Category Archives: News

Sustainability, no longer a marketing hype but an integral part of every major business and industry, supported by metrics, new ESG standards and the UN Sustainability Goals. A lot of initiatives, investments and innovative actions are being taken by both smaller and larger enterprises. However, driving so called “radical sustainability” across multiple dimensions and getting the results is a much more difficult task, especially when it comes down to the actions taken and communication towards your customers and suppliers.

Join industry experts Cope Willis and Bill Weil for their insights and thoughts on how to drive true sustainability across domains and dimensions and what this really means for organizations and their customers in terms of profits loss and how to navigate through this fairly new and unknown field with confidence. Under the guidance of prof. Craig Smith, INSEAD Chair in Ethics and Social Responsibility, who has done extensive research on this topic resulting in numerous case studies, they will deep dive and discuss the bottlenecks, pitfalls and opportunities for driving radical sustainability in your organization.  Sven Fischer, founder of INDEVOR’s US Alumni Club will introduce the panel, and INSEAD Women In Business (WiB) Global Club co-president Liana Slater will moderate questions.

About the speakers:

Cope Willis is Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental Solutions at Harsco Corporation and has over 17 years experience in sustainability, business strategy and operations. He is leading the global sustainability and environmental program for Harsco Corporation, a global leader in environmental solutions operating in more than 30 countries. Before his current role, Cope worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) advising Fortune 500 companies on how to leverage sustainability to minimize operating costs, mitigate risks, increase revenue and enhance reputations. His clients have included some of the world leaders in financial services, industrial products, energy, healthcare and consumer goods industries.

Bill Weil is focused on catalyzing market-based solutions to climate change. His experience spans Private Equity investing and working with major multinational corporations on renewable energy, recycling and energy efficiency. He has served as an active director on more than a dozen boards, led teams of investment professionals, worked on operational turnarounds and been directly responsible for hundreds of million of dollars invested to date. Amongst others, he has served as lead funder for the Climate Action 100+ initiative to bring together companies and investors to drive investment in and reporting on climate reduction initiatives.

Moderator:

Professor N. Craig Smith has been on the INSEAD faculty for the past ten years as the INSEAD Chair in Ethics and Social Responsibility at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He is also the Academic Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics Research Group in the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre, with a focus on Radical Sustainability. Prof. Smith’s research is at the intersection of business and society, encompassing business/marketing ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability strategies. He is the author, coauthor or coeditor of seven books and numerous academic articles in journals such as, Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review, a regular public speaker, and serves on the Scientific Committee of Vigeo, the corporate social responsibility rating agency.

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9pnBWSabSOym85V93OsUXg#the-main-content

Make an Impact! Eliminating Gender & Racial Bias In The World.

Empowering Change Through Education.

Wednesday, 27th October, 9AM ET / 3PM CEST / 9PM SGT

Leslee Udwin is one of the most extraordinary people some of us have had the privilege of meeting and this is your chance to meet her too!

Join us for this global INSEAD Alumni event, co-created by INDEVOR (INSEAD Global Impact) Club, USA INSEAD Alumni Association, INSEAD Women in Business Global Club and the ThinkEqual organization.

The making of the BBC documentary film India’s Daughter, based on the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh on a moving bus in Delhi, changed Leslee’s life dramatically. Making the documentary brought her face to face with Jyoti’s rapist-killers, the police, lawyers, members of the legislature and government, and the murdered rape victim’s her parents. Her experience of the ubiquitous and entrenched gender bias against women and girls shook her. The exposé was banned and never released in India and saw her unable to re-enter the country.

This month we’re bringing this exciting conversation and opportunity for the INSEAD Alumni community, to learn more about this global issue, get involved in a global movement to end discriminatory mindset and make an impact! Sign up for the event today and join the conversation! Come prepared for an interactive and eye opening session!  

For more information and to register, click here

Tuesday July 6^th 2021 – 17:00 – 18:00 CEST

Register here

“The impact of the measurement and reporting movement has been oversold. During this same 20-year period of increased reporting and sustainable investing, carbon emissions have continued to rise, and environmental damage has accelerated. Social inequity, too, is increasing. It turns out that reporting is not a proxy for progress.”

