THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE CONVERSATION!

For those of you who attended the 21st Century Economy Business Summit, we are delighted that you were able to share your time with a remarkable assembly of speakers and conversation leaders who represent the cutting edge of sustainable businesses large and small, as well as experts from the impact investing world engaged in institutional management of capital and direct investing.  We were also pleased that you were there to help us celebrate and honor Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm, for the life time leadership he has shown in creating pathways to a sustainable future, by making him the recipient of the NISE! Innovation Award.

Let's keep the conversation going.  If you are not already, become an active conversation leader about sustainability with your business associates, clients, friends and family.  We look forward to continuing the conversation we started with you at the Summit as well.

One conversation at a time.  Many conversations over time.  Extraordinary change in our time.


See Summit Program: NISESummitProgram111022.pdf

NISE!
21st Century Economy Business Summit
October 26, 2011
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston -- Connolly Center, Fourth Floor

Learn how companies large and small are re-inventing themselves to make sustainable business practices part of their corporate DNA to increase their competitiveness and obtain a triple bottom line measured in profitability, social equity and environmental sustainability.

Join our sponsors in supporting a new initiative to educate, connect and empower business leaders to embrace sustainable business practices as the pathway to 21st Century prosperity.

Register Today! Registration Cost: $50
Click here to register

Summit Agenda

• 7:45 am – 8:15 am Networking & Continental Breakfast Reception
  
• 8:15 am – 8:45 am Welcome Ceremony
  
  
  • JD Chesloff, Executive Director, Massachusetts Business Roundtable
  • Andy Tarsy, President, Progressive Business Leader Network
    
    
• 8:45 am – 10:15 am Panel Perspective 1

  What Business Models are Contributing
  to a Sustainable 21st Century Economy?
  A discussion with business executives in the forefront of creating new business methods, relationships and rules that support a triple bottom line: profitability, social equity and ecological sustainability. The purpose of the discussion is to provide the audience with new insights into the values, priorities, and strategies of businesses pursuing sustainability that are achieving the scope, scale and success required to drive change.

  • Conversation Leaders:

    • Gary Hirshberg, CEO, Stonyfield Farm, Inc.
    • Carolyn Kaplan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Nixon Peabody; Moderator
    • Laury Hammel, CEO, The Longfellow Clubs
    • Tim Healy, CEO, EnerNOC
      
      
• 10:15 am – 11:45 am Panel Perspective 2

  The Role of Impact Investing in a Sustainable Economy:
  The Business Case
  Learn about innovative investment practices that consider environmental, social and corporate governance criteria to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact. A panel discussion on how market participants can best position themselves for a strong financial performance in a new market environment. Benefit from practical guidance, expertise and successful showcases from leading edge financial and business leaders.

  • Conversation Leaders:

    • Georgette Wong, CEO, Take Action! Impact Investing; Moderator
    • Joyce Haboucha, Managing Director, Rockefeller & Co.
    • John LaPann, President & Chief Investment Officer, Federal Street Advisors
    • DeWitt Jones, Executive Vice President, Boston Community Capital
      
      
• 11:45 am – 12:00 pm NISE! Award Ceremony

  NISE! will acknowledge and honor a business (or organization) with an award for their outstanding commitment to creating an equitable and ecologically sustainable economy by advancing Sustainability, Corporate Responsibility and/or Diversity into their business model.

• 12:00 pm – 12:15 pm Closing Ceremony
  
  
  • Tedd Saunders, President, EcoLogical Solutions;
    CSO, The Saunders Hotel Group

For inquiries and information regarding Sponsorships, please contact:
Crystal Johnson, Managing Director
cjohnson@usnise.com

Our world economy is changing rapidly.  Businesses will need to change too.  But how?  Where are the new opportunities for growth and prosperity in our changing economy?  NISE! believes that on the cutting edge of the new 21st century economy there will be great business opportunities in addressing needs or solving problems arising from the values and rules we use to produce, price and sell goods and services in our current 20th century economy.  The source of the opportunities will be increasing conflicts between the values of the old economy and two life forces with which they continuously interact:

• Human Life and Standard of Living
  Building and maintaining safe and healthy environments for families and communities is among our nations's highest priorities.  Yet, increasingly the values driving our business practices threaten the safety, health or well-being of families and communities.  These conflicts raise issues of economic justice — what is fair, who should bear what costs and who should profit.
• Ecological Life
  Maintaining a balance between organisms in the natural world and their surroundings is crucial for the health of our planet and human life as well.  However, the rapid encroachment on the natural habitats by our dominant 20th century business practices threatens to drastically alter or destroy this balance.   These conflicts raise issues of ecological justice — again what is fair to other forms of life and the habitats that sustain them.

These two conflicts arising from 20th century business practices and the harm they inflict on humanity and the eco-system are demanding our attention and solutions — solutions that are equitable from the perspective of their impact on human and social life, and balanced from the perspective of ecological life.  The demand for these solutions represents enormous business opportunities that will be drivers for our emerging 21st century economy.

Click here for more information about NISE!

The NISE! mission is to be a catalyst for translating environmental and social problems into new business solutions that contribute to an equitable and ecologically sustainable economy.

We pursue our mission by identifying a specific need or demand and re-imagine a business model that will address it. We then assemble a team of business collaborators to implement the business model and the resources necessary to compete. Often the NISE! solution will also support the implementation of government policy for which a private sector partner is needed.

For instance, we believe that energy conservation is our nation’s most effective strategy for a reduction in the emission of C02 and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Historically business and government have focused primarily on conservation in the industrial and commercial sectors. Energy conservation in the residential sector has lagged due to the perception that the business opportunity is much more limited and requires subsidies to be attractive. NISE! examined the barriers that have prevented homeowners in particular from making their homes more energy efficient and concluded that the business opportunity was very large and what was needed was innovation. That’s how why we launched our Energy Conservation Initiative (ECI).

The objective of the ECI is to:

• Provide a comprehensive solution to the obstacles most homeowners confront when considering their options for energy conservation. Other conservation opportunities, and solutions to health hazards within the home are in our pipeline, as well as new financial models for rapidly scaling these solutions.
• Significantly accelerate the rate at which homeowners take effective action to substantially reduce energy consumption.
• Make a major contribution to reducing C02 emissions attributable to the production or consumption of fuels in the state of Massachusetts.
• Engage local businesses in creating skilled green jobs and adopting sustainable business practices that promote economic growth. In addition the NISE! will provide support and strong demand for skilled labor provided by Massachusetts’ various training programs focusing on green jobs.

Other areas in which NISE! is exploring specific business opportunities include: renewable energy within the residential sector, and health hazards within the home.