GLOBAL FORUM MODERATORS

David is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Faculty Director of the Center for Business As An Agent of World Benefit, at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. David has served as researcher and consultant to a wide variety of organizations, using the Appreciative Inquiry methodology which he pioneered. He is also the past President of the National Academy of Management's Division of Organization Development, and a co-founder of The Taos Institute. He has lectured and taught at Stanford University, MIT, University of Chicago, Katholieke University in Belgium, Pepperdine University, and others.

Ron Fry is the Chair of the department of Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University and the Program Chair and member of the Executive Board for the Organizational Development and Change division of the Academy of Management. He serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, and Chief Editor of the BAWB Innovation Bank. His research interests include organizational change and development, functioning of the executive, group dynamics and team effectiveness, whole systems change processes, management and leadership development, and applications of Appreciative Inquiry to foster human cooperation. Ron was one of the co-creators of Appreciative Inquiry at Case and heads the Institute for Advances in Appreciative Inquiry. He also directs the Case Masters in Positive Organization Development and Change Program.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty. He is widely considered to be the leading international economic advisor of his generation.

Bill McDonough is an internationally renowned designer and one of the primary proponents and shapers of what he and his partners call 'The Next Industrial Revolution.' Time magazine recognized him in 1999 as a 'Hero for the Planet', stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that-in demonstrable and practical ways-is changing the design of the world." Time Magazine again recognized Mr. McDonough and Michael Braungart as "Heroes of the Environment" in October 2007. In 1996, Mr. McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the nation's highest environmental honor; and in 2003 earned the U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. In 2004 he received the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in the field of environmental design. In October 2007, Mr. McDonough was elected an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Ray Anderson is the Founder and Chairman of Interface Inc. The story is now legend; the “spear in the chest” epiphany Ray Anderson experienced when he first read Paul Hawken’s “The Ecology of Commerce” seeking inspiration for a speech to an Interface task force on the company’s environmental vision. Fourteen years and a sea of change later, Interface, Inc., is nearly 50 percent to its target of “Mission Zero,” the journey no one would have imagined for the company, or the petroleum-intensive industry of carpet manufacturing, which has been forever changed by Ray’s vision. The once captain of industry has eschewed a luxury car for a Prius and built an off-the-grid home, authored a book chronicling his journey, “Mid-Course Correction,” become an unlikely screen hero in the 2004 Canadian documentary, “The Corporation,” and was named one of TIME International’s Heroes for the Environment in 2007. He’s a sought after speaker and advisor on all issues eco, including a stint as co-chairman of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development.

Delos M. Cosgrove M.D. is president and chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic. As CEO, Dr. Cosgrove presides over a 4.6 billion dollar healthcare system comprised of the Cleveland Clinic, nine community hospitals, 14 family health and ambulatory surgery centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Cleveland Clinic Toronto, and the developing Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Dr. Cosgrove received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville and completed his clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Brook General Hospital in London. His undergraduate work was at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was a surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and served in Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam as the Chief of U.S. Air Force Casualty Staging Flight. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Republic of Vietnam Commendation Medal. Joining Cleveland Clinic in 1975, Dr. Cosgrove was named chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery in 1989. Under his leadership, Cleveland Clinic’s heart program was ranked number one in America for ten years in a row (U.S. News & World Report). He performed more than 22,000 operations and earned an international reputation for expertise in all areas of cardiac surgery, especially valve repair. As an innovator, Dr. Cosgrove has 30 patents filed for developing medical and clinical products used in surgical environments.

