Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy at the ESG Center, interviews Jenny Flores, Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy at Wells Fargo, and Elizabeth Gore, Co-Founder and President of HelloAlice.com. In their conversation, they discuss how corporations can further support small businesses and entrepreneurs not only with funding but with their expertise, as well as the role of technology, partnerships, and innovation in supporting minority-owned businesses.

ESG News and Views

Corporate Citizenship in Action: Helping Small Businesses Survive and Thrive

John Wilcox, Chairman Emeritus at Morrow Sodali, is one of the most recognized and respected figures in corporate governance in the world.  In his book, The Evolution of Corporate Governance, he provides a real-time picture of how governance evolved over the years through a collection of essays and articles he has written during his distinguished career.   In this podcast, John and Paul Washington, Executive Director of The Conference Board ESG Center, discuss the past, present, and future of corporate governance, including John’s suggestions for companies in tackling some of the most pressing issues boards face today, such as creating an annual “Director’s Discussion & Analysis”; restricting corporate political spending; establishing a separate HCM board committee; recognizing the alignment between shareholders’ and stakeholders’ interests; and taking a holistic approach to corporate communication that goes beyond legal compliance.    Additional resources:   Brave New World: Creating Long-Term Value through Human Capital Management and Disclosure   Even Higher Expectations in a Post-2020 World: How Organizations Engage with Social Change   Even Higher Expectations in a Post-2020 World: How Organizations Engage with Social Change   Corporate Board Practices in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500: 2020 Edition   Board Effectiveness: A Survey of the C-suite  

The Future of Corporate Governance

BBob Zukis will change the way you view the world we live in: it’s one comprising a set of complex systems, from finance and health care, to communications and the environment. Sometimes the failure of a single component can bring down an entire system. And sometimes, as with the COVID-19 pandemic, it can cascade into the failure of multiple systems. Bob Zukis, co-author of “The Great Reboot: Succeeding in a World of Catastrophic Risk and Opportunity” offers eye-opening guidance for corporate leaders on how to move beyond traditional risk management approaches to identify and prepare for systemic risks. Bob shares insights from his book as well as from his experience as CEO and Founder of Digital Directors Network, Adjunct Professor of Management and Organization at the USC Marshall School of Business, and ESG Center Fellow.

A New Way at Looking at Risk: From the Pandemic to Cybersecurity and Beyond

Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center at The Conference Board, interviews Ben Biles, CEO and Co-founder, American Veterans Group, and Jeff Cathey, Senior Military Affairs Executive at Bank of America, about the value of supporting veteran-owned businesses and employees, and how Covid-19 and changing demographics may lead to new strategies in private sector.

Supporting Veteran-owned businesses, employees, and communities – are corporations doing enough to help?

In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 4: The Middle East, he sits down with Bassam Alfeeli, Director of Innovation and Enterprises at The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and executives from the Zain Group, Jennifer Suleiman, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Malek Hammoud, Chief Investment & Digital Officer, to discuss how innovation and digital transformation in the public and private sector is accelerating progress and paving the way for recovery. To learn more about the organizations featured in this program, please visit: https://www.kfas.com/ and https://zain.com/en/covid19/.

Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 4 – The Middle East

In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 3: India, he sits down with Sandeep Makkar, Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson, Medical India and Prabhat Pani, Senior Advisor, Partnerships & Technology at Tata Trusts, to discuss how COVID-19 is impacting the country’s healthcare system, economy, and how their businesses are responding to the challenges and effects of the pandemic.

Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 3 – India

COVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe. In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 2: Latin America, he sits down with Sandro Mesquita, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship & Sustainability for Latin America, AT&T, and Maria Luiza de Oliveira Pinto e Paiva, Director of Sustainability, Suzano, to learn how COVID-19 is impacting South America, the resulting economic crisis, and how their companies stepping up to provide critical support.

Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 2 – Latin America

COVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe.   In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 1: Africa, he sits down with Dorcas Onyango, Head of Sustainability, Southern & East Africa Business Unit, Coca-Cola, and Ruth Lewin, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Discovery Limited, to learn more about how the pandemic is impacting the African continent and how their businesses are stepping up to provide critical support for their employees, first responders, and the nation.

Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 1 – Africa

From Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock to the Gates Foundation, leaders from the investment and philanthropic worlds are making public and bold statements about climate change. Paul Washington, head of the ESG Center, speaks with Carl Pope, former Executive Director & Chairman of the Sierra Club and Satyajit Bose, Columbia University Professor about the roles of asset managers and philanthropists in addressing climate change.

Tackling Climate Change – Can Investors and Philanthropists Work Together?

How can corporations best support non-profits during COVID-19? COVID-19 is creating an evolving situation with varied impacts around the world. For the nonprofit sector, which relies heavily on financial support from fundraising events and other public programs, the disruption from physical distancing has created a new set of challenges. In addition to the government response, what role should businesses and corporate foundations play during this crisis to support charitable organizations and communities most in need? Lindsay Beltzer, Program Manager of The Conference Board’s ESG Center, chats with leaders in corporate citizenship, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership on how businesses and nonprofits are coming together and evolving their partnership models in the face of the pandemic.  To learn more about this episode’s guest, Dan Cardinali and the work of The Independent Sector, please visit https://independentsector.org/.

How can corporations best support non-profits during COVID-19?

Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School Professor and author discusses her new book, ‘Reimaging Capitalism in a World on Fire,’ which explores why we need to, and how we can, build a more profitable, equitable, and sustainable capitalism. In conversation with Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s ESG Center, this interview addresses the role of the private sector in tackling some of the biggest environmental, economic, and social issues of our time.

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire’ with Rebecca Henderson

Dottie Schindlinger from the Diligent Institute interviews with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the Environmental, Social & Governance Center at The Conference Board, about climate change, where it ranks as a priority for CEOs and Directors, and the potential impact of Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs and the Davos Manifesto on corporate disclosures and practices.

A Focus on Climate Change: From BlackRock’s Letter to CEOs to the Davos Manifesto

There are over 40,000 cases of coronavirus, concentrated in China, but the outbreak is now reaching over two dozen countries across the globe. A health crisis like this demands a government response, but what is the corporate response? Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s Environmental, Social and Governance Center, chats with a team of experts on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders worldwide are marshalling resources to respond to this health crisis.  Among the issues this podcast covers: How are global CSR leaders responding to the coronavirus outbreak? What are key lessons learned from previous outbreaks, such as SARS and Ebola? How does the CSR response to a global health crisis differ from natural disasters? What can companies do now to prepare for the next potential outbreak? Host Paul Washington, Executive Director, Environmental, Social and Governance Center, The Conference Board Participants Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, Environmental, Social and Governance Center, The Conference Board Anke Schrader, Senior Researcher, Asia Pacific, The Conference Board Chuck Mitchell, Executive Director, Knowledge Content & Quality, The Conference

Coronavirus Outbreak: The CSR Response

The second of two interviews with former NY law partner Jamie Gamble, who has written that corporations “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths” -- that is, in the narrow economic interest of stockholders.  In this interview Jamie discusses his proposed changes to the law to make it easier for corporations to act in the best interests of society at large.

If Corporations are Sociopaths, What do we do about it?

From The Conference Board’s ESG Center, this is the first of two interviews with Jamie Gamble on his essay, “The Most Important Problem in the World.”  Gamble traces major global challenges from climate change to economic inequality to corporations who, Gamble asserts, “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths.”  A provocative statement from a former partner of a major New York law firm. This interview addresses whether corporations are obligated to act as sociopaths.  The second interview focuses on Jamie’s views on how to make it easier for corporations to act in the best interest of society at large.

Are Corporations Sociopaths? A Conversation with Jamie Gamble.

ESG News and Views, from The Conference Board ESG Center, provides compelling in-depth interviews with ESG thought leaders, and timely updates on hot button topics in corporate governance, sustainability, citizenship and philanthropy.

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