NETWORK
Slideshow

Schedule

07:45-08:15 Registration and Breakfast
08:15-08:30 Opening Remarks - Professor Ray Fisman, Director, Social Enterprise Program, Columbia Business School
08:30-09:30 Opening Keynote - Building Profitable Solutions to Poverty:
Nancy Barry, President and CEO, Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
Carlos Enrique Cavelier, President, Alquería S.A.
Tao Yong, Chairman and CEO, SDR

Breakout Sessions

9:45-10:45 Private Equity for Social Impact The Power of ICT in Social Enterprise Competition vs. Collaboration: Strategy in the Social Sector Connecting Markets: Value Chain Strategies that Promote Development
11:00-12:00 The New Green Economy Measuring the Impact of Social Enterprise Wikipedia and Social Media: Growth Strategies Entertainment as an Innovative Platform for Social Services: A Case Study from Mexico
12:00-13:00 Networking & Lunch
13:00-14:00 Botwinick Keynote - Craig Barrett, Retired Chairman and CEO of Intel Corp
Introduction by Professor Bruce Kogut, Director, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center, Columbia Business School

Breakout Sessions

14:15-15:15 Conversations in Education Reform Consulting for Social Impact Solutions for Clean Water Scarcity Striking the Right Balance in Microfinance
15:30-16:30 Innovative Financial Instruments with Social Return Leading Successful Companies in Clean Tech Expanding Access and Lowering the Cost Curve: Challenges in Healthcare Entrepreneurs’ Showcase: Transformative Business Models
16:45-17:45 Closing Keynote - Thomas Gensemer, Managing Partner, Blue State Digital
17:45-18:00 Closing Remarks - Amanda Cahn '10, Alexi Villedrouin '10, Natalie Wieder '10, Conference Organizers
18:00-19:00 Cocktails and Networking

* Session topics subject to change.

Private Equity for Social Impact
Conventional financial theory assumes that financial risk and return are correlated and that profit maximizers always seek the greatest financial return relative to the risk. However, once social impact factors enter into consideration, a more robust set of issues needs to be considered. It can no longer be assumed that greater financial risk will, on average, generate greater financial return. This session will bring together practitioners in the field of private equity for social impact, who are taking a range of approaches to maximize the economic and social impact they have on their communities, as well as to deal with the inherent risk in this space. In this session, we ask our speakers to provide a snapshot of the different business models they chose, the key sectors in which to invest, broad regional differences, main challenges and lessons learned.
Moderator: Roger Leeds, Professor of International Finance, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and Adjunct Professor, Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • Raj Kundra, Director, Capital Markets and Energy Portfolio, Acumen Fund
  • Antony Bugg-Levine, Managing Director, Rockefeller Foundation and Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia Business School
  • Alonso Bustamante, Senior Investment Manager, Ignia

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The Power of ICT in Social Enterprise
Most organizations rely on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and Social Enterprise is no exception. This session will explore how ICT has contributed to improving the lives of people in the developed and developing world. Practitioners will discuss the success and failure of business models designed to bring essential products and services to the underprivileged through technology. Topics will include: private sector initiatives to increase access to technology, the merits of mobile technology, the challenges of implementation, and the future of poverty.
Moderator: Suzanne Fallender, Director, CSR Strategy & Communications, Intel Corp.
Speaker(s):

  • Xavier Faz, Senior Technical Advisor, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
  • Richard Robbins '01, Director, Social Innovation, AT&T
  • Lee Tenny, Managing Consultant, Global Business Services – Financial Services Strategy & Change, IBM
  • Andrea L. Taylor, Director, Community Affairs North America, Microsoft