Craig B. Wynett is the General Manager, Future Growth Initiatives at The Procter & Gamble Company and the senior executive responsible for developing the “creative” capabilities necessary to create, qualify and launch game-changing products and services for P&G. Mr. Wynett’s career at P&G spans more than 20 years. He joined P&G in 1988 in the U.S. health care sector and advanced through increasing levels of responsibility to become the Director of Health Care New Products. In 1994, CEO John Pepper appointed Craig as the founding director of the newly established Corporate New Ventures organization (CNV). In 1998, he rose to General Manager. Under his leadership, CNV produced many of P&G’s most successful new products including Swiffer®, ThermaCare®, and Press & Seal®, as well as initiating and completing the IAMS® pet care acquisition. In his bestselling book The Game Changer, P&G CEO A.G. Lafley describes Craig as “… one of the most provocative, out-of-the-box thinkers about innovation I have ever met.” In addition to applying his creative talents to the packaged goods industry, Craig was the inspiration for, and co-author with Dr. Mehmet Oz of the YOU series of health books. Their first book YOU: The Owner’s Manual debuted in May 2005 and became a #1 New York Times bestseller and behind Harry Potter, was the #2 best-selling book published in 2005. Their latest book, YOU Staying Young, the Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty also debuted at #1 on the New York Times list, and is listed by People magazine as the #3 selling book in the world in 2007. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Craig earned a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Georgia and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School. He and his wife of 26 years, Denise, have two sons Ryan, 23 and Jim, 19.

Peter Senge is a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founding chair of the SoL (Society for Organizational Learning) Council. He is the author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, co-author of the three related fieldbooks, Presence: An Exploration of Profound change in People, Society, and Organizations and most recently, The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World. Peter lectures throughout the world about decentralizing the role of leadership in organizations to enhance the capacity of all people to work toward healthier human systems.

Janine Benyus is a biologist, innovation consultant, and author of six books, including Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.  In Biomimicry, she names an emerging discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s designs and processes (for instance, solar cells that mimic leaves).  Since the book’s 1997 release, Janine has evolved the practice of biomimicry, consulting with businesses and conducting seminars about learning from the genius that surrounds us.  Her favorite role is biologist-at-the-design-table, introducing innovators to organisms whose well-adapted designs have been tested over 3.8 billion years. In 1998, Janine co-founded the Biomimicry Guild with Dr. Dayna Baumeister.  Headquartered in Helena, Montana, the innovation consultancy conducts biological consulting and research, leads workshops and field excursions, and operates a speakers’ bureau.  The Guild helps designers learn from and emulate natural models to develop products, processes, and policies that create conditions conducive to life.  Alongside the Guild staff, Janine consults with companies and speaks to audiences in the U.S. and abroad.  In 2005, Janine founded The Biomimicry Institute (TBI), a nonprofit organization based in Missoula, Montana.  In 2008, TBI launched AskNature.org, a social network for the biomimicry community that includes an interactive database of biological data.  Awards include Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment, Rachel Carson Environmental Ethics, Lud Browman Award for Science Writing in Society, and the Barrows and Heinz Distinguished Lectureships.

Nancy J. Adler is the S. Bronfman Chair in Management at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She consults and conducts research on global leadership, cross-cultural management, and the arts and leadership. She has authored more than 100 articles and produced the film, A Portable Life. Her book, International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior (5th edition, 2008) has over a half million copies in print in multiple languages. She has edited the books, Women in Management Worldwide and Competitive Frontiers: Women Managers in a Global Economy. Her latest book is From Boston to Beijing: Managing with a Worldview. In addition to her research and writing, Dr. Adler consults with major global companies and government organizations on projects in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East. Professor Adler is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business, and the Royal Society of Canada. She has been recognized with numerous awards, including ASTD’s International Leadership Award, SIETAR’s Outstanding Senior Interculturalist Award, the YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award, and the Sage Award for scholarly contributions to management. Canada has honored Professor Adler as one of the country’s top teachers and elected her to the Royal Society of Canada. Nancy is also a visual artist The most recent exhibition of her paintings (“Reality in Translation: Art Transforming Apathy into Action”) was held at The Banff Centre where she was invited to be an artist in residence. Her paintings are held in private collections in Asia, the Americas, and Europe.

