Upcoming events.
New speakers will be announced soon. To be notified of our upcoming events, please join our Mailing List.
Past Event: A Conversation with Dr Gillian Tett on the Advantage of Having Anthro-Vision
Guest: Dr Gillian Tett
Date and Time: 4th Oct 2022, 6:00 PM BST
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About the Event:
Dr Gillian Tett (Editor-at-large at Financial Times and author of 4 books) will join us to discuss her latest book: ‘AnthroVision, a New Way to See in Life and Business’. It concerns the behaviour of organizations, individuals, and markets by looking through an anthropological lens. Daniel Kahneman called AnthroVision "a really brilliant book”.
Speaker Biography:
Dr Gillian Tett is chair of the editorial board and editor-at-large (USA) of the Financial Times. She writes weekly columns, covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. She is also the author of 4 books focusing on finance, business and society.
In 2014, she was named Columnist of the Year in the British Press Awards and was the first recipient of the Royal Anthropological Institute Marsh Award. In June 2009 her book Fool’s Gold won Financial Book of the Year at the inaugural Spear’s Book Awards.
Gillian has written about the financial instruments that were part of the cause of the financial crisis that started in the fourth quarter of 2007 such as CDOs, credit default swaps, SIVs, conduits, and SPVs. She became renowned for her early warning that a financial crisis was looming.
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Past Event: Corporate Thinking and Reporting Are Not What They Used to Be…
Guest: Mervyn King
Date and Time: 15th Sept 2022, 6:00 PM BST
About the Event:
Professor King will share his insights on how corporate governance is changing and where corporate thinking is heading, including the evolving role of ESG and the obligation it places on corporate governance to make a real contribution toward a sustainable society.
Speaker Biography:
Mervyn King is a Senior Counsel and former Judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa. He is Professor Extraordinaire at the University of South Africa on Corporate Citizenship, Honorary Professor at the Universities of Pretoria and Cape Town and a Visiting Professor at Rhodes.
He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards for promoting quality corporate governance globally from the ICGN. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce. Among his many accomplishments, he is the driving force behind King Report on Corporate Governance, compliance with which is mandatory for companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Past Event: The Role of Insurance in the Fight against Climate Change - Reflections from Research and Practice
Guest: Swenja Surminski
Date and Time: 22nd of June 2022, 6:00 PM GMT
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About the Event:
Climate change has led to increased frequency and intensity of floods over the last years. These severe weather events have caused loss of life and billions in infrastructure damages, and threaten the health and food security. Swenja will discuss the role of insurance in the fight against climate change, including climate risk management and resilience strategies focusing on public policy, financial instruments and corporate strategies.
Speaker Biography:
Swenja is an expert on climate resilience, adaptation, disaster risk management and sustainable finance, with a special focus on the role of the private sector and insurance. She currently works as Head of Adaptation Research at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, is Associate Principal at Vivid Economics, and runs Surminski Consulting.
In addition to her academic career, Swenja has spent more than 10 years in the international insurance industry working on climate risks and risk management. She is advising a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, international organizations and the private sector on insurance and climate risks, including recent work with the ADB, OECD, KfW, UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage Work program, the Worldbank, UK’s DFID, Germany’s GIZ, ClimateWise and the Geneva Association.
She appears regularly in print, TV and online media.
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Past event: How Hip Hop Can Inspire Positive Change in Marginalized Communities
Guest: Khafre Jay
Date and Time: 28th of February 2022, 6:00 PM GMT
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About the Event:
Khafre Jay will share with us his work as a grassroots activist to use Hip-Hop as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and cultural innovation. As the executive director of the non-profit organization Hip Hop for Change, he sets an example for successful grassroots movements worldwide by offering positive social impact.
Speaker Biography:
Khafre’s work has impacted tens of thousands of community members and raised millions of dollars to further promote social justice in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was honoured with the 2020 William J. Zellerbach Award for Social Change and the Symphony's 2020 Ellen Magnin Newman Award for Outstanding Arts Organization.
Currently, Khafre continues his work by speaking at universities around the United States, performing alongside world-renowned artists, and hosting the local Hip Hop for Change Radio Station.
Past Event: Making Social Change Through Social Innovation.
Guest: Dr Neal Stott
Date and Time: 18th of January 2022
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About the Event:
Neil will share with us his insights into what it takes to create a lasting change using social innovation. He will shed light on some of the most important topics such as community enterprise, the connection between big society and poor places, and social innovation in practice.
Speaker Biography:
Neil is the Faculty (Professor level) in Management Practice at the Cambridge Judge Business School, Director of the Master of Studies in Social Innovation Programme, Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation, Fellow and Director of Studies in Management Studies at Lucy Cavendish College.
Past Event: Impact Measurement and Management to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
Guest: Cathy Clark
Date and Time: 1st of November 2021 - 6 pm GMT
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About this Event:
Cathy will discuss how global enterprises and investors can measure and manage pro-ESG impact on a global scale. Further, she will demonstrate how enterprises and investors can better align their Impact Measurement and Management practices with their respective industries and regulators.
Cathy and CASE have partnered with the United Nations Development Program’s Sustainable Development Goals Impact Team to promote and teach these skills. She will feature their FREE offer of online training using this link.
Speaker Biography:
A renowned speaker, author, professor, and serial entrepreneur, Cathy is the Faculty Director at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the Founding Director of the CASE i3 Initiative on Impact Investing. She has co-authored over 35 publications, including the critically acclaimed The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism (2015) and has taught at Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and Columbia Business Schools.
