Business Call to Action

B2B Partnerships: Creating Opportunity through Strategic Alliances

In today’s marketplace, collaboration and partnership between companies can be highly beneficial. Vodafone and Movirtu are part of a new wave of companies that leverage Business-to-Business (B2B) partnerships to improve access to products and services in base of the pyramid communities, promote value chain efficiencies, and improve the enabling environment for inclusive business.

Register today to learn about how Vodafone, the world’s largest telecommunications provider, is promoting more efficient pharmaceutical value chains and building its business in The Gambia through collaboration with Pfizer. Movirtu, a mobile service provider, will also discuss how B2B partnerships are helping the company promote its cloud-based mobile phone platform in base of the pyramid markets in Africa and Asia.

Join the Business Call to Action, Business Action for Africa and Business Fights Poverty for a lively discussion with Vodafone and Movirtu about the role of B2B partnerships in creating new market opportunities. Accenture Development Partnerships, a market leader in developing strategic alliances, will provide an overview of new trends and opportunities in the inclusive B2B space.

Featured Speakers:
Anastasia Thatcher, Senior Manager, Accenture Development Partnerships
Axel Nemetz, Head of mHealth Solutions, Vodafone Global Enterprise
Jean-Philippe Labat, Vice President Global Sales, Movirtu
Discussion moderated by Susan Chaffin, Programme Manager of the Business Call to Action

Watch the webinar presentations:

Full presentation

Access individual presentations:

Anastasia Thatcher |  Axel Nemetz | Jean-Philippe Labat

Access the PowerPoint presentations:

Anastasia Thatcher | Axel Nemetz | Jean-Philippe Labat

Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness Private Sector Forum

Public-Private Co-Operation for Broad-based, Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

Approximately 2,000 delegates will review global progress in improving the impact and value for money of development aid and make new commitments to further ensure that aid helps reduce poverty and supports progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The Private Sector Forum (PSF) will take place alongside the thematic and high level sessions and will provide an opportunity for governments, business and other stakeholders to engage in in-depth discussions on the role of the private sector in development and aid effectiveness, with particular focus on what is needed to build an enabling policy environment and on lessons learnt from Public-Private Partnerships. BCtA member company Noha Nyamedjo will speak at the event.

mHealth: Changing Health Care at the BoP

Mobile technology is transforming the face of health care in low-income communities around the globe. A driving force behind this change is new and innovative business models that harness mobile technology to decrease the cost of care and create new applications that improve health care outcomes. Companies such as Sproxil and Dimagi are helping to transform health care in developing countries by providing access to critical health and information services for underserved communities through mobile technology.

Join the Business Call to Action (BCtA), Sproxil and Dimagi for a webinar discussion about mHealth solutions and how they are improving health care outcomes for people living at the base of the pyramid (BoP). Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Dimagi, will demonstrate how his CommCare application is connecting rural communities in India to health clinics and hospitals for improved health care outcomes. Mohamed Haider, Vice President of Sales at Sproxil, will discuss how his company has developed an application that helps weed out fake drugs.

The webinar discussion will focus on mHealth trends and opportunities that will likely emerge in the near future, barriers to the growth of this sector, and the role of partnerships in scaling up these initiatives.

Missed the Webinar?

Watch the webinar presentations:

Jonathan Jackson

View the PowerPoint presentations:

Jonathan Jackson | Mohamed Haider

2011 mHealth Summit

The 2011 mHealth Summit is the world's largest mobile health event. This year's event will focus on the business, end-user, and policy perspectives of mHealth, fostering in-depth dialogue to identify and accelerate cross-cutting value chains and sustainable mHealth business models from around the globe. The summit will also provide a dedicated focus to the healthcare research and evaluation needs of mHealth, facilitating the development and commercialization of empirically-supported solutions.

Conference sessions will explore, examine, and debate the ways mobile technology will transform health care delivery, research, business and policy for the 21st Century in underserved communities in the US and abroad, including the developing world. Download Agenda.

Creating New Market Opportunities: Making Inclusive Business Work in Vietnam

The Business Call to Action (BCtA), SNV, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) will sponsor an interactive workshop to explore how companies operating and investing in Vietnam are addressing the challenge of integrating inclusive business models into operations. The event will provide examples of successful inclusive business ventures and give participants the opportunity to discuss the challenges and solutions associated with integrating these models. It is an opportunity to discuss best practices in inclusive business with leading companies, experts, donor organizations and practitioners, and to explore potential areas of collaboration for future endeavors. Download the Agenda.

