Jeff Allar Discusses How to Sustain Our Values In Business

Friday February 10, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

There will be a networking reception from 5:00 to 5:30, with the talk beginning at 5:30.

This event is hosted by the Marlboro Net Impact chapter.

A $5 donation is suggested to help support future Net Impact events but is not required for attendance.

Jeff Allar, Vice President of Human Resources at Stonyfield Farm, will offer insight on Stonyfield’s experience, including the role of a CEO, retaining long-term independence, and the moral obligation to disclose.

In addition to its natural and organic dairy products, Stonyfield Farm is known for doing well by doing good.  Jeff Allar, Vice President of Human Resources, leads the team with a track record of being good to its workforce by providing a healthful, productive work place offering opportunities to grow.  This commitment coupled with the company’s mission has has led to Stonyfield being recognized as one of the Best Companies to Work for in New Hampshire for the last two years in a row. Jeff and his team have introduced enhanced wellness programs and a smoke-free workplace. Jeff also serves as the executive champion for Stonyfield’s Walking Our Talk (SWOT) Team.

Jeff joined Stonyfield Farm in 2008 after 13 years in many roles, most recently as the head of Supply Chain Human Resources for Good Humor – Breyers / Unilever Ice Cream in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Jeff’s specialties are workforce learning and development, and organizational performance. He has served as a Senior Examiner and Judge for Wisconsin’s Forward Award and as an examiner for the nationally recognized Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.  Jeff is currently the Vice President of the Board of Directors for Bridges, the domestic violence and sexual assault organization serving the Nashua community, and he serves on the Board of Directors for New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility.

 

 

Jeremy Grantham Discusses Investing, Resource Limitations & Global Warming

Friday December 2, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Jeremy Grantham, founder of GMO, a global investment management firm responsible for over $93 billion in client assets, will speak at Marlboro College Graduate School on  “Irrational Avoidance of the Unpleasant: Perspectives on Investing, Resource Limitations & Global Warming”.

A recent New York Times profile of Grantham says his quarterly letters “command a cult following of readers within and beyond the financial industry, (because they) inspire even the most short-term profit-minded investors to do a little fate-of-the-world-scale thinking.”

Grantham is an impassioned environmentalist who channels his wealth to The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, which tries to raise public awareness of environmental issues and to promote collaboration within the environmental movement. He also supports the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, which awards the $75,000 Grantham Prize for Excellence in Environmental Journalism.

Grantham has been featured in Forbes, Barron’s and Business Week and is routinely quoted by the financial press. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Sheffield (U.K.) and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Reading Grantham’s latest quarterly letter, you get a glimpse of his ability to intertwine compelling storytelling with well documented research. He includes a tale of “The Devil and the Farmer” which highlights his interest in soil erosion and sustainable agriculture. Jeremy Grantham’s son, Rupert, who is a MBA candidate in the Marlboro MBA in Managing for Sustainability, is completing his Capstone on “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture“, a project sponsored by the Grantham Foundation.

 

Robert Repetto Discusses America’s Climate Problem: The Way Forward

Friday November 11, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Marlboro College Graduate School will host a free, public presentation by Robert Repetto, a senior fellow in the Climate and Energy Program at the United Nations Foundation, and a member of the Circle of Advisors for the Marlboro MBA.

Repetto has worked at senior levels in universities and in Washington for over 25 years, to develop and promote reasonable responses to the challenges of climate change. His talk will lay out those challenges and how they can best be met and overcome.

Repetto’s book, America’s Climate Problem: The Way Forward was published this year.

 

Peter Kinder Discusses Artificial Animal: Society, Government and Corporations

Friday, October 14, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

With the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the U.S. Constitution guarantees corporations the right to participate in elections, the rights of corporations as individuals has again become a hot issue. But debating “corporate personhood” obscures the ultimate question the court has raised: what is a corporation? History holds some surprising answers; it also suggests paths to change. Peter Kinder has studied the relationship between society and corporations for 40 years and is former president and co-founder of KLD Research & Analytics, a company that researches corporate behavior for socially responsible investors. He now blogs on the subject—and many others—at TheBell.us.

 

William Hsiao Discusses Healthcare reform and economic vitality in Vermont

Friday September 16, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.

Dr. William Hsiao, K.T. Li Professor of Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health, will speak on healthcare reform and the long-term economic health and vitality of Vermont, following his work for the Vermont legislature to develop a model for a single-payer healthcare system for the state. He will discuss the link between improvements in the healthcare system and the potential for just and sustainable economic development. Dr. Hsiao has helped research and design healthcare systems for seven countries and is currently working with universities in China to conduct a nation-wide study on healthcare financing for 100 million poor Chinese.

View  Dr. Hsiao’s September 16 presentation. This is the full presentation, with talk highlights collected at the beginning.

The Commons article about Dr. Hsiao’s talk: “Better Healthcare Access Helps Economy Grow”