SOCIAL IMPACT WEBINAR SERIES
Why Stakeholder Capitalism Is a Good Bet in Times of Crisis
with Georgia Levenson Keohane, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School; Liz Luckett, ’90CC, managing partner of the Social Entrepreneurs Fund; Nick Maynard, senior vice president for Commonwealth; and Martin Whittaker, CEO of Just Capital
Thursday, May 28, 2020
8–9 a.m. EDT
Webinar details included in RSVP confirmation email.
Responsibility is key to resilience and critical for business leaders to consider in their response to a crisis or economic slowdown. Now more than ever, it is clear that the business and investor community — and society at large — benefit when leaders incorporate the interests of a broad set of stakeholders to rapidly adapt and respond to business disruptions, safeguard people and assets, and maintain continuous operations during times of uncertainty.
The current coronavirus pandemic has exposed some of the risks in the United States and around the globe for businesses and investors that have not created resiliency plans. Conversely, those with strong responsible track records and commitments have fared relatively well in the crisis. Economic recovery for individuals, small and large businesses, and society at large will require human and financial capital, ingenuity, and innovative public-private partnerships.
In this webinar, our panelists — leaders in impact investing and responsible corporate behavior — will explore ways in which business leaders and investors can better understand, plan for, and mitigate risk, and create sustainable financial value during times of crisis, by following the principles of socially responsible businesses and incorporating ESG and impact investing strategies into their portfolio.
About the Speakers:
Georgia Levenson Keohane
Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School
Georgia Levenson Keohane is a professor of social enterprise at Columbia Business School and a long-time philanthropy and responsible investing executive. Until recently, she was the president of the Navab Capital Partners (NCP) Foundation and head of the firm's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice, and before that executive director of the Pershing Square Foundation.
Keohane's career in social impact has bridged the private and nonprofit sectors. A former McKinsey consultant, she has advised philanthropies, community development and finance organizations, educational entities, think tanks, impact investors and social purpose companies.
In recent weeks, she has been helping to lead one of New York City's COVID-19 emergency response and relief efforts.
Keohane speaks and writes regularly on social and economic policy, and the role of business in society and is the author of two books, Capital and the Common Good: How Innovative Finance is Tackling the World's Most Urgent Problems (2016) and Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century: Innovation Across the Nonprofit, Private and Public Sectors (2013). Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Time, the Harvard Business Review, among other publications, and her recent post, "Why Stakeholder Capitalism is a Good Bet in Times of Crisis" explores why impact investing, responsible corporate behavior, and ESG are more relevant than ever.
Keohane is a senior fellow at New America and serves on the boards of several nonprofits.
She holds a BA from Yale University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MSc from London School of Economics, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
Liz Luckett ’90CC
Managing Partner of the Social Entrepreneurs Fund
Elizabeth (Liz) Luckett has an extensive background in philanthropy, technology, analysis, and market research. Before joining TSEF, Liz was director of impact investing at the Pershing Square Foundation. Prior, she served as senior vice president at Citigroup and co-founded and served as the executive vice president of Fulcrum Analytics (formerly, Cyber Dialogue). Liz began her career with the Gartner Group as director of business planning, where she worked with the CEO and executive team analyzing and implementing acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships for the company.
Liz is a board observer at Aunt Bertha, CloudFactory, ConnXus and Frogtek, and Pigeonly. She is also a founding board member of The Bail Project and a member emeritus of the advisory committee on socially responsible investing at Columbia University and Root Capital.
Liz has a BA from Columbia University and a MPhil from Cambridge University in England.
Nick Maynard
Senior Vice President for Commonwealth
Nick Maynard is a senior vice president for Commonwealth, where he has spent almost 15 years building, piloting, and scaling innovations to improve the lives of financially vulnerable Americans. Commonwealth is a leading nonprofit focused on transforming the financial landscape for financially vulnerable people through innovation and partnership with the public and private sector and has helped nearly 1M Americans save more than $3B.
Nick is an expert on savings innovation, especially prize-linked savings, gamification, and tax-time savings; and he has led successful strategic partnerships with Walmart, Staples, and H&R Block. As part of the Blackrock Emergency Savings Initiative, Nick currently leads efforts to deploy proven, innovative savings solutions for LMI Americans at scale via their employers, financial services firms, fintech partners, and gig platforms. He is a leader in the Boston Fintech ecosystem working both as a fintech mentor as well as on animating issues of financial security for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and corporate partners aiming for social impact.
Nick is also exploring the role of investors to influence employee financial security, elevating the importance of employees in the “S” of ESG.
Prior to joining Commonwealth, Nick spent almost a decade providing customer, market, and operational strategy consulting to Fortune 1000 executives while at Deloitte Consulting and Braxton Associates. Nick holds both a master's in business administration and a master's in public policy from Harvard University. He also holds a bachelor's in engineering and operations research from Princeton University.
Martin Whittaker
CEO of Just Capital
Martin Whittaker is the founding CEO of Just Capital and is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization. He is also co-founder and board member of the CREO Syndicate, a family office investment network; a board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project US; a member of the Forbes Finance Council and Forbes contributor; and an advisor to Mission Driven Capital Partners, a private equity firm.
Previously, Martin was a founding partner and investment committee member at Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm, where he led private equity, real asset, and direct investing activities. Martin has also served as director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a family office-led private equity firm; senior vice president at Swiss Re, where he was part of the environmental and commodity markets team; and managing director at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a pioneering sustainable investment advisory and research firm.
Martin received his PhD from University of Edinburgh, an MBA from the University of London, an MSc from McGill University and a BSc from University of St. Andrews.
Martin has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, provided expert testimony on environmental markets to the United States Senate, guest lectured at multiple business schools, consulted to major corporations on sustainability and impact-related matters, and has been an invited speaker, published writer, and contributor via television, print, social media, and conferences throughout his career.
Social Impact Webinar Series
This webinar series was designed to engage our social enterprise community during New York's Shelter in Place recommendation. Our intention is to continue to disseminate best practices for the social enterprise sector, as well as discuss the pressing social and environmental challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure vulnerable and marginalized community needs are still addressed. All webinars will be recorded and shared on the center's COVID-19 Relief and Response webpage, www.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/covid-response.