Agenda

Thursday, March 31, 2011, 5 – 9 p.m.
Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Registration
5:00 – 5:15 p.m. Welcome by Dean Anandalingam
5:15 – 6:00 p.m. Keynote by Seth Goldman, CEO, Honest Tea
Thirsty For Change, Blending Passion with Action
6:00 – 6:50 p.m. Breakout Session 1 (see details below)
7:00 – 7:50 p.m. Breakout Session 2 (see details below)
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Social Business Plan Competition: “Be: The Next Big Thing”
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Reception and Networking Fair


Keynote

Seth Goldman was thirsty for a healthier drink and for social change. Thirteen years ago he and his former Yale School of Management professor, Barry Nalebuff, launched Honest Tea out of Seth’s kitchen in Bethesda, MD. Today, Honest Tea is the nation’s top selling ready-to-drink organic bottled tea and is carried in more than 75,000 outlets. As the first company to introduce organic and Fair Trade certified bottled tea, Honest Tea has succeeded by creating an authentic product that appeals to consumers for its healthy attributes as well as its passion for social responsibility and community-based partnerships. Recently the company was acquired by the Coca-Cola Company, creating a platform for national expansion and helping to further the reach and impact of Honest Tea’s mission. Seth will share how he successfully merged his passion for entrepreneurialism and social change, helping drive a shift in American diets towards healthier, lower calorie choices.

Breakout Session 1: 6:00 p.m. - 6:50 p.m.

Featured Session: The New Realities for Businesses in the age of Conscious Capitalism

The 20th century witnessed a fierce and lengthy battle between opposing views of how to organize and regulate economic activity. Although free market capitalism won that epic struggle decisively delivering widespread prosperity, it failed to capture the minds of intellectuals and the hearts of citizens. It also devoured irreplaceable chunks of our planet’s resources, created stressful and unfulfilling working conditions for many people and fostered and fed unhealthy appetites and addictions for billions of customers. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. This talk describes an emerging paradigm for business that simultaneously delivers multiple kinds of value and well-being for all stakeholders (including society): financial, intellectual, physical, ecological, social, cultural, emotional and even spiritual. We refer to this new “operating system” for business as “Conscious Capitalism.”

Speaker: Dr. Raj Sisodia. Founding Chairman of the Conscious Capitalism Institute. Author of the books: The Rule of Three: How Competition Shapes Markets and Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose

The intersection of a social need and a business opportunity: Thinning America and Fattening the Bottom Line

Consumer packaged goods corporations have been criticized and celebrated for their role in feeding America. With growing public awareness of how the food we eat affects our physical well-being, these companies are faced with new pressures to better meet the needs of their customers. But are they actually creating products that help people live healthier lives? And how is this effecting their bottom line? Using the obesity epidemic in America as a case study, we will explore how a company can turn a societal problem into a successful business opportunity, and in doing so, actively contribute to solving that problem. Panelists will touch on the concrete steps they have taken to provide healthier food lines, innovations in the supply chain that have allowed them to do so at an affordable price, and the difficulties inherent in the politics of the food business.

Confirmed Panelists:

Building and Promoting Sustainability Within

As companies realize the importance of sustainability and corporate responsibility, senior management rely on experienced executives within the organization to help craft meaningful, creative and sustainable solutions. Learn from industry practitioners how they have crafted their path to new and interesting roles that lead CSR and Sustainability strategies within their companies and how those roles better serve the company’s stakeholders.

Confirmed Panelists:

The X Factor: Women in Business

Is there an advantage to women-owned businesses? What is exactly the competitive advantage that women bring to the table when leading businesses? Why or why not are investors seeking those companies? No matter the objective of the venture, when women start, launch and grow their social, for profit or non-profit businesses, there is a major social value created by those companies in terms of innovation, reputation, employee relations, social leadership and many more. This panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by women entrepreneurs when starting and growing their ventures and why women entrepreneurs can really change the world.

Confirmed Panelists:

Breakout Session 2: 7:00 p.m. - 7:50 p.m.

Featured Session: Social Entrepreneurship: Stories from the Field

Social entrepreneurs pursue social goals with an entrepreneurial mindset, applying business methods and innovation capable of disrupting traditional practices. But, what does it really take to become a social entrepreneur? Come and learn from social entrepreneurs, how they got started and their most important challenges and rewards from their experiences in starting up a social venture.

Confirmed Panelists:

Financing the “Missing Middle”, a case study of Africa

Small and medium enterprises are widely touted as a being critical in the economic growth of developing countries. They provide employment opportunities, create wealth, and help formalize and professionalize economies. However, the marriage of the business case and social value case for SMEs has been received by donors and investors with mixed reviews. Despite the known benefits, how can more capital be channeled to this “missing middle?” How should nonprofits and foundations seeing the development case change their funding mix to include investments? How should we continue and increase the trend for “social investments?” What increased role can we expect from development finance institutions? Or do SMEs even need additional capital, e.g., is technical assistance a more pressing need and will the capital follow?

Confirmed Panelists:

Charting Your Path: Finding (and Landing!) a Sustainable Career

Today, there are more careers than ever for you to have a positive impact on our world. But how do you know whether a career in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in social enterprise, or in nonprofit is a better fit for you? How can you best position yourself for career options that are rewarding both financially and personally? Come and learn more about how you can best assess which sustainability career path is a better fit for your goals, and how you can successfully compete for jobs that will enable you to turn your values into value in the CSR, social enterprise or nonprofit sectors.

Confirmed Panelists:

Sustainable Product Design

The growing world economy produces tons of waste from millions of products that cannot be recycled, either in part or in full. But what if an engineer could design products that were more sustainable, even before manufacturing or distribution or recycling? Come and learn the basics of “Life Cycle Assessment”, “Cradle 2 Cradle”, and the many ways to design every day products for the environment

Confirmed Panelists:

  • Asheen Phansey, Sustainability Product Manager, DS SolidWorks
  • Mohammed Al-Shawaf, Analyst, SustainAbility
  • Mark Stewart, Office of Sustainability, University of Maryland
  • Pradeep Suthram, 1st year MBA student (moderator)

MBA Session: GE Healthymagination Challenge Case Competition

MBA student teams tackle the GE Healthymagination Challenge in a case competition to address today's greatest global health challenges: high costs, persistent quality issues and inadequate access. Teams meet with GE at an exclusive session to learn more about GE Healthcare, present their response to the challenge and to network.

Social Business Plan Competition:
“Be: The Next Big Thing”
Win $1500 to jumpstart your idea for creating the change you want to see in the world. Sign up to Pitch at the Social Enterprise Symposium.
See rules of participation and more details here
To participate, email your 2-4 page executive summary to Chris Leung by 12 pm (noon), March 29, 2011.