Bart Houlahan to speak on Stakeholder Capitalism: the Purpose of Business in the 21st century

Come hear Bart Houlahan ‘89, CEO of B Lab, an organization that certifies socially responsible corporations as “B Corps”, speak about the B Corp concept. More and more companies are getting interested in qualifying, including Patagonia, Ben and Jerry’s, and Eileen Fisher.

Sun, January 26, 2020
01:30PM - 03:00PM

Venue:
Ludington Library in Bryn Mawr

Location:
5 S. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr PA 19010

Registration Period:
12/13/2019-01/25/2020
Price:
FREE, but please preregister by sending an email to Harry Ting.

Stakeholder Capitalism: the Purpose of Business in the 21st century

In August this year, a consortium of 181 leaders of the largest companies in America announced a redefinition of the purpose of the corporation, moving away from shareholder primacy to a model that benefits all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, communities and shareholders. This accelerated a broader conversation about the role of business in society. With an accelerating climate crisis and civil unrest simmering on every continent, business leaders across the globe are asking how the private sector should engage to solve these pressing challenges.

Please join us to discuss this historic cultural shift with Bart Houlahan, Co-Founder of B Lab, the non-profit behind the B Corporation movement. B Lab has been leading a movement to use business as a force for good for 13 years. With the engagement of more than 100,000 companies from 80+ countries and 150 industries, Bart will talk about this movement’s role in helping to catalyze this cultural shift, and what the future might hold for business leaders. 

Bart Houlahan – Co-Founder, B Lab

Bart Houlahan - B LabBart Houlahan and partners, Jay Coen Gilbert and Andrew Kassoy, co-founded B Lab in 2006. B Lab is a non-profit organization serving a movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab is redefining success in business by shining a light on leaders through a corporate certification (3200+ Certified B Corporations in 80 countries), and then providing easy pathways for others to follow. B Lab encourages all companies to measure and manage their social and environmental impact using the B Impact Assessment (100,000+ companies engaged). And it creates opportunities for companies to align their mission with their governance (Benefit Corporation legislation passed in 37 states and in process in 11 countries). Prior to B Lab, Bart was President of AND 1, a $250 MM basketball footwear and apparel company. Bart is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute; a recipient of both the 2014 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the 2015 John P. McNulty Prize; and an advisory board member of the Duke University Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), the Wharton Impact Investing Initiative, and the G8 Impact Measurement Working Group. He lives in Devon with his wife, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, and has three grown daughters.

To help us plan, please RSVP for this event by sending an email to Harry Ting. Please include your Wharton Affiliation and the number of attendees. 

More information about the event can be found here: http://alumni.stanford.edu/goto/bart_houlahan_on_b_corps