From Vision to Value: Creating a Better World Through Business

The Social Enterprise Symposium may only be in its fourth year, but it has become one of the biggest and most anticipated events of the year for members of the University of Maryland community. This year’s super-sized event – on March 1, 2012, from noon to 9 p.m. — drew approximately 1,200 people all coming together with the goal of creating a better world through business.

There were two keynote speakers – Stan Litow, vice president of citizenship and corporate affairs and president of IBM’s International Foundation, and Letitia Webster, director of global corporate sustainability of VF Corporation – and about 50 speakers and panelists at concurrent sessions throughout the day, a student business plan competition, interactive workshops, and a networking event.

“The Social Enterprise Symposium aims to inform, educate and influence future leaders, students, professionals and stakeholders on cutting edge innovation in creating impactful, sustainable social change,” said Melissa Carrier, champion of the event and executive director of the Center for Social Value Creation at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “It is an event where entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders, philanthropists, corporate leaders, and students can engage one another to explore, learn, and challenge what they know about building solutions to the pressures of the 21st century. With more than 1,200 registered attendees, this was indeed our largest conference to date. We nearly doubled participation from last year (six times since 2009) and tripled the number of sessions and workshops.” Read more View photo gallery