Join Us

Registration numbers are looking great for tomorrow's opening of the BSC, starting at 1pm in Georgiopoulos!

Start off your weekend by hearing the former SEC Chairman discuss the impacts of new financial regulation and where we go from here.

Follow it up with insights from leading thinkers on what's really required to jumpstart job creation in the United States.

Then, contribute to a discussion of the (mis)alignment between many companies' official CSR positions and their actual lobbying in Washington.

Finish the evening with drinks and hors d'oeuvres in Raether atrium. And then, on to Day 2 on Friday!

Timely article in the Boston Globe

Yesterday's Boston Globe featured a front page article on the likely growth of charter schools within Massachusetts: http://bit.ly/hUPhWg

Definitely worth a look -- and timely with respect to the BSC education panel for a few reasons:

• Interaction between government policy (here, the recently enacted MA law that increased the number of charter "seats" allowed in low-performing school districts) and private initiatives (charter schools are privately operated but still public schools)
• Emphasis on performance / on proof that the innovation works: how do charters measure and sustain good results?
• Challenges of growing to scale: many of the schools discussed in the article are making the transition from single standalone schools to charter management organizations (CMOs) / charter networks
• Tension between solutions within and outside of the public education system

P.S. Fun fact unrelated to the BSC: Excel Academy, one of the schools featured in the article, will be the "client" for a Tuck First-Year Project team this spring.

This year's theme

This year we've taken a bit of a departure from the usual sustainability and social responsibility focus of the BSC to address a persistent and provocative question that's been on many Americans' minds in recent years: Can We Innovate Our Way Out?

“Out of what?” you might ask. We say out of whatever you see as the challenges facing our nation’s economy today – be it the Global Financial Crisis, the Great Recession, or simply the widely-felt uncertainty about America’s future in the 21st century.

We look forward to your joining us to discuss these questions, and promise that you'll emerge with a deepened understanding of the critical intersection of business and society, as well as new views on the collective role of the public and private sectors in driving long-term economic growth.

I’m in education mode today – en route to Boston for a final round with Education Pioneers (http://www.educationpioneers.org/) and working on a business plan for the Yale SOM Education Business Plan Competition – so I thought I'd post about our education panel at this year's BSC Conference.

Here's the official description:

Description:

One key driver of economic success for any nation is its educational attainment. A panel of education reform leaders with diverse experiences in the private sector and at different levels of government will discuss the complexities of creating positive change in the American education system. In recent years, reform attempts have received a spike in public attention due to poor performance on international test scores, enhanced federal government incentives and oversight, the recession, popular documentaries such as “Waiting For Superman” and charged political figures like Michelle Rhee. Against this backdrop, private organizations have driven much of the conversation and reforms, while government seeks to innovate its role and perspective. What opportunities does this create? With nonprofit, for-profit, and political leaders working together to advocate for new approaches, what challenges must be overcome and what trade-offs made?

Panelists:

• Haven Ladd T'03, The Parthenon Group, Partner
• Matt Dunne, Google Community Affairs
• Meredith Liu, Mass Insight Education, Managing Director of School Turnaround Group

The unofficial background is that we're really excited about this panel! We in this case is Abby Whitbeck (first year at Tuck, formerly a consultant at Parthenon), Liam Kerr (first year at Tuck, formerly at New Profit Inc. and Alan Khazei's US Senate campaign), and myself (first year at Tuck, formerly a consultant at Monitor). We're all passionate about education, having explored it in various ways before and at Tuck, and drew upon some of our past experiences in bringing together the above group of panelists.

After some great conversations with the panelists and our moderator, Professor Maggie Hanson, it's clear that next Friday's conversation will provide some diverse perspectives on education (particularly K-12 education in the US) and – more specifically – the role of public and private actors in supporting innovative approaches to education.

• Haven's a leader in Parthenon's education consulting practice, which has given him exposure to how districts, foundations, and for-profit companies address some of the challenges in the sector
• Matt's a self-described "politician in remission" and (given his current role at Google) can speak to the federal, state, and corporate philanthropy perspective on supporting innovation
• Meredith (a Dartmouth grad) has worked in a high-performing charter school and in DC Public Schools' Office of Portfolio Management; in her current role as Managing Director for MassInsight's School Turnaround Group, she directs research, policy, and implementation initiatives with districts and schools who are working to fix and support failing schools

That's all for now...the business plan calls! Hope to see many of you at next week's panel.

-- Divya

2011 Keynote Speakers

We're just about a week away from the 2011 Tuck Business & Society Conference (have we mentioned it's the 9th annual!), and we're busy finalizing all of our plans in anticipation of our guests' arrival.

We're particularly excited about our keynote speakers: Senator Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator for New Hampshire, and Harvey Pitt, former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

I've gotten you interested, haven't I? Excellent. Read more about our keynote speakers here.