[SPN-Discussion] SPN Event: How Can Shareholder Activism & Engagement Change Corporate Behavior?

[SPN Events]

Sustainability Practice Network

How Can Shareholder Activism & Engagement Change Corporate Behavior?

Date & Time: Tuesday, February 13, 6-9pm
Venue: NYU Stern
Panelists: Victor De Luca, President, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation;
Daniel E. Rosan, Director of Public Health and 
Access to Capital Programs, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility;
N. Gregory Pettit, Senior Vice President, 
Financial Communications, Hill & Knowlton
Moderator: Steven Godeke, Godeke Consulting
RSVP: events at sustainabilitypractice.net

Program:

Aligning one’s investments and values can be very 
challenging – even for Bill Gates.  In a recent 
series in the LA Times, the $35 billion Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation was criticized for 
holding companies in its investment portfolio 
with  business activities directly at odds with 
the foundation’s charitable mission.  In our 
panel discussion, we will review the experience 
of investors who seek to combine their investment and mission goals:
    * What are the current social and environmental issues for shareholders?
    * What is the relationship between 
corporation responsibility issues such as the 
environment and corporate governance issues such as board compensation?
    * What obligations do institutional investors 
such as foundations and universities have to 
align their investments with their missions?
    * How can mutual fund investors influence the 
actions of mutual fund managers?
    * What are the range of tools open to 
shareholders such as resolutions and proxy votes?

Panelist Biographies

Victor De Luca
President, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Vic started at the Foundation in 1991 as a 
program officer and became its president in 2000. 
A former VISTA Volunteer, Vic was director of the 
Ironbound Community Corporation, a Newark-based 
community organizing and social service 
organization. He is vice-chairperson of the New 
York Regional Association of Grantmakers and 
Treasurer of the Funders Network for Population, 
Reproductive Health and Rights. Vic served for 
six years on the Maplewood (NJ) Township 
Committee, elected in 1997 and 2000. From 2001 
through 2003, he served as Maplewood’s Mayor. In 
November 2005, Vic was elected to a three-year 
term on the Township Committee. He serves as 
president of the Springfield Avenue Partnership, 
a local economic development organization and is 
a Commissioner on the New Jersey State Clean Elections Commission.

Daniel E. Rosan
Program Director, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Daniel is the Director of Public Health and 
Access to Capital Programs at the Interfaith 
Center on Corporate Responsibility, a faith-based 
corporate accountability organization. There he 
coordinates ICCR’s HIV/AIDS response, drafts 
shareholder resolutions, and acts as a media 
spokesperson. Dan has conducted field research on 
HIV/AIDS in South Africa, Kenya, and Botswana. He 
serves on the Board of New York City-based Jews 
for Racial and Economic Justice, and the Advisory 
Council of MediaRights, a documentary film 
distribution organization.  Prior to joining 
ICCR, Dan learned community organizing in 
Oakland, California with the Council for 
Responsible Public Investment, successfully 
campaigning for tobacco divestment at the 
University of California. He served as faith 
community coordinator for The Robert Wood Johnson 
Foundation’s Cover The Uninsured Week in New York 
City. He has a B.A. cum laude from Vassar 
College, where he studied the history of race 
relations in America. Dan lives in Brooklyn, 
scuba dives, and is an avid reader. He writes and 
speaks frequently on corporate social responsibility.

N. Gregory Pettit
Senior Vice President, Financial Communications, Hill & Knowlton
Gregory advises a wide variety of companies on 
issues involving IR, media relations, corporate 
and CEO positioning and M&A. His recent clients 
include NASDAQ, Baidu.com, Forest Labs, Fitch 
Ratings, CVRD and Pacific Ethanol.
In 2006, he received PRWeek Magazine’s award for 
“Best Financial/IR Campaign” for work surrounding 
the IPO of Baidu.com.  Pettit has over 20 years 
experience in corporate and financial 
communications, and has a strong knowledge of 
strategic issues management and high-level 
corporate consulting.  Over the years, he has 
advised companies of varying sizes based both in 
the U.S. and abroad on virtually all investor 
relations and corporate communications issues. 
Pettit has broad experience in mergers and 
acquisitions communications and has managed both 
IPO and Level II listings for many companies on 
the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.  He holds 
an A.B. in history from Princeton University and 
an M.B.A. from Columbia University. He is fluent 
in French and prior to his career in 
communications he spent several years in Paris 
working for the Venice Simplon Orient Express. Gregory resides in Manhattan.
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