ESG News and Views
31 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★ - 5 ratingsESG News and Views, from The Conference Board ESG Center, provides compelling in-depth interviews with ESG thought leaders, and timely updates on hot button topics in corporate governance, sustainability, citizenship and philanthropy.
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Episodes
Surviving a Near-Death Experience: Lessons on Resilience (Pt 2)
April 11, 2023 13:41 - 37 minutes - 52 MBGeralyn Ritter knows about personal and organizational resilience. She was on Amtrak Train #188, which derailed outside Philadelphia in 2015 at 106 miles per hour. The crash killed eight people and injured more than 200. Geralyn was critically wounded. Her doctors use the word “miraculous” to describe her survival and recovery. She also knows about organizational resilience, as the current Head of External Affairs and ESG for Organon, following twelve years at Merck, where she held numerous ...
Surviving a Near-Death Experience: Lessons on Resilience (Pt 1)
April 11, 2023 13:29 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBGeralyn Ritter knows about personal and organizational resilience. She was on Amtrak Train #188, which derailed outside Philadelphia in 2015 at 106 miles per hour. The crash killed eight people and injured more than 200. Geralyn was critically wounded. Her doctors use the word “miraculous” to describe her survival and recovery. She also knows about organizational resilience, as the current Head of External Affairs and ESG for Organon, following twelve years at Merck, where she held numerous ...
What’s the Role of the Board and C-Suite in Addressing Health Equity?
February 24, 2023 13:46 - 43 minutes - 59.1 MBThe COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on the level of health inequity in the US, where access to health care can depend on a person’s zip code, income, insurance, and contacts in the medical profession. This podcast discusses the role that companies – and, specifically, boards of directors – can play in helping to address this problem, which accounts for approximately $320 billion in the US. The discussion makes clear that all companies – not just those in the health sector – can play a ...
How to ESG: Preparing for ESG Disclosures
November 10, 2022 20:29 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBThe ESG reporting landscape is quickly evolving. Not only is it cluttered with an ever-growing number of rating agencies, initiatives to harmonize reporting frameworks and standards are underway, and regulations are rapidly arising in many jurisdictions – making ESG disclosure a business reality rather than a passing fad. So what’s a company to do? In this podcast, Merel Spierings, Corporate Governance Researcher at the ESG Center, speaks with Andrew Fowler, Partner at the law firm of Hu...
Hurricane Ian: Lessons from Past Disasters and Preparing for a New Era of Disaster Response
October 07, 2022 12:46 - 41 minutes - 56.8 MBNatural disasters are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Yet, only 22 percent of corporate citizenship executives say their number one priority is preparedness – taking action to mitigate the effects of a natural disaster before it occurs. Only 3 percent of corporate citizenship executives prioritize long-term recovery and reconstruction. In this podcast, Patty McIIreavy, President and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy speaks with Lindsay Beltzer and Jeff Hoffman from Th...
What does the C-suite Actually Think of Their Boards? A Conversation on Board Effectiveness
May 23, 2022 13:35 - 42 minutes - 58.1 MBOnly 29 percent of C-suite executives rate their board’s effectiveness as good or excellent. And 74 percent of executives say two or more of their directors should be replaced. That’s despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of C-suite executives say their boards understand the company’s strategy, risks and opportunities, and competitive landscape -- and that nearly 90 percent say their directors have independent judgment and are willing to challenge management. In this podcast, Pau...
What the New Landmark #MeToo Law Means for the Future of Business and Employees
March 30, 2022 20:46 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MBJoin Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) and Gretchen Carlson, the woman whose lawsuit helped ignite the #MeToo movement and who co-founded the non-profit Lift Our Voices, to discuss the recent groundbreaking bipartisan legislation, The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. Passed with strong bipartisan support in February, the legislation marks one of the most significant workplace reforms in the last 50 years. Under the legislat...
Director-Shareholder Engagement: Practical Advice for Constructive Conversations
March 28, 2022 19:59 - 30 minutes - 42.3 MBTraditionally, corporate board members played a limited – and only occasional – role in discussions with investors. But now investors expect to hear from independent directors on the board’s oversight of ESG issues. And companies are recognizing that involving their directors in discussions with investors can have significant near-term and long-term benefits. In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks Bill Ultan, Managing Director at Morrow Sodali, ...
C-Suite Outlook 2022: Which ESG Issues Do Leaders Care About
February 24, 2022 02:11 - 18 minutes - 25.6 MBFor the year ahead, what are the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities of business leaders around the world? This year’s annual survey of the C-suite provides fascinating ESG insights. Listen to this ESG News and Views podcast as Chuck Mitchell, Executive Director of Content Quality, unpacks the findings with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center.
