Keynote Speakers

Orin Smith, President and CEO of Starbucks Corporation

Orin Smith is president and chief executive officer of Starbucks Coffee Company, based in Seattle, Washington. He joined Starbucks as vice president and chief financial officer in 1990, when the company had 45 stores located mostly in the Pacific Northwest. He managed the company’s initial public offering in July 1992. In 1994, he became president and chief operating officer and has headed all business activities since that time. In June, 2000, he became president and chief executive officer.

Prior to joining Starbucks, Orin spent 14 years with Touche Ross & Co. (the company is now called Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu) in the management consulting division, where he was
partner-in-charge of the Northwest practice for several years. He was later the executive vice president and chief financial officer of two transportation companies. Orin has also taught at several universities and served two Washington State Governors as the Director of Management and the Budget.

Orin serves on the board of directors of Conservation International, a global nonprofit organization that works to protect plant and animal diversity in the Earth’s biodiversity hotspots, major tropical wilderness areas, and key marine ecosystems. Starbucks formed a partnership with Conservation International in 1998 to preserve areas of high biodiversity and to provide economic opportunities for small-scale farmers in Chiapas, Mexico. Based on the success of the work in Chiapas, the partnership has been expanded to replicate the initiative in other coffee growing regions of the world.

He also serves on several nonprofit boards in the Seattle area, including the Advisory Board for the University of Washington School of Business and the UW Medicine Board of Directors. Orin holds a BA from the University of Washington and a MBA from Harvard Business School. He was honored with an HBS Alumni Achievement Award in 2002.

Julius Walls, Jr., CEO of Greyston Bakery and VP of Enterprise and Jobs Development at Greyston Foundation

Julius Walls Jr. is the Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Business for Greyston Foundation and President and CEO of the Greyston Bakery. Greyston Foundation is a values driven network of not-for-profit and for-profit organizations founded to help transform the lives of individuals, families and communities. Greyston Foundation operates several self-sufficiency programs in Yonkers, New York. This includes permanent housing and support services for the formerly homeless, low-income and working families; a quality childcare program; an Adult Day Health Care center for individuals living with HIV/AIDS; a community gardens project and a residential program for homeless or very low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. The Foundation owns and operates, Greyston Bakery, a for-profit enterprise that has been producing the finest cakes and tarts for twenty years. The Greyston Network includes 175 staff, working in entry-level, supervisory and management positions.

Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Walls attended high school and college seminary before deciding to pursue a career in business. He studied business at Baruch College and began his career at a mid-size CPA firm where he worked in the accounting department. Soon after, he joined a chocolate manufacturing company and rose to the position of Vice President of Operations. While at the chocolate company, Mr. Walls founded his own chocolate company, Sweet Roots, Inc., Sweet Roots was marketed as the only chocolate bar manufactured using exclusively African cocoa, produced by an African-American and sold primarily in the African-American community for fundraising by schools and other organizations.

Mr. Walls first worked with Greyston Bakery to bring its cakes and tarts to the White House in 1993. In 1995, Mr. Walls joined Greyston as a marketing consultant in the position of Director of Marketing. Mr. Walls was appointed General Manager and CEO of the bakery in November 1997 adding the position of position of Vice-President, Business Enterprises for Greyston Foundation in January 2000.

A core ingredient in Mr. Walls' life and therefor his career is his spiritual practice. He encourages employees to actively bring their whole self to work, including their cultural and spiritual selves. His manner of being has motivated employees to be their most productive at work as well as supported their personal growth. Mr. Walls serves as the Vice-Chair board on the Workforce Investment Board in Yonkers. He is also the Vice Chair of the board for the SEA-Change and serves as a board member on the Yonkers Chambers of Commerce, the YMCA-Yonkers, Artisan Baking Center and Groundwork's, Inc. Mr. Walls has spoken extensively throughout the country on the topics of Social Ventures and Social Purpose Businesses, Spirituality in the Workplace and Business Development in the Inner City.

Mr. Walls resides in Yonkers with his wife, Cheryl and three children.

CEO Roundtable panelists

Gary Erickson, CEO of Clif Bar

Though resistant to labels, Gary Erickson is heralded nationally as a visionary entrepreneur who believes there is more to business than the bottom line—even though his company, Clif Bar Inc., has done well by the bottom line, having been selected four straight years to Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing companies in the United States.

Clif Bar Inc. has won numerous awards honoring the company for its treatment of employees, commitment to the environment and support for important causes such as the fight against breast cancer. Committed to running a private company that values ethics instead of shareholder return, Gary is in demand as a speaker at leading food industry, “green” business and college campus events. He is the author of a forthcoming book, RAISING THE BAR: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar Inc. (September 2004, Jossey-Bass).

Gary started his company as a small bakery. Today, Clif Bar Inc. is one of the nation’s leading makers of all-natural energy and nutrition foods. Based in Berkeley, Calif., the company is named for Gary’s father, Clifford, who spent many years on hiking and skiing adventures with his son in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.

Gary began his professional baking career in 1986 when he co-founded Kali’s Bakery of Emeryville, Calif., which made and distributed calzones and gourmet cookies. In 1992, Kali’s introduced the first Clif Bars to the public. The company was renamed Clif Bar Inc. in 1997.

