The New Face of Business:

Thousands Gather at Vanderbilt to Build a Sustainable Future

With demand for corporate social responsibility growing, the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management played host to an unprecedented gathering of students and professionals committed to those ideals at this year’s Net Impact Conference, held November 1-3 in Nashville.

The 2007 conference – entitled “Building a Sustainable Future: What Will You Do Next?” – convened over 1,800 graduate business students, faculty and administrators from B-schools around the globe and corporate and nonprofit professionals to focus on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, international development, and nonprofit and environmental management.

In addition to more than 300 speakers in 90 panels, the event featured keynote speeches from Yvon Chouinard, Founder of Patagonia; Charles O. Holliday, Chairman and CEO, DuPont; and Tensie Whelan, Executive Director of the Rainforest Alliance.  Corporate support for the event was robust, with more than 30 major organizations signed on as sponsors and over 70 companies participating in this year’s career fair.

Up-to-the-minute reporting on conference events, developments and news by student bloggers from OwenBloggers.com, an enhanced curriculum and enriched participant experience, and a truly green and carbon-neutral event propelled this year’s Net Impact Conference to be the most dynamic ever.  In addition, the event was covered by such news media as The Tennessean and Chief Executive magazine, as well as several influential external bloggers, including Nick Aster of Triple Pundit.

“The Net Impact Conference put a spotlight on the demand for social responsibility in business today, and we’re proud to have convened an event that inspires people to effect bold, positive changes in their own lives and in the workplace,” said Owen Dean Jim Bradford.

New generation of business leaders drive responsible change 

This year’s Net Impact Conference took place amid ever-increasing interest in the principles and potential of corporate social responsibility.  A recent Net Impact survey of more than 2,100 students worldwide found that 81 percent believe companies should try to work toward the betterment of society. Nine out of ten respondents said that business leaders should factor social and environmental effects into their business decisions.  Even more telling, 79 percent of the students said they will seek socially responsible employment at some point during their careers and more than half plan to do so immediately after graduation.

The 2007 Conference also offered participants opportunities put their own abilities and ideas to the test, including the first-ever Project Pyramid Case Competition.  This novel contest – designed to produce tangible solutions to poverty-related conditions in society – builds upon the success of the Project Pyramid initiative at Vanderbilt. Founded by Owen students in 2006, Project Pyramid is dedicated to the elimination of global poverty, including the principle of investing in the poor through microfinance championed by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Vanderbilt graduate Muhammad Yunus. The Schulich School of Business at York University emerged with the winning idea, a highly collaborative, locally focused, social venture capital model. More than 35 teams from leading universities on three continents vied for the $15,000 in prize money, donated by Cal Turner, Jr., chairman of the Cal Turner Family Foundation and retired Chairman and CEO of Dollar General Corporation.

“We are very pleased with how well this year’s Net Impact Conference came together in terms of planning and execution, and we have many reasons to be proud of the Owen and Vanderbilt communities for their important contributions and support,” said James Butler, second-year Owen MBA and member of the Student Design Team. “Our society is at an important juncture in the discussion around corporate social responsibility. This event challenged participants to think more critically about the realities that our world is facing and the role that they – and business in general – can play to improve society.”