Unleashing Potential: Agribusiness and the Smallholder Farmer

Around the globe, there are about 500 million smallholder farms. The majority of these farmers are living in poverty, barely making enough to scrape by. For companies operating in the food/beverage and related sectors, sourcing from these farmers presents both tremendous growth opportunities, but also new challenges in terms of business model adaptation and supply chain innovation. Join BCtA, the Global Business School Network, the UN Global Compact PRME network and Columbia Business School for a discussion on how businesses are profitably investing in smallholder farmers for a more food secure future.

WATCH EVENT VIDEO: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

Overcoming Barriers to Growing Pro-Poor Inclusive Business Ideas & Models

The Business Call to Action and Accenture Development Partnerships are hosting a breakfast event in South Africa on inclusive business. Leading South African corporates and development sector organizations will be present, providing an opportunity to learn from and engage with others interested in seeing more business innovations that improve lives. We will be focusing more on the “how” than the ”why” of inclusive business or pro-poor business implementation.

The session will be facilitated by Adrian Ristow, Africa Outreach Associate for the UN Business Call to Action (BCtA) and Trip Allport, ADP Lead for Southern Africa.

For more information, contact Adrian Ristow.

Enhancing Value through Inclusive Business Strategies

Business Call to Action (BCtA) will bring together BCtA members and selected partners for an invitation-only breakfast event that will focus on strategies that enhance the value of inclusive business models.  The event will give senior-level company representatives the chance to network with experts and practitioners in this space, identify new models and opportunities for innovation, and explore areas for potential collaboration. Business Fights Poverty is providing online community support for the event.

Download the Agenda.

Videos:

Opening Address: Sigrid Kaag, Assistant Secretary-General and Assistant Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP) delivers opening remarks.

BCtA Company Commitments: Sameer Hajee, CEO, Nuru Energy; Enrique Coronado, CEO, Por ti Familia; and Neal Lesh, CSO, Dimagi announce commitments to the BCtA.

High-Level Panel: Encouraging, Expanding and Scaling Up
Inclusive Business in Support of the MDGs
- Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact
- Ted London, Director of the Base of the Pyramid Initiative, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
- Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President of Sustainability and Latina Cohorts, Kraft Foods
Discussion moderated by Jane Nelson, Director, Harvard University’s CSR Initiative.

See Photos from the event.

Webinar: Bringing Markets Closer to Farmers: MCX’s Gramin Suvidha Kendra Initiative

Access to agricultural information can help transform lives and allow growers to boost productivity and income. Multi Commodity Exchange's (MCX) Gramin Suvidha Kendra Initiative provides smallholder farmers with up-to-date market data, crops prices, crop protection products, and weather reports. Business Call to Action and Business Innovation Facility (BIF) invite you to this case study approach will delve into the details of how MCX’s model is being implemented, including challenges and solutions. An expert respondent will then compare the MCX model to other approaches for covering the last-mile distribution and draw out lessons.

Moderated by Amanda Gardiner, Acting Programme Manager, Business Call to Action

FEATURED EXPERTS
Sarita Bahl, Vice President Group Corporate Social Opportunities, MCX

Nisha Dutt, India Country Manager, BIF and Associate Vice President, Intellecap

Register for webinar.

Location: webinar

MCX Disclaimer: Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited is proposing, subject to market conditions and other considerations, a public offer of equity shares by way of an offer for sale and has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus ("DRHP") with the SEBI. The DRHP is available on the websites of SEBI at www.sebi.gov.in and the book running lead managers at www.edelcap.com, http://www.online.citibank.co.in/rhtm/citigroupglobalscreen1.htm and www.morganstanley.com/indiaofferdocuments. Investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and for details in relation to risk factors, please see the section titled "Risk Factors" in the DRHP.

This advertisement may not be published or distributed in the U.S., Canada or Japan and is not an offer or solicitation of an offer for sale of securities in the U.S. These securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the U.S. absent registration or an exemption from registration under such act.