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Competition vs. Collaboration: Strategy in the Social Sector
What is the landscape of competition in the social sector? There is an illusion that without access to capital markets, social organizations are exempt from market forces, thus blurring the lines between which organization is successful and which is merely languishing under one person’s dedication. However, social organizations actually vie quite regularly for funding, top human capital and opportunities to effect change. They push to prove their theories of change and the sizes of their relative impacts, often at the expense of other organizations working towards the same mission. But must competition in the social sector be a zero sum game as it is in the private sector? Is it possible, rather, for collaboration - through networks, joint efforts or even mergers - to increase the value added to social returns? By addressing these large questions, this session will seek to root out when social organizations compete, when this is necessary for organizations, when it is helpful to those they are serving, and when it is hurtful. Speakers will also discuss strategies for successful competition and effective collaboration.  
Moderator: Melissa Berman, President and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Adjunct Professor, Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • Jerry Hirsch, Founder and Chairman, Lodestar Foundation
  • Jemina Bernard '01, Executive Director, Teach For America, New York Region
  • Rick Surpin, President, Independence Care System

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Connecting Markets: Value Chain Strategies that Promote Development
The challenge of connecting emerging, developing and post-conflict markets to trading target customer segments requires intense coordination between the public and private sectors. Addressing the needs of this complex web of domestic and foreign stakeholders requires strong leadership, management and perseverance. This session will explore the art and science — or simply “what it takes” — to build and improve value chains that make countries more competitive and promote their economic growth. Speakers will explore the general strategies and business models they have developed and applied in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. The speakers, who played a significant role in Rwanda's recent success in building and linking its high-quality coffee to international markets and firms like Starbucks, will explore lessons learned.  
Moderator: Murray Low, Director, The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center, Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • Robert Henning, Director, OTF Group
  • Maurice Wiener, Chief of Party MarChE, USAID Funded Project, Haiti

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The New Green Economy
What are the critical success factors and obstacles for businesses in sustainability, and how do successful sustainable businesses maintain their competitive advantage?  How should green entrepreneurs go about raising capital in this new economy?  This session brings together experts from sustainability consulting, investing, entrepreneurship and the media to highlight opportunities specific to green business and the public policies that affect them.  
Moderator: Geoffrey Heal, Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility, Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • John Voelcker, Editor-in-Chief, GreenCarReports.com
  • Liddy Karter, Managing Director, Industrial Symbiosis Capital
  • Michael Sadowski, Director of Client Services, SustainAbility

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Measuring the Impact of Social Enterprise
As both nonprofit and for-profit businesses become progressively more complex, it becomes increasingly important to redefine measures of success.  Moreover, the ability to measure and assess the impact of our actions in a quantifiable manner becomes crucial.  Concrete results allow companies and nonprofit organizations to demonstrate the difference they are making in the countries where they operate.  This session will take the form of an interactive workshop to discuss innovative frameworks for monitoring and evaluation. We will aim to understand how to capture the complexity of different types of projects and businesses and how to isolate the impacts caused. Topics include: Monitoring progress towards results, evaluating the effects of foreign aid, addressing challenges to creating evaluation frameworks, the appropriate indicators to measure impact, how we get beyond measures of inputs to really understand deeper effects and broader development contribution, and how we ensure an assessment is objective.  
Moderator: Daniella Ballou-Aares, Partner, Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Speaker(s):

  • Geeta Batra, Head of the Results Measurement for Advisory Services Unit of the Small and Medium Enterprise Department, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
  • Shiranthi M. Gnanaselvam, Senior Director, Monitoring & Evaluation, Millennium Challenge Corporation
  • Marc Manara, Water Portfolio Manager, Acumen Fund
  • Jimmy Sylvester, Evaluation Officer, Producer, IFC's Results Measurement Unit