Gary has been cooking and baking since high school under the watchful eyes of his mother and grandmother. Prior to establishing Kali’s and later Clif Bar Inc., he spent a decade overseeing the design and production of bicycle saddles. His work earned high praise and an exhibit in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Gary holds a business degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

With Clif Bar Inc., Gary created his dream job, combining his love of the outdoors, cycling, business, good food and social responsibility. He strives to share that dream with employees and the public, and to encourage other companies, by example, to view social responsibility as part of their mission. Gary’s vision can be seen in the company’s use of all-natural ingredients and its generous contributions to many causes and non-profit organizations.

Award-winning journalist and author David Batstone writes “we sorely need business leaders who bring integrity and passion to the way they go about business. No one fits that bill more ably than Gary Erickson…” Others have recognized that, too. In 2003, Health magazine named Clif Bar Inc. the Healthiest Company for Women to Work in the United States. Fortune Small Business selecting Gary as one of the Best Bosses in America.

An experienced outdoor adventurer, Gary is an accomplished rock climber, cyclist, mountain biker, skier and backpacker. He has biked the French and Italian Alps, trekked in the Himalayas and competed in 24-hour mountain bike events. Gary can also be found at home in Oakland, Calif., cooking eclectic dishes for his family or playing jazz trumpet.

Jeffrey Hollender, CEO of Seventh Generation and author of "What Matters Most"

Jeffrey Hollender is President and Corporate Responsibility Officer of Seventh Generation the 16 year old company that is the leading brand of natural household products in the United States.

Hollender is a member and former Director of the Social Venture Network, he was a co-founder and a Director of Community Capital Bank, a New York financial institution that invests in affordable housing and community development and the former Chairperson of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, with almost 500 members, the largest state organization of it’s kind.

Jeffrey frequently addresses social and environmental responsibility at regional, national and international venues. Speaking engagements have included such varied groups as the Harvard Environmental Forum, the Green Festival, the World Resources Institute, Nike Apparel Group, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Growth, the Businesses for Social Responsibility national conference and many others.

He is the author of the best-selling book: How to Make the World a Better Place: A Guide for Doing Good. His new book: What Matters Most - How a small group of pioneers are teaching social responsibility to big business - and why big business is listening was released in December 2003. For more information see the website www.whatmattersmost.biz.

Thomas M. Chappell, CEO and Co-Founder of Tom's of Maine and President of the Saltwater Institute

Tom Chappell left the corporate world for Kennebunk, Maine, in 1968, where with his wife Kate, they raised their five children. Since co-founding Tom's of Maine with her in 1970, he has dedicated himself to creating a company that produces innovative, natural care products in a caring and creative work environment. The company now produces over 100 products, including a full line of ADA-accepted fluoride toothpastes, shampoo, deodorant, mouthwash, flossing ribbon, soap, and cough, cold and wellness products, which are sold throughout the world and on the company’s website.

Tom wrote his first book, The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good, in 1993, which set a practical yet powerful new agenda for ethical and profitable business leadership in the 1990s. In the fall of 1999, Tom published his second book, Managing Upside Down: The Seven Intentions of Values-Centered Leadership (William Morrow & Co.). This book is an insightful step-by-step guide outlining Tom’s management philosophy of leading with one’s values by integrating the organizational, financial and social components of a business. Coinciding with the books release, Chappell founded an educational non-profit, The Saltwater Institute, with the mission of researching, developing, and marketing experience-based learning models for values-centered leadership in organizations. The books and Institute reinforce Chappell’s long-standing belief that one can operate a profitable, successful business while acting in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

A 1966 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., with a BA in English and 1991 graduate of Harvard Divinity School with a Masters in Theology, Tom hopes to set an example of ethical business standards, and leadership for others. He was a recipient of the 1990 New Englander Award sponsored by the Small Business Association of New England; the 1991 Entrepreneur of the Year from CNBC; and was awarded the 1995 Socially Responsible New England Entrepreneur of the Year by the Entrepreneur of the Year Institute. Tom's of Maine has been named one of the 100 best companies in the U.S. for working mothers by Working Mother magazine, and one of the Top 10 healthiest companies in Health magazine. In 1992 Tom's of Maine received the prestigious Corporate Conscience Award for Charitable Contributions from the Council on Economic Priorities and is listed on the Honor Roll in the CEP's Shopping for A Better World. In 1993 the Chappells were presented with the New England Environmental Leadership Award and the Governor's Award for Business Excellence. In 1997 Chappell was a recipient of the Caring Institute’s Award for “One of the Most Caring People in America.”

He is active in the Episcopal Church of Maine and was a deputy to the 1991, 1994, and 1997 Triennial General Conference of the Episcopal Church. Likewise, Tom participates in many cultural and philanthropic organizations, among them the Dean's Council for Harvard Divinity School, the Advisory Council for the Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, The Nature Conservancy of Maine, and the Washington National Cathedral National Advisory Group. In 2000 Chappell was appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.

Harriet Mayor Fulbright, Former Clinton Administration Appointee, Goodwill Ambassador for the Fulbright Program

Harriet Mayor Fulbright has spent the majority of her adult life in the fields of education and the arts. From 1997 until 2000 she was the Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, whose mission is to encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors in order to enhance cultural life in America. Prior to this position she served as "Unofficial Ambassador" for the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Program and in that capacity she traveled to numerous countries on all five major continents and all over the United States to speak about the importance of international education exchange and the pivotal role played by the Fulbright Program.