We’re going digital! This year, our conference committee will bring our programming online, with keynote and breakout sessions spread out over the 2021-2022 academic year.
Digital Event Series
The conference will bring together industry leaders, investors, philanthropists, professionals, faculty, students, and alumni to share best practices and engender new ideas surrounding the intersection of business and society. The Digital Event Series will be divided into breakout sessions that will highlight thought leadership in our two session tracks, “Sources of Capital” and “Uses of Capital.” Speaker presentations will catalyze conversations of change and embolden a generation to take risks in order to create a world in which everyone, regardless of where they were born, has the equal opportunity to succeed in creating a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities. Participants will have the opportunity to network with speakers, faculty, students, and professionals through programming and our online event app.
Schedule
November 5, 2021
9:55-10:00 | Welcome Remarks from Sandra Navalli ‘03BUS, OAM, Managing Director of the Tamer Center and Assistant Adjunct Professor, CBS | |
10:00-11:00 | Impact Investing with Damien Dwin | |
12:00-1:00 | Investing for Change: The “Total Impact” Portfolio | |
1:00-1:05 | Closing Remarks from Bruce Usher, Co-director of the Tamer Center and Professor of Professional | |
November 19, 2021
10:55-11:00 | Welcome Remarks from Rebecca Manning ‘22BUS, Chair and VP of the Social Enterprise Conference and MBA Candidate, CBS and Dean Meisel ‘22BUS, Panel Organizer for the Social Enterprise Conference and MBA Candidate, CBS | |
11:00-12:00 | Misinformation, Extremism, and Business | |
12:00-12:05 | Closing Remarks from Rebecca Manning ‘22BUS, and Dean Meisel ‘22BUS | |
Weekend Film Streaming | Film Screening of In Her Shoes Documentary | |
March 24, 2022
12:25-12:30 | Welcome Remarks from Sandra Navalli ‘03BUS, OAM |
12:30-1:30 | How Goldman Sachs is Addressing the ‘S’ in ESG Investing |
April 1, 2022
10:00-11:00 | Bridging the Gap in Affordable Housing |
April 15, 2022
10:30-11:30 | Reversing the Great Resignation: How Criminal Justice Reform Can Revitalize Our Economy and Reduce Intergenerational Poverty | |
12:00-1:00 | Reimagining Private Equity and Small Business Investing: Providing Equitable Access to the American Dream | |
Impact Investing with Damien Dwin
The impact investing movement is gathering force and creating new professional and business opportunities. At the same time, the upheavals of 2020 led many people to reconsider their career priorities. For Wall Street investor and asset management entrepreneur Damien Dwin, these forces led him to launch Lafayette Square, an impact investing startup that aims to be the leading provider of impact capital and build a more inclusive American economy.
During the session, we will discover what issues motivated Damien to pursue impact investing, how the industry is shifting focus from the “E” to the “S” in ESG, and how place plays an essential role in achieving positive outcomes for local communities. This in-depth discussion with Antony Bugg-Levine, founder of the Global Impact Investing Network, and co-head of the community impact at Lafayette Square, will also explore how “opportunity for all” must include formerly incarcerated people and enact a fundamental reconfiguration of our approach to criminal justice, which Damien supports as chair of the Vera Institute for Justice.
Damien Dwin, Founder and CEO, Lafayette Square
Antony Bugg-Levine, Managing Director and co-head of Community Impact, Lafayette Square
Investing for Change: The “Total Impact” Portfolio
Liesel Pritzker Simmons, represents the new face of wealth: As the prominent co-founder and principal of Blue Haven Initiative, a family investment firm, she and her husband oversee a sizable impact investment portfolio that incorporated social and environmental factors into every decision they make. That portfolio spans asset classes, from private equity to direct investments in startups in sub-Saharan Africa to philanthropy.
Join us to hear insights on Blue Haven Initiative’s catalytic capital investing approach and how they measure their impact. This discussion will also explore topics including the following: What’s the future of the impact investing space? What other tools and resources in addition to capital, from shareholder engagement to policy advocacy, can be used to move the needle on climate change and social and economic inequity? What role do ultra-wealthy Americans, who are in favor of a wealth tax, have to play in advocating for this to help support important education and infrastructure initiatives that will help create a better society? How did her Columbia experience inform some of the work she does does as an impact investor?
