INNOVATION
Slideshow

Keynotes

BOTWINICK KEYNOTE

Peter Blom

CEO & Chairman of the Board, Triodos Bank Group

Recipient of the 2010 Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics

Peter Blom has been CEO of Triodos Bank since 1997. Born in Leiden in the Netherlands he studied economics at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and was jointly responsible for establishing one of the first centres in the Netherlands for organic food, including an organics shop, restaurant and information center in Amsterdam. He then worked at Triodos Bank as a Senior Business Banking Account Manager, before becoming Joint Managing Director, until he took up his current role as CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board in 1997.

Peter Blom is also Chair of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, Member of the Board of The Dutch Banking Association, Chair of the Organic Food and Agricultural Council of the Netherlands and Deputy Chairman of the Multifunctional Agriculture Taskforce by order of the Dutch Ministry for Agriculture.

Peter Blom was awarded the Dutch Royal distinction of Knight of Oranje Nassau in 2008 for his contribution to social banking and sustainability.

Triodos Bank won the Financial Times and IFC Sustainable Bank of the Year Award 2009.

The Botwinick Prize in Ethics was established with a generous endowment from the late Benjamin Botwinick, BS '26, and his wife, Bessie. Each year the Botwinick Prize in Ethics recognizes an outstanding leader who exhibits the highest standard of ethical conduct in business or the professions. Past recipients include Joan Bavaria, Founding President and CEO of Trillium Asset Management; Henry Kravis ‘69, Founding Partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Founder and Chairman of the New York City Investment Fund; and Howard Schultz, Chairman and Chief Global Strategist of Starbucks Coffee Company.

The Botwinick Prize is organized under the auspices of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics and is an integral part of Columbia Business School’s Individual, Business and Society curriculum, which emphasizes a commitment to leadership and ethics through core courses, extracurricular activities and research.

OPENING KEYNOTE

robert annibale

Global Director of Citi Microfinance and Community Development

Robert A. Annibale will deliver the opening keynote address. He is the global director of microfinance for Citigroup and a leading figure in the world of microcredit, which is a means of advancing financial assistance to, and encouraging economic development among the world’s poorest communities.

He joined Citibank in 1982 and has held a number of senior treasury, risk and corporate positions, living and working in Athens, Bahrain, Nairobi, London and New York. As the organization’s in-house micro-credit expert, he represents Citigroup on the Microfinance Network—a global association of microfinance institutions—as well as the Board of the Microfinance Information Exchange and the Council of Microfinance Equity Funds. He also represents the company on a number of community and regeneration boards in London.

CLOSING KEYNOTE

Raj shah

Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Dr. Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 31, 2009. USAID, a U.S. Government agency, has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for almost 50 years.

Previously, Dr. Shah served as Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and as Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he was responsible for safe, sustainable, competitive U.S. food and fiber system, as well as strong communities, families, and youth through integrated research, analysis, and education. At USDA, he launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a new scientific institute that elevated the status and funding of agricultural research to be more in line with other major scientific groups. He also produced innovative initiatives in bioenergy, climate, global food security, childhood obesity, and food safety.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Shah served as director of Agricultural Development in the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In his seven years with the Gates Foundation, Shah served as the Foundation's director of Strategic Opportunities and as deputy director of policy and finance for the Global Health Program. In these roles, he helped develop and launch the foundation's Global Development Program, and helped create both the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and the International Finance Facility for Immunization-an effort that raised more than $5 billion for child immunization.

Prior to joining the Gates Foundation in 2001, Shah was the health care policy advisor on the Gore 2000 presidential campaign and a member of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's transition committee on health. He is the co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. In addition, he has served as a policy aide in the British Parliament and worked at the World Health Organization.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Shah earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton School of Business. He has attended the London School of Economics, is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and has published articles on health policy and global development. Shah previously served on the boards of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Seattle Public Library, and the Seattle Community College District. In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Dr. Shah is married with two children. He lives in Washington, D.C.