Green Economy Pioneer Van Jones Speaks to Standing Room Only Crowd at the Bentley/TIME Leadership Forum, April 16, 2009

“You will be the generation of innovators, of entrepreneurs, of problem solvers, of people who… come up with new social enterprises that have multiple effects. We are counting on you.”

WALTHAM, Mass., April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — “The good news is that we can beat this global recession and global warming at the same time. We can beat poverty and pollution at the same time… and you’re the solution,” said keynote speaker Van Jones, founding president of Green for All, speaking to a standing-room only crowd at the 2009 Bentley Leadership Forum in cooperation with TIME on April 16, 2009. “You will be the generation of innovators, of entrepreneurs, of problem solvers of people who throw away this old tired distinction between public service and private gain and come up with new social enterprises that have multiple effects. We are counting on you.”

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/DC00484)

The event, held on the Bentley University campus in Waltham, Mass., was the fifth annual in a series designed to spotlight critical issues in business ethics, leadership and social responsibility. This year’s theme — “The Business of Healing Our World: Leveraging Innovation, Social Enterprise and Service” — explored how business, government and non-profits can unite to tackle global challenges.

“The ideas and potential exist right now to home grow our own energy and therefore be stronger as a country economically, but also politically … Everything that is good for the environment, good in the fight against global warming, good for ecology, is a job,” said Jones, who now serves as President Obama’s Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “There’s a nexus that this president sees between doing right by the earth and doing right by the economy.”

“For this president to pick up this economy and take it out of carbon age and put it into the solar age, he’s going to need your help,” he continued. “Somewhere out there, somebody has a Google or a Yahoo or a Microsoft in their mind for energy… and we have the opportunity and obligation to create the rules that will let our new energy leaders compete.”

TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel opened the forum with remarks on the role of national service and an introduction of Van Jones. “I am a great believer in the idea of American exceptionalism… for a democracy to work, people have to participate,” Stengel said. Noting that national service has become a hallmark of the Obama administration, Stengel also paid tribute to Van Jones’ work: “He saw that the green movement had a practicality problem, which is that people looked at it as something that was a luxury and not something that was a necessity… and he started numerous groups of social innovation.”

During an on-stage conversation with Stengel, Jones cited an invisible third sector in the energy revolution: energy storage and transmission. He also underscored how support from the government will help create regulations that will change the face of green initiatives. “Once the rules are right… we have innovators who are ready to let a riptide of innovation go through this economy and the energy sector in this country will be as unrecognizable ten years from now as the information technology sector is from where it was ten years ago.”

A panel discussion included thought leaders Priya Haji, co-founder and CEO, World of Good; Milton J. Benjamin, president and CEO, Initiative for a New Economy; and Kate Otto, Director of the Keep a Child Alive College Program.

Moderated by Tony Buono, Bentley management professor and coordinator of the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility, the panel shared how their organizations are taking on global challenges such as establishing global fair trade practices, improving public health and quality of life in the developing world, and empowering minority-owned businesses.

The final morning keynote speaker, Ophelia Dahl, co-founder and executive director of Partners in Health, discussed the opportunity for a new generation of leaders to promote positive change. “How do we begin to heal the world? I know that it can be done and I know that many of you are in the perfect position to find solutions… don’t look at the enormity of the problem, but rather focus on one piece at a time, one project at a time…” she said. “There’s a great deal of hope now… a surge of energy, interest, and the will to get engaged in social justice to find ways to solve some of the major problems of our times; for business and healthcare industries to change paradigms, to provide opportunities, and to improve the lives of the millions of people with whom we share this world.”

At a luncheon held to honor the Tomorrow25 — a group of high school juniors honored by Bentley as the next generation of leaders — the featured keynote speaker was Joseph Marchese, co-founder and president of SocialVibe.com. “Corporate responsibility and profitability are not mutually exclusive; driving greater profitability for businesses through corporate social responsibility can really change the world,” said Marchese, a 2003 Bentley alumnus.

“What’s coming into fashion today is service to the nation… thanks to events like this, the political movement, and people participating in politics,” Marchese noted. “If we can show companies that doing the right thing and doing good in society drives sales and profitability, then they can do more good.”

Chosen through a Bentley-sponsored international competition, the Tomorrow25 have demonstrated initiative, citizenship, intelligence, technological savvy, cultural awareness, social responsibility, and a dedication to making positive things happen in their schools, communities and the broader society.

To find out more about the Bentley/Time Leadership Forum, please go to http://www.bentley.edu/leadership-forum

For a full list of Tomorrow25 students, go to http://www.bentley.edu/tomorrow25/2009finalists.cfm

SOURCE Bentley University