Webinar: Mainstreaming Inclusive Business

Businesses that deliver both social and commercial returns have the potential to substantively reduce poverty. Inclusive business models allow companies to use their core business in achieving this. As more companies adopt these innovative approaches, leading business schools around the world are trying to develop curricula teaching the fundamentals of inclusive business.

The Global Business School Network and co-host Business Call to Action (BCtA), with the Aspen Institute and Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) anticipate an interactive discussion about the fundamentals of inclusive business strategies. Barclays and Vodafone will share how they’ve been able to incorporate these innovative models into core operations to generate new revenues and reach new market segments.

Featured Experts

William Derban, Head of Community Relations, Barclays Africa

Laura Crow, Sustainability Analyst, Vodafone Group

Moderator:

James H. Johnson Jr., Director, Urban Investment Strategies Center at Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise;
Willam R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship , University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School

This webinar is by invitation only.

Business Innovations That Improve Lives: Ideas to Action

India’s remarkable economic growth in the past decade has created greater capacity for business to play its part in addressing the issues of poverty and exclusion that continue to be a major challenge within the country and the region.

Many companies are accepting this challenge, developing business models designed to return a profit for the company whilst including the poor – as suppliers, employees, customers or clients – and reducing dependency on natural resources.

Despite this flourish of innovation, many barriers remain to widening and deepening the reach of these ‘inclusive business models’ – barriers that company executives are often working alone to solve.

This Community of Practice workshop is aimed at practitioners interested in increasing the uptake and effectiveness of inclusive business models within their company. Building on the practice of Indian  participants in the Business Call to Action and research conducted by the International Business Leaders Forum on the Barriers to Inclusive Business, participants will share approaches to inclusive business in India and work on solutions for the challenges they each face.

A resource book of examples and tools will also be shared. See Agenda

RSVP: To register for this event, please write to:
namrata.sandhu@iblf.org

Webinar: Inclusive + Green: New Approaches to Rural Energy

The Business Call to Action invites you to partake in a discussion about the role of the private sector in promoting inclusive business approaches to clean energy. Access to sustainable, low-cost energy is inextricably linked to poverty reduction. To drive growth and to address environmental concerns, companies are creating inclusive business models that focus on decentralized energy systems, such as hand-held solar lights, small-scale solar panels and Biofuel energy. Through these emerging technologies, off-grid, low-income households in rural areas can access affordable clean energy, and increase opportunities for income. Join the BCtA, along with the Business Innovation Facility and leading businesses in this emerging sector, to discuss inclusive sustainable energy business models that are overcoming challenges to roll out viable business solutions to rural energy supply.

Register for the webinar.

2011 Global Business School Network Annual Conference

The Global Business School Network (GBSN) is hosting its Annual Conference at IPADE Business School in Mexico City 21-22 June.

Business Call to Action is co-hosting a panel with Fundação Dom Cabral taking place on Wednesday 22 June 2011.

Mainstreaming Inclusive Business: Successful Models Creating Value for All

Moderator:
William Mitchell, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (USA)

Panelists:
Claudio Boechat, Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil)
Cecilia Riviello, Natura Cosmetics Mexico, CEO (Mexico)
Francesco Piazzesi, Founder, Échale a Tu Casa (Mexico)

For more information about the conference, click here.

BCtA Asia-Pacific Workshop: Accelerating Progress towards the MDGs through Inclusive Business

In the last decade, rapid economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region has brought with it a greater awareness of the role business can play in the achievement of development goals: creating jobs, building skills, developing technologies and innovations that improve the quality of people’s lives.

Initiatives such as the BCtA have encouraged companies to develop ‘inclusive’ business models that engage and meet the needs of low-income communities while also generating commercially viable business opportunities. These types of models differ from philanthropic or corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in that they engage the core business of the company with a view to supporting both development and business goals in a sustainable manner.

The conference in Jakarta on 21 June will bring together up to 200 key figures from business, government, and civil society across the Asia-Pacific region. See Agenda.

Register for the workshop.

7th World Chambers Congress

The 7th World Chambers Congress is organized by the  ICC World Chambers Federation. Held every two years in a different region of the world, the World Chambers Congress is an international forum for chamber leaders to share best-practice experiences, exchange insights, develop networks, address the latest business issues affecting their communities, and learn about new areas of innovation from chambers around the world.