Corporate Political Activity: Opportunity Amid Scrutiny with Adie Olson, Jason Abel, and Bruce Freed
February 16, 2022 11:00 - 40 minutes - 55.1 MBMany have viewed corporate political activity with skepticism, if not suspicion. In 2021, companies faced a combination of surprises and scrutiny that made their political activity exponentially more difficult . . . and 2022 promises to be equally, if not more, challenging. In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with experts, Adie Olsen and Jason Abel, Partners at Steptoe and Johnson, and Bruce Freed, President of the Center for Political Accountab...
Companies’ Impact on Economic Opportunity & Fairness – a conversation with Martin Whittaker
October 27, 2021 19:04 - 32 minutes - 45.1 MBWhile there is a lot of focus today on companies’ role in addressing environmental and social issues, less attention is being paid to companies’ role in with respect to traditional economic challenges. Yet, through their business operations, almost all companies can have more direct impact on issues of economic opportunity and fairness than they can on the environment or on social legislation. And there’s an additional imperative: a recent survey by The Conference Board’s Marketing & Commu...
Infusing Community Needs into Products and Services: Lessons from Prudential
September 24, 2021 14:50 - 31 minutes - 57.9 MBPrudential has been a pillar in the city of Newark for more than 140 years. Established in 1875, it provides financial wellness services to retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and over 40 countries worldwide. As an “anchor” organization in Newark, along with corporations such as Audible, United Airlines, Mars, PSEG, the company plays a vital role in working with community groups, nonprofits, and government officials in creating a more vibrant city – helping to mak...
Human Capital Disclosure: Early Trends and a Case Study of Success
September 21, 2021 16:48 - 32 minutes - 59 MBThe SEC’s upcoming disclosure rules on human capital management (HCM) is – or should be – a top of mind issue in Corporate America. As companies prepare for those rules, it’s helpful to look at the first wave of human capital disclosures made in the months after SEC’s previous HCM disclosure rules took effect on November 9, 2020. In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, sits down with Solange Charas, Founder and CEO of HCMoneyball and Distinguished Principal ...
Corning’s Approach to Social Issues: A Story of Innovation and Passion
July 28, 2021 17:13 - 24 minutes - 44.4 MBInnovation doesn’t only result in product and service inventions. It can also transform a company’s impact on society. For nearly 170 years, Corning Incorporated has been a leading innovator in advanced glass technology and materials science, leading to an unmatched track-record of life-changing inventions. From Edison’s light bulb, to optical fiber technologies, to the tough glass for smartphone displays, innovation is in Corning’s DNA. It has also applied the concept of innovation in its a...
Impact Investing and its Impact on You
May 11, 2021 12:45 - 33 minutes - 62.1 MBESG investing has been around for decades, but it has gained considerable momentum in recent years. In this podcast, Paul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center, speaks with Hari Balkrishna, Portfolio Manager for T. Rowe Price’s Global Impact Equity strategy, about the different ways investors are incorporating ESG factors into their investment strategies – from Socially Responsible Investing (which excludes certain categories of firms) to Impact Investing (which focuses on firms...
Corporate Citizenship in Action: Helping Small Businesses Survive and Thrive
February 18, 2021 14:00 - 40 minutes - 74 MBJeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy at the ESG Center, interviews Jenny Flores, Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy at Wells Fargo, and Elizabeth Gore, Co-Founder and President of HelloAlice.com. In their conversation, they discuss how corporations can further support small businesses and entrepreneurs not only with funding but with their expertise, as well as the role of technology, partnerships, and innovation in supporting minority-owned businesses.
The Future of Corporate Governance
February 04, 2021 20:38 - 49 minutes - 90.2 MBJohn Wilcox, Chairman Emeritus at Morrow Sodali, is one of the most recognized and respected figures in corporate governance in the world. In his book, The Evolution of Corporate Governance, he provides a real-time picture of how governance evolved over the years through a collection of essays and articles he has written during his distinguished career. In this podcast, John and Paul Washington, Executive Director of The Conference Board ESG Center, discuss the past, present, and fut...
A New Way at Looking at Risk: From the Pandemic to Cybersecurity and Beyond
January 12, 2021 16:00 - 31 minutes - 57.3 MBBBob Zukis will change the way you view the world we live in: it’s one comprising a set of complex systems, from finance and health care, to communications and the environment. Sometimes the failure of a single component can bring down an entire system. And sometimes, as with the COVID-19 pandemic, it can cascade into the failure of multiple systems. Bob Zukis, co-author of “The Great Reboot: Succeeding in a World of Catastrophic Risk and Opportunity” offers eye-opening guidance for corporat...
Supporting Veteran-owned businesses, employees, and communities – are corporations doing enough to help?