Liesel Pritzker Simmons, Co-founder and Principal, Blue Haven Initiative
Bruce Usher, Co-director of the Tamer Center, Elizabeth B. Strickler ‘86 and Mark T. Gallogly ‘86 Faculty Director and Professor of Professional Practice, CBS
Misinformation, Extremism, and Business
In this panel discussion, speakers will cover the rise of misinformation, as well as the responsibility of social media and other online content companies in fighting misinformation and extremism. Hear from experts in this field about potential solutions to the misinformation problem, the evolution of misinformation through recent elections and the pandemic, and how the news and tech sectors can have been working together.
Antony Cousins, CEO, Factmata
Gordon Crovitz, Co-CEO, NewsGuard
Anya Schiffrin, Senior Lecturer and Director of Technology, Media and Communications, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
Film Screening of In Her Shoes Documentary
In Her Shoes, a film by Cynthia Salzman Mondell, explores the narratives of women in prison through the shoes they wear, have worn, and will one day wear. The film features a series of interviews with women participating in an art program inside the Dallas County Jail, a women’s facility that cages approximately 700 people. In their interviews, women reflect on their experiences as survivors of gender and state violence. They consider how economic inequality, gender discrimination, and political disenfranchisement have shaped their lives.
In partnership with Media Projects, this film will be available to all registered conference attendees, free of charge, from November 19 to 21.
Cynthia Salzman Mondell, Director at Media Projects
How Goldman Sachs is Addressing the ‘S’ in ESG Investing
Throughout the evolution of SRI and ESG investing, institutional investors have focused in on the ‘E’ (environmental) and ‘G’ (governance) factors, which are arguably easier to define and quantify their impact and return on investment. However, the tide has changed. Large capital commitments from companies, institutional investors, and philanthropic donors have funded a movement towards elevating the ‘S’ (social) in ESG.
Hear from Asahi Pompey, ’97LAW, global head of corporate engagement at Goldman Sachs, on how she is deploying capital to level the playing field and spark economic growth for people and communities around the world. Pompey will share insights on how she is unlocking potential at the firm through catalytic capital investments in their community engagement programs: 10,000 Small Businesses, 10,000 Women, One Million Black Women, Goldman Sachs Gives, and Community TeamWorks.
Asahi Pompey ’97LAW, Global Head of Corporate Engagement, Goldman Sachs
Dan Wang, Co-director of the Tamer Center and Associate Professor of Business, CBS
Bridging the Gap in Affordable Housing
The development of workforce and low-income housing is an important part of developing successful communities. In New York City, developers and investors have a long record of partnering with local governments and NGOs to develop affordable housing. This panel brings together experts from multiple sectors to discuss prominent issues in public/private partnerships in real estate and community development. The panelists will discuss their experience in partnership formation, project implementation, and financing with a focus on key success factors, pitfalls, and how to create value for all stakeholders.
Annie Koo ’14BUS, Housing Innovation, Catalyst Housing Group
Stephen Matt, Chief Strategy Officer, HELP USA
Arden Sokolow ’95GS, Executive VP of Affordable Housing, Douglaston Development
James Patchett, Adjunct Assistant Professor, CBS
Reversing the Great Resignation: How Criminal Justice Reform Can Revitalize Our Economy and Reduce Intergenerational Poverty
Robert Rooks, Chief Executive Officer, REFORM
Deborah Dugan, Strategist, Social Impact
Reimagining Private Equity and Small Business Investing: Providing Equitable Access to the American Dream
Aaron Betru ’06BUS, Chief Strategic Officer and Chief Operating Officer and Senior Fellow, Trident and Milken Institute
Jorge Guzman, Co-director of the Tamer Center and Elizabeth B. Strickler ‘86 and Mark T. Gallogly ‘86 Faculty Director and Professor of Professional Practice, CBS