Register for the conference.

UN Global Compact Annual Local Network Forum

The 9th Annual Local Networks Forum (ALNF) will take place during UN Global Compact Week. This year, the ALNF will convene in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 19th of May and is expected to be attended by 300-400 participants from local networks, businesses and the BCtA.

Register for the conference.

Financing Business Innovations for Africa’s Development: Challenges and Solutions

The Business Call to Action in partnership with the International Business Leaders Forum, International Finance Corporation, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the UN Development Programme present Financing Business Innovation for Africa's Development: Challenges and Solutions, which will take place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Africa. There is growing momentum behind inclusive business models, which expand access to goods, services and jobs amongst low income communities through company value chains. One of the major barriers to inclusive business development is lack of finance.

Join us to share insights about the challenges and solutions of financing business investments that support Africa’s development. The event will be followed by an introductory meeting for participants interested in joining an Africa-focused working group around financing pro-poor business from 11:10 am to 12 pm. See Agenda.

Email Natasha Ncube for more information.

The Role of the Private Sector in International Development: A Breakfast Discussion

Oxfam America, The Coca-Cola Company and SABMiller released an in-depth study about the economic and social impact of The Coca-Cola Company and SABMiller value chain on communities in El Salvador and Zambia. Exploring the Links between International Business and Poverty Reduction is available on www.oxfamamerica.org as well as the websites of The Coca-Cola Company and SABMiller. The breakfast, hosted by Business Action for Africa and Business Call to Action, will include a discussion between the three partners on the collaboration and report findings, as well as a chance for listeners to ask questions. Find out more here.

Attendance is by invitation only. Register here.

The New Africa: Emerging Opportunities for Business and Africa

Join sponsors SABMiller, Business Call to Action and Business Action for Africa event The New Africa: Emerging Opportunities for Business and Africa taking place alongside WEF Africa 2011. There is an increasing shift towards an alternative perspective on Africa that portrays it as a continent on the rise – economically, politically and socially.   The “New Africa” is one of new opportunities for business.  At the same time, business is creating new opportunities to accelerate broad-based growth across the continent.

Join us to share insights about the new opportunities for business and Africa.  The event will mark and discuss the launch of a new report by Business Action for Africa and Ernst & Young on “The New Africa”. Find out more here.

Register for the event.

Ernst & Young House, 35 Lower Long Street, Cape Town, South Africa

Exploring the Links between International Business and Poverty Reduction Webinar

The Business Call to Action invites you to join a webinar discussion on the role of the private sector in international development, featuring  Oxfam America, The Coca-Cola Company and SABMiller.

The event coincides with the release of a new report, “Exploring the Links between International Business and Poverty Reduction” which documents the findings of a collaborative community impact study of the Coca-Cola system in El Salvador and Zambia.

Missed the webinar?  Watch the recording.

Venue: Watch

Investors’ Summit on Social Investing and Social Enterprise in Africa

The Business Call to Action in partnership with Africa Investor and the United Nations Office of Partnerships present the Investor Roundtable on Social Enterprise in Africa, which will take place on the eve of the World Economic Forum Africa. At this one-day dynamic Summit, participants will hear from corporates on their inclusive business models, foundations supporting social enterprise in Africa and social entrepreneurs. There will also be facilitated partnership broking and networking with one-on-one meetings on the fringe.

The Summit represents a unique knowledge platform for the private sector, impact investors and foundations from around the globe that support inclusive economic development in Africa.

Register for the event.

Inclusive Business: Lowering the Financing Barrier Webinar

Businesses that deliver both social and business returns have the potential to substantively reduce poverty around the globe. Despite the economic and social potential of these innovative, inclusive business initiatives, small and medium-sized enterprises are chronically underserved by the formal financial sector. Larger companies are for their part constrained by the requirement to show financial returns within a relatively limited time frame which sometimes limits their ability to source internal capital for such business models.

An increasing number of private investors, donors, foundations and impact investors have taken up this challenge by creating new instruments to finance pro-poor, innovative business models. These include social investment funds, challenge funds and innovation tournaments aimed at enabling the start-up and growth of innovative, inclusive business.

Join the Business Call to Action for a webinar discussion with two of these investors, Acumen Fund and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund who will share how they mobilize alternative sources of funding to make great ideas a reality. Register for the webinar.

