Strategic Leadership for Sustainability: 6 Steps for Moving Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility

Smeal Alumni Career Services Partners with Penn State Executive Programs
  • What Front Page Alumni
  • When Jan 18, 2017 from 12:00 PM to 01:00 PM (US/Eastern / UTC-494)
  • Where Online/Zoom
  • Attendees Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff and Friends
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Presenter: Erik Foley, is the Director of Sustainability at Smeal and the Director of Learning and Development in Executive Programs. Before coming to Smeal, Erik was a co-founder and Managing Director at Penn State's Sustainability Institute, the mission of which is to integrate sustainability across all major functions of the university: research, teaching, outreach and operations. He has the unique perspective of understanding the business imperative for sustainability as well as the ecological and social dimensions to human decision-making. A skilled leader, strategist, and author of the Sustainability Planning Guidebook for Teams, Erik has been on the front lines of sustainability for over two decades with on-the-ground experience from South America to Alaska, the inner city to rural America. A frequent speaker and consultant to dozens of companies, Erik also serves on the board and is the treasurer of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) and is on the board of Clearwater Conservancy.

Too many corporate sustainability or social responsibility efforts are not connected to core business strategy. Too many are bolted on but not built in. Too many are just icing, not part of the ingredients of the business. This tendency leaves business exposed to risks, higher costs and missed opportunities for innovation. Industry leadership today requires the identification and management of environmental and social risks and opportunities. Driving this change is a combination of pressures from customers, suppliers, competitors, employees, regulations, and resource constraints. This webinar will begin to equip leaders with the latest tools, concepts, and business practices for strategic leadership for sustainability: a simple but powerful method for driving business value with social impact. It serves as an introduction to a new Executive Education program on Strategic Sustainability Leadership launching in 2017.