Social Impact Conference: Microfinance, CSR and Chevron
Amanda Bronesky, WG'08
Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: News
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One of the most fitting questions at Friday's 2007 Wharton Social Impact Conference started off with, "If I had $1000, which I don't, because I'm in graduate school..." Though working in a corporate responsibility position or for a non-profit often means a continuation of a poor student's lifestyle in the minds of many MBA students, many conference panelists argued that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive.
The conference co-chairs, Raj Beri and Meg Cronin, and their conference team put together various panels on a wide array of topics, appealing to students with diverse career interests. The panel topics included Entrepreneurship & Technology, Microfinance & Major Innovations, Environment & Climate Change, Venture Capital, Education, and Profit and Motive and brought thirty panelists together from both the non-profit and for-profit sectors.
One of the more controversial panels, surprisingly, was Venture Capital: Measuring Societal Risks & Returns, where two attendees challenged the panelists on their funds' commitment to social impact and to systematically measuring the societal impact of their investments. Panelist Michael Bevan, Managing Director of Element Ventures, demonstrated the difficultly in choosing investments and measuring social impact, citing the example of a water treatment project that provides potable water to islanders in Caribbean, but uses a large amount of oil (70% of costs) in the desalinization process.
The panelists also debated the existence of a true double-bottom line fund and admitted the primacy of IRR as the main decision-making factor when considering a new investment. However, they also mentioned the importance of using social responsibility as a business strategy-to build a brand and enter untapped markets. Prime examples of "hot" areas to invest in included clean tech and energy, green building products, and water-treatment, purification, and waste management.
As to be expected, the highlights of the day were the three keynote speeches from organizations that are innovators in their field. Two of the speakers, Linda Rottenberg and Alex Counts, founded and now head highly-respected organizations using business-based development strategies, while the third speaker, Peter J. Robertson, has held various positions within the same multinational corporation for the past 34 years.
The conference co-chairs, Raj Beri and Meg Cronin, and their conference team put together various panels on a wide array of topics, appealing to students with diverse career interests. The panel topics included Entrepreneurship & Technology, Microfinance & Major Innovations, Environment & Climate Change, Venture Capital, Education, and Profit and Motive and brought thirty panelists together from both the non-profit and for-profit sectors.
One of the more controversial panels, surprisingly, was Venture Capital: Measuring Societal Risks & Returns, where two attendees challenged the panelists on their funds' commitment to social impact and to systematically measuring the societal impact of their investments. Panelist Michael Bevan, Managing Director of Element Ventures, demonstrated the difficultly in choosing investments and measuring social impact, citing the example of a water treatment project that provides potable water to islanders in Caribbean, but uses a large amount of oil (70% of costs) in the desalinization process.
The panelists also debated the existence of a true double-bottom line fund and admitted the primacy of IRR as the main decision-making factor when considering a new investment. However, they also mentioned the importance of using social responsibility as a business strategy-to build a brand and enter untapped markets. Prime examples of "hot" areas to invest in included clean tech and energy, green building products, and water-treatment, purification, and waste management.
As to be expected, the highlights of the day were the three keynote speeches from organizations that are innovators in their field. Two of the speakers, Linda Rottenberg and Alex Counts, founded and now head highly-respected organizations using business-based development strategies, while the third speaker, Peter J. Robertson, has held various positions within the same multinational corporation for the past 34 years.
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