EXPERTS
Hugh Scott, Director, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund
Omer Imtiazuddin, Health Portfolio Manager, Acumen Fund

Date: March 24,2011

Time: 10:00 am

Venue: Webinar

2011 African Economic Forum

The theme of the 8^th African Economic Forum at Columbia University is  Roaring Giant: Africa’s Economic Ascent. In light of the  strong GDP growth experienced by many African countries during the current global recession, the conference will focus on some of the challenges and opportunities arising from this growth. The conference will feature Business Call to Action member companies PepsiCo and Pfizer.

Initiated in 2004, the African Economic Forum has grown to be the largest Africa-focused event at Columbia University with over 400 students, alumni and professionals participating. The conference seeks to highlight opportunities and challenges through stimulating discussion, insights and strategies for a prosperous Africa. It is organized by three of Columbia University’s premiere graduate programs: Columbia Graduate School of Business, Columbia Law School, and Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. Find out more.

Venue: Columbia University

435 West 116th Street

New York, NY 10027

New Ventures Global Investor Forum: Green Opportunities in Tomorrow’s Markets

The World Resources Institute’s New Ventures program, NYU Stern School of Business and Citi Foundation will bring together successful environmental entrepreneurs who are charting a path to sustainable economic growth in key emerging markets in Latin America and Asia.  Join leaders from the investment, business and philanthropic communities in becoming inspired by the power of environmental entrepreneurship.  Find out more.

Date: April 6, 2011

Time: 3:30 - 7:00 pm

Venue: International Environment House

Beyond the Bottom Line: Measuring Results of Pro-Poor Business Webinar

As more companies embed sustainable development into their core business strategies, it has become increasingly important to measure progress towards building inclusive growth. By measuring and assessing the impact of these business investments, we can better understand which strategies work best, which models need improvement and how to change the way we do business to enhance development impact. Attendees will also learn how to report results using the new web-based BCtA results reporting tool. Download the BCtA Results Reporting Guide.

Join the Business Call to Action and leading experts for an important webinar discussion on developing strategies for measuring and reporting results and impact of pro-poor business.

Download PowerPoint Presentations:

Jason Saul: "How Companies Can Measure the Impact of Pro-Poor Investments"

Adrian Ristow: "Micro Distribution: Releasing the Commercial and Development Potential"

BHF-ICC Meeting on the Private Sector and the MDGs

The Business Humanitarian Forum and the International Chamber of Commerce will hold a joint half-day meeting on "The Private Sector and the MDGs:  Role, Impact and Opportunities" featuring the Business Call to Action.

For more information, please contact Ms. Vasudevan at bhinfo@bhforum.org.

Venue: International Environment House

Towards New Models of Collaboration: Leadership Perspectives and an Agenda for Action

The final event of the 2010 event series "Harnessing the Power of Business for Development Impact," will focus on what leaders from business, government, and development think needs to be done to sustain momentum in support of the base of the pyramid agenda. What new models of collaboration are emerging and what more can we do to strengthen our capacity for collective action?

The event coincides with the launch of Business Action for Africa’s 2010 Report, produced in partnership with the CSR Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, which examines how business-driven partnerships are tackling Africa’s development challenges, and what can be learned from these examples to increase their reach and impact.

Download the Report.

Venue: Shell Center, York Road

Speakers:

DFID Minister (tbc)
William Asiko, Chair, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Chair, Business Action for Africa
Dame Barbara Stocking, Executive Director, Oxfam UK
Natalie Africa, Programme Manager, Business Call to Action

Chair: Myles Wickstead CBE, Head of Secretariat to the Commission for Africa

Turning Barriers into Opportunities: Business Innovations for Sustainable Growth

BCtA will host  a practitioner workshop to help companies develop and manage core business-related activities that combine commercial benefit with development impact. The event will focus on research undertaken by the International Business Leaders Forum and Accenture Development Partners in 2009  that found that despite the commercial and development benefits, companies face a range of internal and external barriers when conceiving and executing these types of business initiatives.

At this invitation-only workshop, participants will examine the research findings in light of their own experiences. They will hear from a panel of practitioners about how their companies overcame these challenges and look together at ways that inclusive business can be expanded through the actions of companies, governments, donors and civil society.