Bruce Mau, Chairman and CEO of Bruce Mau Design Inc., is a visionary, a global thinker and a world-leading design innovator. He believes that the power of design is boundless, and has the capacity to bring positive change into the world on a global scale. Igniting revolution within industries ranging from corporate and technological to urban and environmental, Bruce May uses design and his own optimism as a primary vehicle for positive change. As the complex challenges of the future exist across disciplines and industries, Mau is committed to interdisciplinary and purpose-driven innovation. In 2003, together with the Institute Without Boundaries, he produced Massive Change, an international discursive project that maps the new capacity, power and promise of design. Bruce Mau Design a design studio based in Chicago and Toronto that works across cultural, civic, educational and corporate sectors. Bruce Mau Design boasts a roster of clients including MTV, Royal Dutch Shell, Arizona State University, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Shaw Industries, Herman Miller, and the Coca-Cola Company. “Now that we can do anything, what will we do?” – Bruce Mau

Roger L. Martin has served as dean of the Rotman School of Management since September 1, 1998.  He holds the Premier's Chair in Competitiveness and Productivity and is Director of the AIC Institute for Corporate Citizenship.  Previously, he spent 13 years as a Director of Monitor Company, a global strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he served as co-head of the firm for two years.  His research work is in Integrative Thinking, Business Design, Corporate Social Responsibility and Country Competitiveness. He writes extensively on design and is a regular columnist for BusinessWeek Online's Innovation and Design Channel. He has written seven Harvard Business Review articles and published two books: The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking (Harvard Business School Press, 2007) and The Responsibility Virus: How Control Freaks, Shrinking Violets -- And the Rest of Us -- Can Harness The Power of True Partnership (Basic Books, 2002).  In 2007 he was named a BusinessWeek 'B-School All-Star' for being one of the 10 most influential business professors in the world. BusinessWeek also named him one of seven 'Innovation Gurus' in 2005, and in 2004, he won the Marshall McLuhan Visionary Leadership Award.  He serves on the Boards of Thomson Reuters, Research in Motion, The Skoll Foundation, the Canadian Credit Management Foundation, Social Capital Partners, and Tennis Canada. He is a trustee of The Hospital for Sick Children and chair of the Ontario Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress.  A Canadian from Wallenstein, Ontario, Roger received his AB from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981.

Russell L. Ackoff - often called the Dean of America's Systems Thinking community - is the Anheuser Busch Professor Emeritus of management science at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ackoff helped establish the field of operations research in the 1950's and was president of the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA) in 1956–1957. His book, "Introduction to Operations Research," co-authored with C. West Churchman and Leonard Arnoff, John Wiley & Sons, (1957), was a pioneering work in the field. From 1964 to 1986, Dr. Ackoff was professor of systems sciences and professor of management science at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ackoff characterizes human-created systems as "purposeful systems," whose members are also purposeful individuals who intentionally and collectively formulate objectives and are parts of larger purposeful systems. The fact that human-created systems are experiencing profound change today can be attributed to the end of the Machine Age and the onset of the Systems Age. Systems Thinking teaches that knowledge and understanding of the aims of human-created, purposeful systems can only be gained by taking into account the mechanisms of social, cultural, and psychological systems involved in their creation. Dr. Ackoff has authored or co-authored 31 books and 250 articles, and has conducted research for more than 300 corporations and government agencies. His most recent book is Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track", co-authored with Daniel Greenberg, Wharton School Publishing (2008). Other key books are "Re-Creating the Corporation: a design of organizations for the 21st century," Oxford Univ. Press (1999) and "Redesigning Society," with Sheldon Rovin, Stanford Univ. Press (2003).

Peter Coughlan is a partner at IDEO and leads IDEO's Transformation Practice, a group that specializes in helping organizations learn design thinking and design methods through deep collaboration with clients to design new products, services, and experiences, as well as the structures needed to grow the organization. Peter has led projects such as innovation process design, service excellence, and customer and employee journeys, in domains as diverse as tribal leadership, supply-chain design in the food industry, and healthcare. Some of his clients and collaborators include Kaiser Permanente, Kraft Foods, Mass General, Procter & Gamble, Roadway Express, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Stanford University. Peter has a B.A in English Literature from Trinity College, a Master’s in Education from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from UCLA.

Richard Buchanan is Professor of Design and Information Systems at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University.  Before joining the faculty at Case Western, he was Professor of Design and former Head of the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University.  At the Weatherhead, he is involved in introducing the concepts and methods of design into management, extending traditional areas of design theory and practice in innovative new applications such as Interaction Design and Organization Design.  He is a frequent speaker in venues around the world.  Among his numerous publications are Discovering Design:  Explorations in Design Studies, The Idea of Design, and Pluralism in Theory and Practice.  He is Co-Editor of Design Issues, an international journal of design history, theory, and criticism published by the M.I.T. Press.  He is Visiting Professor at the London College of Communication and also at the University of Brighton.  He is also a former President of the Design Research Society, the international learned society of the design research community based in the United Kingdom.  Professor Buchanan received his A.B. and Ph.D. from the Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and the Study of Methods at the University of Chicago.

