One of the great aspects of our work at CASE is having the opportunity to interact with MBA students who are not only smart, professional, and motivated but also deeply committed to making the world a better place. Each year our students put that commitment in to action when the Duke MBA Net Impact Club organizes and runs a full day conference on “Sustainable Business and Social Impact” here at the Fuqua School of Business.
Every year it is a great event and this year was no exception! Approximately 300 attendees from Duke, other area schools, and professionals from the Durham area and beyond came to Fuqua on February 9th. Two keynotes from Hannah Jones, VP of Sustainable Business & Innovation at Nike, and Brian Kelley, Chief Product Supply Officer at Coca-Cola inspired the audience. Plus numerous amazing panelists in sessions on Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Marketing and Finance.
One of the things that was impressive – and indicative of the Fuqua culture – was the broad sponsorship of the conference. Not only the corporate sponsorship from our friends at Newman’s Own, the John Deere Foundation and Unilever, but also from student clubs across campus. From the list of sponsors, you can see that social impact and sustainability issues don’t just reside in the Net Impact club here at Fuqua but in a variety of other clubs – Marketing, Association of Women in Business, Consulting, Health Care, General Management and the cross-institutional Graduate & Professional Student Council.
As the conference co-chairs – second years Sam Verrill and Joshua Makaron – eloquently stated, “Above all else, we hope that the conference helps further the notion that “It’s Just Good Business.” From smaller social enterprises, to large, global publicly traded corporations, attention to the impact of their business on all stakeholders is a source of competitive advantage.”
Keep an eye on the CASE Notes blog for upcoming posts from students giving their perspectives on the day’s events. In the meantime, congratulations to the exceptional work of the student leadership and the many volunteers and speakers that made the day a success!
