University of Texas Conference Drawing More Than 1,000 Green Business Leaders
Reflecting the philosophy that green business is good business, the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business will host a national conference Nov. 6-9 that draws more than 1,000 MBAs, business leaders and alumni from around the world to discuss corporate social responsibility, business ethics and environment-friendly business practices.
Reflecting the philosophy that green business is good business, the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business will host a national conference Nov. 6-9 that draws more than 1,000 MBAs, business leaders and alumni from around the world to discuss corporate social responsibility, business ethics, and environment-friendly business practices.
The Net Impact 2003 Conference, “From Corporation to Community, Building a Network for Change,” will offer panel discussions, professional development workshops and a career expo where present and future business leaders can discuss the challenge of building socially and environmentally sensitive companies.
A glance over the conference agenda and the crowd of attendees will re-educate anyone who still thinks that soy-lovers and tree-huggers are the only face of green business.
The conference includes a keynote address by Reginald Van Lee, senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and leader of the Harlem Small Business Initiative, as well as panels moderated by representatives from major multinationals such as Hewlett Packard, Intel, Reliant Energy and Procter and & Gamble.
“The business world has changed a lot over the past few years,” says Richard Amato, director of UT’s Clean Energy Incubator and moderator for one of the conference panels. “Knowing about green business, alternative energy, sustainable resources and global economies is so much more important than it was before, and training in that is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. Consumers and the general public are savvy and are demanding more of business, expecting corporations to be more socially responsible.”
In addition to Mr. Van Lee, the conference will feature keynote addresses from Marion Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, and Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea. Additional panelists include representatives from The World Bank, Whole Foods, ConocoPhillips, and The Calvert Group.
Joel Makower, founder and director of strategy of GreenBiz.com, will moderate a debate on business strategies for addressing sustainability.
“Conferences like this are the heart and soul behind change in the business world,” says Goldman. “When you get all of these high-powered, very intelligent MBAs and business people who care about social issues in the same room and they start networking, you feel like anything’s possible. I hope that gatherings like this help students remember that there’s a way to do what you believe in and make a living.”
In keeping with the spirit of the conference, transportation will be provided by Capital Metro's new hybrid-electric buses. Capital Metro is the only transit authority in Texas selected for a pilot program to test the environmentally-friendly buses, which use half as much fuel as diesel buses and cut exhaust emissions, like carbon monoxide, up to 90 percent.
Created by a handful of Georgetown University MBA students who wanted a vehicle for change, Net Impact is a network of approximately 7,000 business students and leaders worldwide who believe in “using the power of business to create a better world.” The organization has experienced explosive growth since its creation, under a different name, in 1993, and this year’s UT chapter of Net Impact is the largest ever, with over 100 members.
The Net Impact 2003 Conference, “From Corporation to Community, Building a Network for Change,” will offer panel discussions, professional development workshops and a career expo where present and future business leaders can discuss the challenge of building socially and environmentally sensitive companies.
A glance over the conference agenda and the crowd of attendees will re-educate anyone who still thinks that soy-lovers and tree-huggers are the only face of green business.
The conference includes a keynote address by Reginald Van Lee, senior vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and leader of the Harlem Small Business Initiative, as well as panels moderated by representatives from major multinationals such as Hewlett Packard, Intel, Reliant Energy and Procter and & Gamble.
“The business world has changed a lot over the past few years,” says Richard Amato, director of UT’s Clean Energy Incubator and moderator for one of the conference panels. “Knowing about green business, alternative energy, sustainable resources and global economies is so much more important than it was before, and training in that is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. Consumers and the general public are savvy and are demanding more of business, expecting corporations to be more socially responsible.”
In addition to Mr. Van Lee, the conference will feature keynote addresses from Marion Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, and Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea. Additional panelists include representatives from The World Bank, Whole Foods, ConocoPhillips, and The Calvert Group.
Joel Makower, founder and director of strategy of GreenBiz.com, will moderate a debate on business strategies for addressing sustainability.
“Conferences like this are the heart and soul behind change in the business world,” says Goldman. “When you get all of these high-powered, very intelligent MBAs and business people who care about social issues in the same room and they start networking, you feel like anything’s possible. I hope that gatherings like this help students remember that there’s a way to do what you believe in and make a living.”
In keeping with the spirit of the conference, transportation will be provided by Capital Metro's new hybrid-electric buses. Capital Metro is the only transit authority in Texas selected for a pilot program to test the environmentally-friendly buses, which use half as much fuel as diesel buses and cut exhaust emissions, like carbon monoxide, up to 90 percent.
Created by a handful of Georgetown University MBA students who wanted a vehicle for change, Net Impact is a network of approximately 7,000 business students and leaders worldwide who believe in “using the power of business to create a better world.” The organization has experienced explosive growth since its creation, under a different name, in 1993, and this year’s UT chapter of Net Impact is the largest ever, with over 100 members.