Manuel Escudero is the Special Adviser, United Nations Global Compact; Head, Secretariat of the Principles for Responsible Management Education; Executive Director, Research Center for the Global Compact and Senior Fellow, The Levin Institute. He received his Ph.D and M.Sc from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and his B.Sc. from the Escuela Superir de Técnicas Empresariales (ESTE) in Spain. Apart from his current roles, Dr. Escudero has held several Teaching and Academic Administrative positions at the IE Business School in Spain, including Professor of Macroeconomics; Professor of Business and the Economic Environment, Country Analysis and International Political Analysis; Associate General Director; Faculty Dean; Research Dean and was also the Founder and Associate Director of IE Executive College. His public sector experience within Spain includes a term as the director of the Ministerial Group of thought leaders on Corporate Social Responsibility and as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Spanish Council of Ministers. He served as Secretary General for the Spanish Network of the UN Global Compact and was head of Global Compact Special Projects and Global Compact Networks, amongst other things, before taking on his current roles in the United Nations. Dr. Escudero’s writing includes eight books, seven chapters in books and five public reports and he has spoken at over seventy conferences and seminars. He serves as the Chair of the European Union Network of International Civil Servants in New York and as Member of the Board for the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative.

Rinaldo S. Brutoco is the Founder and President of the World Business Academy, a non-profit think tank founded in 1987 whose mission is to educate and inspire business leaders to take responsibility for the planetary whole.  Over the last 20 years, the Academy has continuously published cutting-edge articles that address the role and responsibility of business in relation to the criti­cal moral, environmental and social dilemmas of the day.  Core areas of the Academy’s work include sustainable business strategies, the challenge of values-driven leadership, development of the human potential at work, innovative best practices within new business paradigms, and global reconstruction.  In 2007, Rinaldo co-authored Freedom from Mid-East Oil, a leading book on energy and climate change.  A leading executive, writer, and keynote speaker for over 25 years, Rinaldo is widely recognized as a practical visionary, change agent, and futurist.  He was Founder and President of the nation's first pay cable television operation, and CEO of one of the first companies to offer over-the-air TV transmission of major motion pictures.   He has served on the board of The Men's Wearhouse, a $2-billion-dollar company, for over a decade, and on numerous non-profit boards, including the Gorbachev Foundation.

Ira A. Jackson is the Henry Y. Hwang Dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, where he is also a professor of management. Recently ranked among the top ten business schools in the country, the Drucker school focuses both on competence and compassion, analysis and intuition, leadership and teamwork, success and significance, and doing good and doing well. Jackson has focused his personal and professional life at the intersection of business, government and civil society and prior to coming to Claremont, has held various esteemed leadership positions in business, government, higher education and the non-profit sector. These include serving as the Senior Associate Dean and Director of the Center for Business and Government of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Commissioner of Revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Vice President of BankBoston, and President and CEO of the Arizona State University Foundation. He is co-author (with Jane Nelson) of Profits with Principles: Seven Strategies for Delivering Value with Values (Doubleday, 2004).

Maryam Alavi is the vice dean and the John M. and Lucy Cook chaired professor of information strategy at Emory Goizueta Business School. Since joining Goizueta from the University of Maryland, where she was the Orkand Professor of Information Systems and Chairperson of the IS Department, she has served in multiple senior administrative roles including that of Interim Dean. As an expert in IT and knowledge management, and technology-mediated learning, Maryam has authored 70 published papers and has served on editorial boards of several prestigious academic journals. She has taught executive development courses at Harvard Business School and Duke University, among others, and has consulted with organizations including AT&T, KPMG Peat Marwick, IBM, Marriott Corporation, the American College of Physicians, the General Accounting Office, and the World Bank. Her international work experience includes teaching graduate and executive development programs in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. She is a two-term board member of the Georgia Technology Authority appointed by the Governor of the State of Georgia and is the architect of the School's student leadership development program.