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Wikipedia and Social Media: Growth Strategies
This session will be a lively discussion between two of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders: Wikipedia’s co-founder, Jimmy Wales and DoSomething’s CEO, Nancy Lublin. Mr. Wales and Ms. Lublin will explore the philosophical and practical reasons behind why Wikipedia — which is available in 28 languages, including Esperanto — was created; how Wikipedia and other social media have changed the way we think about communication, education, business, culture and society; and how “free”, easy-to-access, inclusive and reliable social media platforms can be used to effectively increase an organization’s profitable growth. Looking towards the future, the speakers will discuss how competition and the endless pursuit of entrepreneurs might change the game.
Moderator: Nancy Lublin, CEO, DoSomething.org; Founder, Dress for Success
Speaker(s): Jimmy Wales, Co-founder, Wikipedia
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Entertainment as an Innovative Platform for Social Services: A Case Study from Mexico
Cinepop is a for-profit social venture in Mexico that offers free outdoor movie screenings in local suburban communities and generates revenues through sponsorships sold to companies that target low-income customers. In a country where the price of a movie ticket can cost up to 20% of a family’s monthly income, Cinepop has succeeded in serving over one million people in the past five years. Since its inception in 2004, Cinepop has evolved into an effective platform to promote social services to large — and growing — numbers of low-income households. At weekly screenings, which can attract up to 25,000 movie-goers, social institutions promote products and services such as microcredit, medical consultations, public housing and self-employment training. This panel will feature an in-depth conversation with Cinepop’s founder, Ariel Zylbersztejn, who will share his experience as a social entrepreneur in Mexico, his plans to expand Cinepop domestically and internationally, and the vision for his fast-growing social enterprise. Mr. Zylbersztejn is one of youngest members of The World Economic Forum; this session will be his first speaking engagement in the U.S.  
Introduction: Giselle Leung ‘07, ESP Global Champion, Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
Moderator: Francisco Noguera, Co-Managing Editor, NextBillion.net; Research Analyst for the New Venture Project, World Resource Institute
Speaker(s): Ariel Zylbersztejn, Founder and Managing Director, Cinepop
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Conversations in Education Reform
Speakers will debate compelling and contrasting ideas for effecting sustainable change in the public education sector. The conversation will start by addressing the United States Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (I3), which is designed to support scalable mechanisms that either have proven themselves at less than full scale ($30-50 million grants) or are unproven but hold out a strong promise of leading to scalable improvements ($5 million grants). The i3 funds are geared toward boosting student achievement, improving failing schools, retaining top-notch teachers and increasing graduation rates. Each speaker will outline a proposal that he/she believes would lead to the most effective use of a sizable grant under this competitive fund. Speakers will then be asked to respond to each others’ proposals, highlighting their concerns about the other proposals and why they prefer their own (if they do). The intention is to facilitate an insightful and impactful discussion on the future of public education.  
Moderator: James Liebman, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Speaker(s):

  • Eric Nadelstern, Chief Schools Officer, NYC Department of Education
  • Dan Weisberg, Vice President of Policy and General Counsel, The New Teachers Project
  • Emary Aronson, Managing Director, The Robin Hood Foundation

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Consulting for Social Impact
Consulting skills can benefit social enterprise oriented organizations by providing advice and best practices gained through experience and knowledge sharing. Speakers will discuss how social impact consulting can tackle major issues including climate change, economic development and health care. This session will initially focus on how the consulting skill set and network can be leveraged to create positive social impact in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Speakers will also explore how the business model differs from traditional consulting and in what ways impact is measured differently from the for-profit sector.  Recent innovations within Social Impact consulting will be discussed, including how consultants have managed to instill carbon reduction processes into the businesses and organizations they are advising. Finally we will discuss how these developments are being shared in the community.
Moderator: Hitendra Wadhwa, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • Laura Clancy '07, Consultant, Bridgespan
  • Violetta Ostafin, Project Leader, Boston Consulting Group
  • Sonila Cook '01, Partner, Dalberg Global Development Advisors
  • Rena B. Zurofsky '80, President and Founder, Rena Zurofsky Consulting

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Solutions for Clean Water Scarcity
Water is the lifeblood of every economy, but is perhaps one of the least well-understood fields within sustainability. While energy has grabbed more headlines, a global water crisis is growing dire, with 1 billion people without access to clean water and wide swaths of the world struggling with desertification. Addressing the scarcity of fresh water is a $400 billion market in which social enterprise has a large and important role to play. Speakers will shed light on the business and social enterprise opportunities in the water industry, offering a range of unique perspectives.  
Moderator: Olivia Zaleski, Journalist, CNN Money
Speaker(s):

  • Patricia Dandonoli, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, Natural Systems Utilities
  • G.G. Pique, President and CEO, Energy Recovery Inc
  • Sangeeta Chowdhry, Ripple Effect Project Manager, Acumen Fund