Past Event: Climate Repair - The Challenge and the Way Forward
Guest: Professor Sir David King
Date and Time: 28th of June 2021 - 6:00 PM GMT
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About this Event:
Professor Sir David King is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge; Founder and Chair of the CU Centre for Climate Repair; an Affiliate Partner of SYSTEMIQ Limited; and Senior Strategy Adviser to the President of Rwanda.
He was the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser from 2000 to 2007 and the Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change from 2013 to 2017.
Knighted in 2002, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he was made “Officier dans l’ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur” in 2009.
Topic:
Sir David will present an insightful and impactful presentation on the current “state of the climate” and its exponentially increasing impacts on mankind. He will detail the immediate need for climate repair, as well as direct us viewers on how we can affect this drastically needed change to a fossil-fuel-free society.
Past Event: Discussion on Biodiversity and Sustainability with Sir Partha Dasgupta and Lord Martin Rees
Guests: Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta and Lord Martin Rees
Date and Time: 7th of June 2021, 6:30 PM GMT
On behalf of St. John's College and the University of Cambridge, the members of the Cambridge University Social Impact & Sustainability Society (and invited guests) are cordially invited to join Prof Sir Partha Dasgupta and Lord Martin Rees as they discuss Dasgupta’s recent review on the economics of biodiversity, understanding the sustainability of our engagement with Nature, and identifying the actions humanity can take to enhance biodiversity and prosperity.
Past Event: The Values Compass - A Fireside Chat with Dr Mandeep Rai
Guest: Dr Mandeep Rai
Date and Time: 13th of April 2021, 6:00 PM GMT
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We are pleased to feature Dr Mandeep Rai, author of the critically acclaimed The Values Compass, in a Fireside Chat on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, @ 6 pm (UK time). Listed in the Thinkers50 Class of 2021, Mandeep contends that understanding both our own and others’ values is a key component of decision making and risk-taking. We look forward to discussing her insights on how values underpin the ways in which people live, lead, and interact both “locally” and with different cultures around the world.
Past Event: Cooperative Advantage: A Path to Social Sustainability
Guests: Dr Leon Prieto & Dr Simone Phipps
Date and Time: 23rd of February 2021, 6:00 PM GMT
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Dr Leon Prieto and Dr Simone Phipps are renowned authors and lecturers. They were the 2021 recipients of the Minority and Women Entrepreneurship Education Innovator Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. They were also inducted into the Thinkers50 Radar Class in 2021, an award that recognizes the new generation of global thinkers most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed. They are the authors of the highly acclaimed book, African American Management History: Insights on Gaining a Cooperative Advantage. Their work can also be found in numerous highly regarded publications, including the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management History, and MIT Sloan Management Review, to name a few.
Topic:
Join our honoured guests as they discuss their revelatory research into African-American Management Theory and Practice and its current real-world relevance to sustainability, business, and community development. The conversation will include:
Understanding the concept of “cooperative advantage” and how it benefits a company’s employees, customers, and communities
How community development & sustainability advocates can benefit company boards
How leaders can identify and utilise community development & sustainability advocates
Past Event: The Impact Revolution - Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change
Guest: Sir Ronald Cohen
Date and Time: 15th of December 2020, 6:00 PM GMT
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Sir Ronald Cohen is a pioneering philanthropist, venture capitalist, private equity investor, and social innovator – driving forward the global Impact Revolution.
Awarded a knighthood in 2001, Sir Ronald has been described as “the father of impact investment” and “the father of British venture capital”. He was the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Apax Partners Worldwide LLP (1972-2005), one of the largest and most successful venture capital and private equity firms in the world.
He currently serves as Chairman of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and The Portland Trust. He is a co-founder of Social Finance UK, USA, and Israel; and the co-founder Chair of Bridges Fund Management and former co-founding Chair of Big Society Capital.
He graduated from Oxford University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is the author of several books including The Second Bounce of the Ball, and most recently, IMPACT: Reshaping capitalism to drive real change. www.impactrevolution.com
Topic:
Sir Ronald and CUSISS President Michael Williams will discuss how impact investing and socially-conscious decision making can truly revolutionize capitalism for the better. Sir Ronald argues in his new book, IMPACT: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, that the monetary-focused “risk vs. reward” model used by investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and government officials can be greatly improved. He suggests that by adopting a “risk-reward–impact” approach, leaders can achieve success by prioritizing social responsibility as well as profit. Join us for an enlightening discussion about the role impact can play in improving our world.
Past Event: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit
Guest Speaker: Professor Alex EdmansDate and Time: 2nd of November 2020 - 6 pm UK Time
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Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School and Academic Director of the Centre for Corporate Governance.
He is also a noteworthy speaker (TED talks with 2M+ views), author (GROW THE PIE), and an MIT PhD and Fulbright Scholar.
He has appeared on Bloomberg, BBC, CNBC, CNN, ITV, Sky News and Sky Sports, written for the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and Wall Street Journal, and has been named to Poets and Quants Best 40 Professors Under 40 and Thinkers50 Radar.
Topic: “Purpose” is one of the corporate buzzwords of 2020, with politicians, the public, and even investors calling on businesses to serve wider society. But is it possible to serve two masters: Profit and Purpose? Or must one be sacrificed to achieve the other? Professor Edmans will discuss how companies can “grow the pie” to achieve both profitability and purpose.