Kenneth Gergen is a Senior Research Professor at Swarthmore College, and the President of the Taos Institute. He is internationally famous for his contributions to social constructionist theory and its practical implications. The Taos Institute is a non-profit, educationally oriented initiative that brings constructionist theory together with practices of social transformation. Among Gergen’s most significant writings are Realities and Relationships, the Saturated Self, and An Invitation to Social Construction. His forthcoming book with Oxford University Press is, Relational Being, Beyond Self and Community. Gergen has been awarded fellowships by both the Fulbright and Guggenheim foundations, and has received honorary degrees in both Europe and the US.

N. Mohan Reddy is the Albert J. Weatherhead, III Professor of Management and Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. His interests are along two dimensions: The first is focused on how professional societies and trade associations influence the adoption and diffusion of new technologies. A second area of interest concerns the dynamics of how social goods are created through corporate interests, and actions.  His work has been published in a number of international journals, including the IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and Research Policy. Dean Reddy serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Brush Engineered Materials, Keithley Instruments, Smith Industries, Dealer Tire, Jumpstart, and MAGNET.

Rodrigo Costa Da Rocha Loures was born in Curitiba, Paraná. Mr. Loures has a degree in Business Administration from São Paulo’s Fundação Getulio Vargas, and was a professor at the Federal University of Paraná, School of Administration, and at Paraná’s Catholic University. In 1968, he founded Nutrimental, a food business that employs around 1,000 people, and which operates in the states of Paraná, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais. Since October 2003, he has presided over the FIEP System–the federation of industries of the state of Paraná. He is also vice-president of the CNI: the National Federation of Industries; president of the COPIN, the permanent thematic council for industrial policies and technological development of CNI; and vice-president of PROTEC, the Brazilian society promoting technological innovation. He is a member of the CDES (the federal council for economic and social development) and the CCT (the federal council for science and technology); a member of the Director Council of National Founds for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), a member of SESI, SENAI’s National Council, and of the National Forum of Industries. He represents the CNI in the Deliberative Council of the ABDI (the Brazilian agency for industrial development) and he is a consultant advisor to ANPROTEC (the national association of entities promoting innovative undertakings). He is also a member SEBRAE (PR’s Deliberative Council); of MTC (the managing committee for the Green-and-Yellow Fund); of the FBDS (the Brazilian foundation for sustainable development); of the World Business Academy, of the IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences); and of the ETHOS Institute for Social Responsibility.

Thomas F. Beech is President and CEO of the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, he received undergraduate education at Carleton College and graduate education at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, where he was a member of the International Fellows Program. In 1968, Mr. Beech joined the Apache Corporation, initially in an urban affairs position and later became the Marketing Manager for that corporation's Oil and Gas Investment Division. He became Associate Director of The Minneapolis Foundation in 1974 and was Executive Director from 1978 to 1984. From 1984 to 2002 he was Executive Vice President and CEO of The Burnett Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas. Mr. Beech’s work in philanthropy has emphasized the central importance of building solid working relationships based on trust, mutual respect, and integrity. He has written and consulted extensively on non-profit governance, and organizational and personal resilience. He has served on the boards of directors of the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, the Conference of Southwest Foundations, The Institute for Community Peace, and Funders Concerned About AIDS.

Chuck Fowler is a longtime proponent of sustainable business practices and actively encourages environmental, social and economic responsibility as President and CEO of Fairmount Minerals. A native of Danville, Illinois, Fowler has held leadership positions in the mineral production industry for more than four decades. He is past president of both Wedron Silica Company and Martin Marietta Corporation’s Industrial Sand Division. Chuck Fowler joined Fairmount Minerals, Ltd. in 1986 and has grown the business to become one of the largest producers of industrial sand products in the United States. Fairmount Minerals has earned numerous awards and recognition for its sustainable business practices, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center 2006 Corporate Stewardship Award, the National Association of Manufacturers Sandy Trowbridge Award for Social Responsibility, and the Ford Motor Company 2005 World Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Chuck Fowler is a 1990 graduate of the Weatherhead School of Management’s Executive Master of Business Administration degree program and serves on the Case Western Reserve University Board of Trustees. He also serves on the boards of local non-profit organizations including Geauga YMCA, DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children and the Alzheimer’s Association, and he actively participates in industry associations as officer and former chairman of the National Industrial Sand Association, member and national director of the American Foundry Society, and officer and past president of the Foundry Education Foundation. Chuck currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, Charlotte Fowler, who is actively involved in the arts and children’s programs in the area.

