2011 Net Impact Conference – Lessons Learned

From October 27th to October 29th, over 2,000 Net Impacters from Thailand to Chicago, convened on the green streets of Portland, Oregon to network and learn with some of the sector’s most accomplished leaders at the Net Impact Conference. Net Impact’s mission is to mobilize a new generation to use their careers to drive transformational change in their workplaces and the world. Comprised of student and professional chapters around the world, the organization is one of the few that places special emphases on equipping its members with the tools and knowledge to be change agents.

Annually, the Net Impact conference brings together its members and those interested in addressing social problems through a business lens.  Attendees participated in lectures, round table discussions, workshops, expos and networking activities designed to inspire and ignite the imagination. Topics included the future of corporate philanthropy, the role of technology in Education reform, the use of innovation to solve social problems, how to start a corporate social responsibility program from scratch, empowering women in developing countries,  managing and influencing others to create change, and much more.

An important part of being a Net Impact member is action—to do something for the communities in which you live, play and work. For example, conference attendees helped build bikes for underserved youth in Portland and also provided free consultation to small non-profits seeking expertise in marketing.  And what good would a conference be without parties and happy hours? For students, the conference is an opportunity to get up close and personal with notable companies like Google, Mastercard Foundation, Intel, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Advisors, and Nike. The conference is also ideal for working professionals and entrepreneurs seeking to expand their network, gain new business partners, or check-out the latest and greatest in the world of sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Many companies also used the conference as a space to promote their sustainability practices, recruit top talent, and introduce and test new products designed to be more environmentally friendly.

The conference opened on Thursday night with Lord Michael Hastings, Head of CSR for KPMG whose whitty remarks on American English and jokes on American media loosened up the crowd as he talked about more serious issues like America’s budget deficit and how the world responds to conflict. Other keynote speakers who shared compelling words included Sally Jewell, CEO of REI; Hannah Jones, Vice President of Sustainable Business & Innovation, and Government Affairs at Nike; Darell Hammond, Founder and CEO of KaBOOM! and many others.   Net Impact Conferences are unique because of the passionate energy the attendees and panelists bring to each discussion. With so many topics and networking activities, it was easy to come away with new, and in some cases, startling facts. Here are 10 fun and fascinating facts from the conference:

  1. In 2010, American companies spent $125 billion in talent management and development
  2. Americans throw away nearly $2 billion worth of aluminum every year
  3. The poorest Americans only increased their wealth by 18% over the last three decades; while the wealthiest increased their wealth by 275%
  4. The Alcoa Foundation is the second largest foundation in assets behind Goldman Sachs Foundation
  5. Skin product manufacturer, Mary Kay has over 650,000 sellers and distributors around the world
  6. Social dysfunction is expensive: The cost to run the American prison system is equivalent to the amount it would take to address the budget deficit.
  7. Intel has a “microinequity” program that seeks to address the ways in which day-to-day interactions make it hard for women and minorities to succeed at work.
  8. In Africa, women are more successful distributing Coca-Cola products to remote areas, than men
  9. According to Intel, only 6% of women in the Middle East use the Internet.
  10. Mary Kay leaders and executives stylishly showed up to the White House in pink Cadillacs to lobby federal officials on the importance of comprehensive domestic violence policies…and they succeeded.

The 2012 Net Impact Conference is already highly anticipated! The conference will be hosted in Baltimore, Maryland where more highly recognized experts and leaders from our nation’s capital and the surrounding areas, are expected to encourage, inform, and inspire.   For more information about Net Impact or to follow the conversation, go to www.netimpact.org or follow the conversation on twitter at #NI11.

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