GSIPM

Greetings!

Jeffrey Hollender, Founder and CEO of Hollender Sustainable Brands.  Hollender Sustainable Brands developed and markets Sustain condoms, the first US brand of condoms that is certified to be fair trade, free of chemicals of concern, and sustainably produced. Jeffrey is also Adjunct Professor of sustainability and social entrepreneurship at New York University and the co-founder of Seventh Generation. He is also a board member and former Board Chair of the Greenpeace US; co-founder and Board Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council, a coalition of 200,000 business leaders committed to progressive public policy; and a board member of Verite.

The Responsibility Revolution: The Business Case for Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability, Thursday Nov. 13, ISSP Conference 2014. Corporate responsibility today lies at the heart of many of the world’s most successful businesses. But to be successful, companies must incorporate sustainability into all aspects of business strategy. The Responsibility Revolution is as much about culture as it is about products. Responsibility is also about a systems-based approach, radical transparency, and leveraging the impact of business to regenerate a world faced with increasingly complex problems.

Hunter Lovins, Founder and President of Natural Capital Solutions. Natural Capitalism Solutions educates senior decision-makers in business, government and civil society to restore and enhance the natural and human capital while increasing prosperity and quality of life. Hunter has co-authored several seminal works in the field, including the ground-breaking book Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution and most recently co-wrote The Way Out: Kickstarting Capitalism to Save Our Economic Ass. She has taught sustainable business management at Bard College, Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Seattle, Washington, and Denver University, and was a founding professor at Presidio Graduate School’s MBA in Sustainable Management program.

The Edge Economy: Creating an Economy in Service to Life, Thursday Nov. 13, ISSP Conference 2014. The global economy rests on a crumbling precipice. It is based on unsustainable assumptions and business practices that are driving societies and ecosystems into successive collapses. There are many palliative “fixes” that can prop the system up-but only for a time. What is needed is a new economic paradigm, one based on recognizing that the economy depends wholly on preserving healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities. If humanity is at the edge, let’s explore that space. In nature, edges of ecosystems are where diversity and abundance are found. Entrepreneurs use edges to innovate. Sailing to find new worlds, they show that the Earth is not flat, and that a circular economy is possible. The Edge Economy is where we can begin to build a world that works for 100% of humanity.