Jennifer Magnolfi is the Senior Designer of Architecture and Building Technology Systems at Herman Miller. Her work focuses on the development of new products, technology and strategic alliances for Programmable Environments, a commercial initiative exploring emerging technology and design for the sustainability of future habitats. She currently leads the MacroSpace Initiative for Programmable Environments, advancing innovation and the integration of programmability in products for work and learning spaces. In the last four years, her applied research and development work has focused on the commercialization of a programmable electrical infrastructure system, which in 2007 became Convia Inc. She is the co-author of Always Building: the Programmable Environment, the design manifesto published by the Herman Miller Creative Office in 2008. Previously, Jennifer was a Fulbright Scholar at The Interactive Institute in Sweden, researching networked environments and interaction design. She served as an instructor at the Lund Institute of Technology and advisor to the Star Design Program, a design and research collaboration between NASA and Lund University. Jennifer received a Master Degree in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Jason Pearson is President & CEO of GreenBlue (www.greenblue.org), a research and design institute that asks: How can we design, prototype, and realize sustainable products and systems in specific industry sectors? GreenBlue stimulates the creative redesign of industry by focusing the expertise of professional communities to create practical solutions, resources, and opportunities for implementing sustainability. GreenBlue provides designers and managers with the tools to make well-informed choices about the long-term ecological and human health impacts of their design decisions. Jason is a specialist in the field of applied design innovation, with particular emphasis on design as an instrument for positive social and environmental change. In addition to working professionally as a designer, he has coordinated design grant making at the National Endowment for the Arts and served as a program director for The Summit Foundation, supporting sustainable design innovation. His research and publications on progressive design and business practice include the book, University-Community Design Partnerships: Innovations in Practice, “Operative Practices” in Good Deeds, Good Design, and a recently published report entitled Design & Sustainability: Opportunities for Systemic Transformation. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in the history and theory of architecture and a Master of Architecture in design, both from Princeton University.

OTHER SPEAKERS

Chris Laszlo is managing partner and co-founder of Sustainable Value Partners. He provides advisory services to senior leaders in some of the world’s largest companies to transform societal opportunities and risks into sources of competitive advantage. He has led hundreds of seminars and spoken widely on “Sustainability for strategic advantage” inside companies and at leading business schools. For nearly ten years, he was an executive at Lafarge, a world leader in building materials, holding positions as head of strategy, general manager of a manufacturing subsidiary, and vice president of business development. Prior to that he spent five years with Deloitte Touche, where he consulted on strategy to global industry leaders. Educated at Swarthmore College, Columbia University, and the University of Paris, Chris earned a Ph.D. in Economics and Management Science. He is the author of The Sustainable Company: How to Create Lasting Value through Social and Environmental Performance, Island Press, 2003. (Paperback July 2005.) His latest book is, Sustainable Value: How Leading Companies Are Doing Well by Doing Good, Stanford University Press, 2008.

John Whalen is a Principal at Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting, where he focuses on helping companies use the lens of sustainability to discover new sources of business value.  Blu Skye’s specialty is bringing together business executives, their value chain partners, and a broad range of social and environmental stakeholders to create a “whole system” perspective that illuminates new opportunities for collaborative innovation that creates value for the business and value for society.  Applying these tools, John and his colleagues at Blu Skye have helped companies realize radical efficiency improvements in materials and energy use, ensure sustainable supply of essential resources, build more transparent and responsible supply chains, and create better, healthier products that differentiate them in the marketplace.  As part of the Blu Skye team, John has worked for four years with Wal-Mart on their pioneering sustainability effort, is supporting the Innovation Center for the U.S. Dairy Industry in developing and implementing a sustainability strategy, and has supported the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas in becoming one of the preeminent academic centers of applied research in sustainability.  Prior to working with Blu Skye John was a founding Partner of Sustainable Value Partners.  He has over 23 years of management consulting experience in strategy, operations, and organizational change.