November 18, 2020 15:19 - 32 minutes - 30 MBPaul Washington, Executive Director of the ESG Center at The Conference Board, interviews Ben Biles, CEO and Co-founder, American Veterans Group, and Jeff Cathey, Senior Military Affairs Executive at Bank of America, about the value of supporting veteran-owned businesses and employees, and how Covid-19 and changing demographics may lead to new strategies in private sector.
Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 4 – The Middle East
August 11, 2020 10:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBIn this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 4: The Middle East, he sits down with Bassam Alfeeli, Director of Innovation and Enterprises at The Kuw...
Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 3 – India
July 16, 2020 10:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBIn this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and those headquartered in the region – Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East, are leveraging their resources in response to the crisis. In Part 3: India, he sits down with Sandeep Makkar, Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson, Medical India and P...
Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 2 – Latin America
July 09, 2020 12:42 - 55 minutes - 51.5 MBCOVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe. In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and tho...
Corporate Citizenship in the Global South during COVID-19: Part 1 – Africa
June 18, 2020 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MBCOVID-19 hit China first, then traveled to Europe, followed by the United States. Emerging markets, particularly in the Global South, are now at the epicenter of the pandemic, with daily infections now exceeding those in the United States and Europe. In this 4-part series of ESG News & Views, Corporate Citizenship in the Global South During COVID-19, Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader of Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy for The Conference Board, explores how multinational companies and...
Tackling Climate Change – Can Investors and Philanthropists Work Together?
May 01, 2020 06:00 - 35 minutes - 33.2 MBFrom Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock to the Gates Foundation, leaders from the investment and philanthropic worlds are making public and bold statements about climate change. Paul Washington, head of the ESG Center, speaks with Carl Pope, former Executive Director & Chairman of the Sierra Club and Satyajit Bose, Columbia University Professor about the roles of asset managers and philanthropists in addressing climate change.
How can corporations best support non-profits during COVID-19?
March 31, 2020 15:08 - 34 minutes - 32.3 MBCOVID-19 is creating an evolving situation with varied impacts around the world. For the nonprofit sector, which relies heavily on financial support from fundraising events and other public programs, the disruption from physical distancing has created a new set of challenges. In addition to the government response, what role should businesses and corporate foundations play during this crisis to support charitable organizations and communities most in need? Lindsay Beltzer, Program Manager of...
Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire’ with Rebecca Henderson
March 11, 2020 06:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBRebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School Professor and author discusses her new book, ‘Reimaging Capitalism in a World on Fire,’ which explores why we need to, and how we can, build a more profitable, equitable, and sustainable capitalism. In conversation with Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s ESG Center, this interview addresses the role of the private sector in tackling some of the biggest environmental, economic, and social issues of our time.
A Focus on Climate Change: From BlackRock’s Letter to CEOs to the Davos Manifesto
February 20, 2020 14:14 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBDottie Schindlinger from the Diligent Institute interviews with Paul Washington, Executive Director of the Environmental, Social & Governance Center at The Conference Board, about climate change, where it ranks as a priority for CEOs and Directors, and the potential impact of Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs and the Davos Manifesto on corporate disclosures and practices.
Coronavirus Outbreak: The CSR Response
February 18, 2020 16:14 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBThere are over 40,000 cases of coronavirus, concentrated in China, but the outbreak is now reaching over two dozen countries across the globe. A health crisis like this demands a government response, but what is the corporate response? Paul Washington, head of The Conference Board’s Environmental, Social and Governance Center, chats with a team of experts on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders worldwide are marshalling resources to respond to this health crisis. Among the is...
If corporations are sociopaths, what do we do about it?
January 15, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBThe second of two interviews with former NY law partner Jamie Gamble, who has written that corporations “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths” -- that is, in the narrow economic interest of stockholders. In this interview Jamie discusses his proposed changes to the law to make it easier for corporations to act in the best interests of society at large.
Are corporations sociopaths? A conversation with Jamie Gamble
January 08, 2020 07:00 - 21 minutes - 23.5 MBFrom The Conference Board ESG Center, this is the first of two interviews with Jamie Gamble on his essay, “The Most Important Problem in the World.” Gamble traces major global challenges from climate change to economic inequality to corporations who, Gamble asserts, “are legally obligated to act like sociopaths.” A provocative statement from a former partner of a major New York law firm. This interview addresses whether corporations are obligated to act as sociopaths. The second intervi...
Western Union Foundation: Opportunity Beyond Borders
September 23, 2019 18:27 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBESG News and Views, from The Conference Board’s ESG Center, provides compelling in-depth interviews with ESG influencers, and timely updates on hot button environmental, social, and governance topics. In this first episode, Alex Parkinson is joined by Elizabeth Roscoe, Global Head, Corporate Brand & Purpose and Executive Director, Western Union Foundation, to discuss the foundation’s new goal to invest $15 million within three years, with a focus on empowering displaced and marginalized yo...