So argues Kenneth P Pucker, former COO at Timberland in a Harvard Business Review article.

In this online event organised in collaboration with the Radix Centre for Business, Politics and Society, Ken will share his views on the state of play and what might be needed for real ‘progress’ to happen. We will explore whether pressure from the investor community provides a credible route to change in a low return environment. Does public policy need to go further and is there any evidence that there is any appetite for that at the European level?

Panel

Kenneth P. Pucker is a senior lecturer at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a lecturer at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He is an advisory director at Berkshire Partners and was formerly the chief operating officer of Timberland.

Joanne Kellermann is the chair of Pension Fund Zorg & Welzijn, the pension fund for the care and welfare sectors of The Netherlands. She currently also chairs the board of supervisory directors of NWB Bank NV, the board of the University of Utrecht and Aflatoun International, an NGO that empowers 10 million children annually worldwide through social and financial education.

Willem Vriesendorp is the founder of Brussels-based #SustainablePublicAffairs, the first Public Affairs firm to only take on cases that have a positive impact on the environment. Qualified as a lawyer he moved into public affairs, specialising in competition and environmental issues. Previously, Willem was a partner with FIPRA International as co-head of the competition practice and head of the environment practice.

Moderator

Fritz Lietsch is the founder of the sustainability portal www.forum-csr.net. As editor-in-chief of the decisionmaking magazine “Forum Nachhaltig Wirtschaften” he is a co-designer of the transformation of economy and society. Fritz Lietsch is author of numerous books and magazine contributions, moderator and speaker in matters, CSR, shaping the future and sustainability. In 2010 he was awarded the prestigious B.A.U.M. Environmental Prize.

Please join us by registering here for a webinar panel and discussion April 21st, at 12:30 p.m. CET / 6:30 p.m. SGT, on impact investing as a field and a career, featuring:

Sir Graham Wrigley, Chairman of the Board of CDC Group, a world leader in impact investing

Jasjit Singh, INSEAD strategy professor and global thought leader on social impact

Emilie Abrams, President of INSEAD’s Student Impact Investing Club

Co-moderated by Philippe Dongier, President, INDEVOR alumni global impact network (INSEAD’s global impact network) and Gen Shiraishi, student leader with INDEVOR and INSEAD’s MBA Impact Investment Network and Training – MIINT.

Please send questions in advance via this link

Panelists will debate the quest for sustainability in impact investing, covering:

• How operating with an aim to create social impact can add financial value both for investors and the social enterprises they support
• How the field can avoid “impact washing,” investments that yield financial returns, but don’t sustain benefits to communities.
• How INSEAD students and alumni can learn more about and pursue successful careers in impact investing and social enterprise

Panelist Bios

Sir Graham Wrigley (MBA’86) is Chairman of the Board of CDC Group, one of the world’s leaders in impact investment and the UK’s development bank. Graham earlier was a founding partner of Permira, a leading private equity firm with more than $20 billion under management. He also works with charities, including Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust UK, where he serves as Chairman, and has volunteered for over 35 years. He is a visiting professor at INSEAD.

Professor Jasjit Singh is professor of strategy at INSEAD, focused on Innovation, Sustainable Development, Purpose-Driven Business, Impact Investing and Impact Evaluation. Jasjit has written numerous articles for leading journals on these topics. He earned a PhD in Business Economics (Strategy) at Harvard Business School and an MA in Economics at Harvard University, having earlier obtained a BTech in Computer Science & Engineering at IIT Delhi and a double-MS at Georgia Tech.

Emilie Abrams (MBA’21) is president of INSEAD’s Student Impact Investing Club, co-founder of the school’s Sustainable Food Club, and founder of AgTech Mexico, a group of entrepreneurs, nonprofits, researchers and investors creating collaborative spaces for the creation and transfer of technologies in Mexico’s agricultural sector.

Gen Shiraishi is an MBA21, is a member of the leadership team of both INDEVOR and  MIINT, INSEAD’s MBA Impact Investing Network and Training organization.