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Striking the Right Balance in Microfinance Investing
This session will feature an interactive discussion between the audience and a panel of experts on the trade-offs between high financial returns and maximum social impact in microfinance investing. Speakers will explore questions related to the role of social impact assessment in evaluating debt and equity investments in microfinance institutions (MFIs), the obligation of microfinance investors to push for double and triple bottom line results from their client MFIs, and the future of investment flows to MFIs by investors who are seeking financial returns and social impact.
Moderator: Louise Schneider, Vice President, Global Social Investment Funds, Deutsche Bank
Speaker(s):

  • Michael Rauenhorst, Chair, MGR Foundation
  • David Gough, Investment Partner, Grassroots Capital
  • Christina Juhasz, Director, Capital Markets Group, Women's World Banking
  • Gil Crawford, CEO, MicroVest Capital Management

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Innovative Financial Instruments with Social Return
From delivery of malaria nets in Africa to job training in New York, valuable social services are impaired without proper capital. This session will discuss innovative financing techniques that are being employed by cutting edge institutions in the social sector. This panel intends to showcase products/services on the horizon that mobilize resources for the world's underserved populations, build effective institutional capacity, and drive towards economic betterment. Traditional funding techniques are often too myopic or too slow-moving to provide immediate and long-term impact. By employing private-sector methodologies, efficient and innovative financing allows organizations, communities, and countries to access the needed capital to achieve social good.  
Moderator: Alexander Friedman '98, CFO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Speaker(s):

  • Clara Miller, President and CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund
  • John Eric Nelson, Managing Partner, Wall Street Without Walls
  • Julie Sunderland, Senior Program Investment Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Leah Pedersen Thomas, Director of Net Guarantee, Malaria No More

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Leading Successful Companies in Clean Tech
Clean technology has rapidly accelerated to the forefront of all aspects of business.  Innovation, legislation and the financial markets have spurred the success and failure of countless ventures seeking to deploy technologies and establish sustainable businesses. This session explores the leadership and business models of successful clean tech companies using today’s technologies to solve our energy problems. This inspiring group of speakers represents the top leadership from the most successful companies in clean technology. From renewable power generation to energy efficiency, these industry leaders have grown their businesses to take leading market positions and have managed to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing world. The discussion will cover topics including: sustainable business strategies, environmental and social impact, renewable energy legislation, alternative energy market demand, and technology trends.  
Moderator: Kate Galbraith, Journalist, New York Times
Speaker(s):

  • Anthony Orlando, CEO, Covanta Energy
  • Charles Ricker '72, Senior Vice President of Business Development, BrightSource Energy
  • Mike Picchi, CFO and Interim CEO, Comverge, Inc.

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Expanding Access and Lowering the Cost Curve: Challenges in Healthcare
What are the real challenges to providing quality, affordable healthcare? What are innovative ways that companies, organizations and governments are lowering the cost curve and expanding access and quality care? This session brings together experts from industry, finance and policy to define the true barriers to delivering quality healthcare to the poor and underinsured, and to highlight opportunities and successful business models that are improving results and lowering costs throughout the industry and around the world.
Moderator: Linda Green, Armand G. Erpf Professor of Business , Columbia Business School
Speaker(s):

  • Casey Santiago '07, Senior Advisor, Healthcare Practice, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd.
  • Andrew J. Sussman, SVP and Associate Chief Medical Officer, CVS/Caremark
  • Georganne Chapin, President and CEO, Hudson Health Plan

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Entrepreneurs’ Showcase: Transformative Business Models
This session will introduce up-and-coming social entrepreneurs who are transforming their respective industries with new and innovative business models that provide both social and economic value to their stakeholders. From a business investing in human capital to an enterprise creating new revenue streams for dance companies to a firm that is incentivizing kids to exercise, this session will explore how these entrepreneurs have conceptually and tactically created successful social enterprises. The session will begin with each entrepreneur quickly presenting their business models and then will move to discussing the challenges, opportunities and best practices of social entrepreneurship.  
Moderator: Mark Davis '08, Associate, DFJ Gotham Ventures, and Founder, Blue Venture Community
Speaker(s):

  • Thomas Shelton, Founder and CEO, People Capital
  • Seth Tropper, Founder and CEO, Switch2Health
  • Marc Kirschner '02, Founder and General Manager, Tendu.tv

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