Venue: Barclays, One Churchill Place, London

Download the  Barriers to Progress Research.

Download the Overcoming Barriers to Inclusive Business Workshop Report.

Global Compact Nordic Network Meeting

Following on the Global Compact Leaders' Summit, the Global Compact Nordic Network will convene a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss key follow-up action points. BCtA's Natalie Africa will moderate a panel discussion on the role of business in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), featuring BCtA member company Yara.

Website.

Building Inclusive Financial Markets in Africa Brown Bag Lecture

Between two and three billion people around the world are still excluded from access to financial services. This situation is particularly worrisome in developing countries, where up to 90 percent of the population lack access to savings accounts, do not receive credit from formal financial institutions, and do not have any type of insurance.

One of South Africa’s leading banks, Absa/Barclays Bank, is seeking to address this issue of financial exclusion in Africa by developing banking products and services that meet the needs of low-income consumers.

Join the Business Call to Action/UNDP Private Sector Division in an important brown bag conversation with Venete Klein, the head of Absa Bank’s Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Division. Ms. Klein will discuss the issues, challenges and potential solutions with building inclusive financial market access in Africa, where more than half of the region’s population lives in extreme poverty.

Introduction by Henry Jackelen, Director of the Private Sector Division, and moderated by Natalie Africa, Programme Manager for the Business Call to Action.

Venue: 19th Floor Conference Room, DC-1, UNDP

U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Conference

The U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Conference distinguishes itself as the premier business development forum to address the role of the U.S. and African private sectors in strengthening health systems in Africa through commercial ventures, public-private partnerships and other investment vehicles.

The health conference builds from Corporate Council on Africa's (CCA) 2008 U.S.-Africa Private Sector Health Forum and will provide opportunities to network with leaders from the African and U.S. private health sectors, along with representatives from government, academia, multilateral institutions, and NGOs working in health across the continent. Participants will discuss private sector new business opportunities, innovations, and solutions to meet Africa’s priority health needs.

CEO of BCtA member company Sproxil will speak about his company's commitment to inclusive business at the conference. For more information, visit the CCA Website.

Africa Investor Investment Climate Summit

The Africa investor Investment Climate Summit, in association with the World Bank Group, is a business forum designed to facilitate action, to highlight and address project specific investment climate challenges and shed light on Africa’s investment success stories. This summit will bring together private investors with significant investment projects, subject to regulatory challenges, to debate practical solutions to advance those challenges in partnership with donors, the African Union, NEPAD, REC’s and African policy makers. Through facilitated discussions the Summit will look at sector specific and regional investment projects that can support Africa in job creation, regional integration and enhance Africa’s competitiveness as a global investment destination.

Venue: Ritz Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC

2010 Private Sector Forum on the Millennium Development Goals

The UN Private Sector Forum will bring together chief executives, Heads of State and Government, civil society leaders, heads of foundations and heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes to identify and discuss action needed to continue pursuing the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  

Venue: UN

2010 World Business and Development Awards

This event will honor select companies for their contributions in achieving the Millennium Development Goals through innovative core business practices. Established in 2000, the World Business and Development Awards are the first international business awards to recognize the crucial role of the private sector in the achievement of the MDGs.

Watch Video

Venue: Manhattan Room, Millennium Plaza Hotel, New York

Profitable Engagement: An Interview with CEOs

Cynthia Carroll, CEO from Anglo American, and Rajeev Vederah, Managing Director from Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), will discuss efforts to invest in small businesses and producers in emerging markets in order to improve business performance and increase efficiency and competitiveness. Speakers will discuss how big business is investing in small producers and businesses to achieve both development and commercial goals and the challenges and dividends of replicating these initiatives.

For more information, go to the event website.

Venue: Columbia Business School, NY

Accelerating Progress Towards the MDGs through Inclusive Business

Come and learn how innovative companies apply their core business models to achieve MDG acceleration and reduce poverty while generating positive business revenue. CEOs from some of the top companies in the world will share their experience in integrating the poor as producers, suppliers, or as consumers of appropriate and affordable products and services.

For more information, go to the event website.

Registration for this event is now closed. Please check back for videos and reports from the event.

Venue: Manhattan Ballroom, Millennium Plaza Hotel, New York