In what ways can business positively influence society? At Columbia Business School, the Social Enterprise Club is working to highlight the numerous opportunities available to help you answer that question. On Friday, October 11, the Social Enterprise Club is presenting "Beyond the Bottom Line," a forum for students, business leaders, and members of the community to discuss ways in which people are using their business knowledge, skills, and experience to serve society’s needs. Drawing from the public sector, private sector, and non-profit organizations, the Social Enterprise Club hopes to reflect the breadth of the social enterprise experience.
"The term ‘social enterprise,’ encompasses an incredible range of fields," says Rani Deshpande, one of the event’s organizers. "We want to bring together people from a wide variety of disciplines to discuss the role that business school plays in achieving social goals."
This is the first major conference hosted by the Social Enterprise Club in recent years, but organizers expect that it will become an annual event. "Social enterprise is rapidly growing in popularity at Columbia Business School," adds Ms. Deshpande.
Stephanie Bell-Rose, president of The Goldman Sachs Foundation, will open the conference. The focus of this $200 million organization is to promote excellence and innovation in education. Ms. Bell-Rose received an A.B., a J.D., and an M.P.A. from Harvard University. Her studies took her to Mexico and Venezuela, where she became interested in educational systems in the U.S. and abroad. Prior to joining the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Ms. Bell-Rose served as foundation counsel and program officer for Public Affairs at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She has earned numerous awards for her work with children and has been widely published.
Following the opening remarks will be a plenary session featuring speakers from an assortment of organizations. Three of the speakers are CBS alums: Michele Kahane of the Ford Foundation, Shari Berenbach, executive director of the Calvert Foundation, and Daniel Sedlis, the lone public sector representative on the panel. Mr. Sedlis is the associate commissioner for MIS with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. Another panelist, Steve Lydenberg, is a principal with Domini Social Investments, an investment firm that deals exclusively with socially responsible projects. The fifth panelist is Gene Wade, representing Edison Schools, a for-profit company that manages public schools throughout the United States.
"The plenary panel is specifically designed to demonstrate the vast array of opportunities that social enterprise encompasses," explained Ms. Deshpande.
Following the plenary session, Dean Feldberg will award the annual Benjamin Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics to Russell Carson, general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe. Mr. Carson graduated from Columbia Business School in 1967 and is chairman of the Columbia Business School Board of Overseers. During the past 21 years, his firm has raised twelve partnerships and invested in over 200 companies, becoming a leading buyout firm of telecommunications and health care companies. Previously, he served as chairman and CEO of Citicorp Venture Capital. Mr. Carson devotes considerable time and energy to philanthropic activities in New York City. His main areas of interest lie in promoting education, economic and social development and the arts. Ms. Deshpande adds, "Through his dedicated service on college, museum, and charitable boards, Russell Carson demonstrates the value that business leaders can provide to a community."
In the afternoon, the conference will break into smaller groups for participants to learn about specific areas of social enterprise, such as corporate social responsibility, managing non-profit and public organizations, and social entrepreneurship and venture funding. The conference will culminate with a cocktail reception open to all participants.
Ms Deshpande reminds students that "Beyond the Bottom Line" is not just for students pursuing careers in social enterprise, "Whatever career path MBA students take, they will have an impact on a community. The better educated a student is about social enterprise, the more valuable that person is to their community as a whole."