen Habichler, Founder of Mountain Cleantech; and Thomas Schluze, CEO of Cleantech Europe
• Marketing CSR Initiatives with Michal Ann Strahilevitz, Nagel T. Miner Chaired Professor at Golden Gate University (moderator); Per Grankvist, Editor and Founder of CSRiPraktiken.se; John Luff, Founder of Sustainable Marketing; Leslie Pascaud, Sustainable Marketing at Added Value; and Diana Verde Nieto, Founder and CEO of Clownfish
• Workshop: Sustainable Product Design with Andrea Koerselman at IDEO
• Innovative Social Entrepreneurship with Hans Wahl, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative (moderator); Dela Gadzanku, Executive Director of Ipalco Ghana Limited; Dr. Patrick S. Renz, President of Aid Governance; and Karen Tse, Founder and CEO of International Bridges to Justice
• Workshop: Blue Ocean Strategy Applied to Social Innovation with Jens Meyer, Partner in Strategy Regeneration at INSEAD

Leadership:  How Organizations and Individuals Impact Sustainable Prosperity
The second track will focus on the role that leadership plays in creating sustainable prosperity.  Both organizational and individual leaders have a role to play in creating an environment for change and enhancing the capacity of their organization with respect to sustainability, responsible business practices, and corporate social responsibility.  We look forward to hearing from academic experts and practitioners about best practices in leadership.