Philippe Donger, MBA 93D, is chair of INDEVOR’s global alumni network and has held leadership posts with McKinsey & Company Canada, the World Bank and General Electric.

REGISTER NOW!

Send questions for panelists!

A Conversation with Steve Davis on Using Business to Achieve SDGs

Thanks to everyone for joining INDEVOR’s fireside chat Nov. 9 with Steve Davis, author of Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism, and MBA ‘93D alumna Katie Smith Milway.

We had a rich conversation about five macrotrends reshaping global, sustainable development that we can leverage as a ‘Force for Good’. We also had the opportunity to hear Steve’s thoughts on Q&A from the audience on topics ranging broadly, from social impact measurement to career development. For those of you that were unable to join us, please find a recording of the event here and feel free to share on social media.

If you enjoyed the event, please do follow the INDEVOR Student and Alumni LinkedIn pages as well as our Twitter page (@INDEVORImpact) to stay tuned for all future events!

Keep well,

Benjamin Pidduck

The INSEAD Fund Impact Report 2019/2020 is out and celebrates the impact of giving from nearly 3,400 donors. Read it at this link.

INDEVOR Webinar: A Conversation with Steve Davis on Using Business to Achieve SDGs

Please join Steve Davis and Katie Smith Milway on November 9th, 15h00 CET for a fireside conversation on optimizing “Business as a Force for Good” to help achieve the global SDGs in the 21st century by registering here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OegL1vUmQZyIDTFqiTq40w

In his newly released book – Undercurrents: Channeling Outrage to Spark Practical Activism – Davis challenges thinking and action to alleviate poverty and injustice by charting five growing currents in world economics, demographics, equity, technology and scaling solutions. 

A lecturer on social entrepreneurship at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and advisor to the WHO on the digital response to COVID-19, Davis currently serves as interim head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation China office, and is former CEO of non-profit vaccine developer PATH and former Director of Social Innovation for McKinsey & Company.

INDEVOR cofounder Katie Smith Milway (MBA ’93) will moderate a short conversation with Davis followed by student and alumni Q&A regarding Undercurrents, impact in business, and career paths in the social sector.

REGISTER NOW

INSEAD Investing for Impact: Launch of INSEAD’s first Student Impact Investing Club

Kamal Hassan,  MBA´93. Founding Partner, Loyal VC

Moderated Chris Holcroft, Borja Menendez and Charles Cochin de Billy, Co-Founders of the INSEAD Social Impact Fund (ISIF).

Join us for an intimate presentation and panel discussion to mark the official launch of INSEAD’s Impact Investing Club.

Conceived from a collaboration between IPEC and INDEVOR, the INSEAD Student Impact Fund offers MBA students the opportunity to invest for impact and gain first-hand experience of VC investing at every stage of the investment cycle.

Thanks to a partnership with Loyal VC, a Canada based and INSEAD alumni founded VC fund, students will work on real investment deals across 5 teams: from Deal Sourcing, due diligence and impact assessment through to portfolio management and fundraising.

Join us to meet the team, meet Loyal and to learn more about this exciting new initiative!

REGISTER NOW

The world is waking up to the values of environmental and social responsibility. Over the summer, the Financial Times reported that sustainable investments outperformed the wider global stock index including during the market downturn. This strengthens the case for exploring how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in business models and investment decisions.

This November, INSEAD will discuss how to capture these opportunities during SDG Week – a three-day event co-organised by the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society and our INSEAD Student Clubs. In partnership with Accenture Strategy, SDG Week connects experts and leaders with the INSEAD community – students, participants, faculty, staff, alumni and partners.

Each day will feature virtual conversations on specific solutions to understand how businesses and societies can create a positive impact in the world, while contributing to the success of the SDGs. Co-designed with eight student clubs, the 2020 edition will explore impact investing; careers in sustainability; impact entrepreneurship; and equity, diversity and inclusion. It will also present student-led initiatives contributing to the SDGs.

Ready to find out more? To view the full programme of online events, click here. To learn more about SDGs click here.

REGISTER NOW

We look forward to seeing you there.

#SDGSMART

Best regards,