A few weeks ago, 20 students from UCLA Anderson’s chapter of Net Impact traveled to San Jose to attend the 2013 Net Impact Conference. This year, the conference attracted 2,500 students and professionals from around the world, all of whom have one thing in common: a desire to use their business skills to create positive social and environmental change. UCLA Anderson had a proud showing among business schools, reflective of our recent efforts to increase student engagement.
The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Denise Morrison, President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company. She talked about the company’s efforts to fight obesity, a cause she considers Campbell’s responsibility, and her goal of becoming famous for creating shared value for shareholders around the world. We also heard from Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of U.S. Fund for UNICEF, who spoke about her mission to battle hunger, poverty, and disease across the globe, and shared excerpts from her moving new book, I Believe in Zero. The energy throughout the opening reception was exhilarating; it is amazing the conversations that take place when 2,500 do-gooders come together in the same room.
There were over 100 breakout sessions during the conference, on topics such as impact investing, cause marketing, clean tech, the future of food (crickets anyone?), electric vehicles, sustainable supply chain strategy, and biomimicry, to name just a few. Panelists included representatives from large multinational corporations, nonprofits, and pro-social start-ups. It was truly inspiring to see how many organizations are working to enact change and advance the world’s view on how business should be done.
We also listened to Premal Shah, President of Kiva, tell us how he left PayPal against the advice of his family to develop and test his internet microfinance concept in India and eventually bring the Kiva concept to life in Silicon Valley. Premal talked about Kiva’s newest initiative, Kivazip.org, an innovative character-based lending service. And for a little culture, we attended the screening of the film Girl Rising, which portrays gender inequality in education in different parts of the world. The Intel Corporation, a long-time supporter of girls’ education, is the founding strategic partner of the film’s campaign. This partnership is quite the exciting example of modern-day corporate social responsibility!
There was also a large career expo with nearly 100 leading corporations, many of whom were recruiting for internships and full-time positions. These included The Walt Disney Company, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and the Clinton Global Initiative.
The closing keynote speaker was Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS. Mycoskie talked about the challenges he has faced as an entrepreneur; unlike most startup stories, Mycoskie’s first struggle was not garnering interest in his product, but rather keeping up with the unexpected demand that literally happened overnight. He also created buzz around the company’s new product launch, which we had to wait until this week to uncover. TOMS has created a marketplace platform that partners with social entrepreneurs to offer a diverse array of clothing, jewelry, and other products. It’s kind of like an Amazon.com for do-gooders, and in addition to filtering by brand, you can also filter by cause.
The conference left all of us incredibly inspired and energized to implement new plans for Net Impact this year. Next year’s conference will take place in Minneapolis, so we’ll have to travel a bit farther, but many of us are already looking forward to it! If you’re interested in learning more about Net Impact, feel free to contact me, or check out this link: https://netimpact.org.