Kyle Tanger is the founder of Clear Carbon Consulting, experts at measuring, managing and mitigating carbon. He brings significant carbon and energy experience, having managed the complex inventory efforts of several multi-million dollar companies with combined GHG emissions totaling more than 150 million tons. Mr. Tanger led supply chain carbon footprint analyses for Wal-Mart’s supply chain initiative pilot in conjunction with the Carbon Disclosure Project, and has performed numerous carbon footprint analyses for individual consumer products. He served as an expert peer reviewer for the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WRI/WBCSD) GHG Protocol, and is currently engaged in the authoring of WRI’s supply chain-focused GHG Protocol. Mr. Tanger also serves as an advisory board member for the Pew Center for Global Climate Change’s new report on corporate energy efficiency strategy and was selected as a Table Facilitator for the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting’s Energy and Climate Focus Area. Kyle Tanger will be presenting the pre-forum workshop on Sustainable Value.

Tim O’Connor is Co-Executive Director and Chief Inspiration Officer of the EthicMark® Award for Ethical Advertising.  The Award recognizes outstanding ethical marketing which uplifts the human spirit and society.  The award is supervised under the auspices of the World Business Academy whose Fellows include some of the worlds leading figures who are rekindling the human spirit in business, including Warren Bennis, Deepak Chopra, David , Stephen Covey, Hazel Henderson, Gay Hendricks, Jean Houston, Amory Lovins, Greg Mortenson, Michael Ray, and Peter Senge.  When not trying to uplift human spirit and society he is CEO of Next Horizon Group, and a Managing Principal at the Zyman Group, an international strategic marketing and growth strategy consultancy.  Formerly, he was an executive at Unisource Worldwide, Siemens and Honeywell.  Throughout his career he has been at the leading edge with developing and bringing to the marketplace sustainable products by marrying Design for Six-Sigma with Design for Sustainability (well before sustainability was top of mind).  He has an MBA from Kellogg, a BA from LaSalle, and is a graduate of the US Army Corps of Engineers Officer School.  Tim is an Adjunct Professor at Kennesaw State University and is a member of the Board of the World Business Academy whose mission is to “rekindle the human spirit in business.”

Barbara R. Snyder, who began her academic career in higher education in the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, was elected President of Case Western Reserve University in December 2006 and began her tenure as the first woman to hold the office on July 1, 2007.  In her first year the university developed a campus-wide strategic plan, achieved its third-highest fundraising total in history and eliminated its operating deficit three years ahead of schedule. Snyder previously served as the executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University, where she worked to enhance the campus’ academic stature and improve the quality of life for all constituents. Her initiatives included a targeted investment policy where promising programs competed for institutional investment, and paid parental leave policies.

Frank G. Jackson, the 56th Mayor of Cleveland, lives in the Central neighborhood on the same street where he grew up. He graduated from Cleveland Public Schools and served in the U.S. Army.  After returning to Cleveland, he earned an associate’s degree from Cuyahoga Community College and his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and law degree from Cleveland State University. His commitment to public service began as an Assistant City Prosecutor in the Cleveland Municipal Court Clerk’s Office. In 1989, Jackson was elected to Cleveland City Council, where he represented Cleveland’s 5th Ward for 16 years. From 2002-2005, Jackson served as President of Cleveland City Council. In January, 2006, Jackson began his tenure as Mayor of Cleveland. As Mayor, Jackson has continued to focus on his commitment to improve the quality of life in the City of Cleveland, improve city services and provide opportunities for success for residents and business.  Under his leadership the City has seen a reduction in violent crime (down 12% since 2006) and enhanced services for senior citizens and youth (including free tuition, the Mayor Frank G. Jackson Scholarship Program and the creation of 4000 summer jobs). He has also spearheaded the streamlining of business support services and other initiatives, in order to promote economic development: Mayor Jackson has led international trade missions, instituted joint economic development agreements with suburbs and implemented the City’s first capital improvement plan in more than a decade. Connecting Cleveland 2020, the first comprehensive citywide plan since 1991 has rebuilt the City’s 36 neighborhoods with streetscape projects storefront renovations, new recreation facilities, and improvements to city parks.