Smith School Launches Center for Social Value Creation with Inaugural Forum

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business launched its new Center for Social Value Creation on Sept. 25 with a one-day event in Washington, D.C., that explored how leaders create, lead and sustain organizations for social impact while meeting business goals. More than 250 attendees from the public, private and nonprofit sectors packed the auditorium at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, also home to the Smith School’s Washington, D.C., campus.

The inaugural forum, “Leadership for a Better World: Creating Social Value Through Innovation,” was co-sponsored by the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation and Center for International Business Education and Research.

“Every speaker had a unique message that was just fantastic and the event flowed from beginning to end. The central themes about entrepreneurship, making a difference, and using your particular skills no matter what you do, are so important,” said Melissa Carrier, executive director of the Center for Social Value Creation.

Carrier joined Smith School Dean G. “Anand” Anandalingam to kick off the daylong conference and welcomed the inspiring mix of top industry leaders and thought-provoking speakers. Honest Tea CEO and founder Seth Goldman spoke of the way profitability and social good align in his organization. Goldman related some of the challenges his company faced in their pursuit of sustainability, including balancing a recent bottle redesign that used 22% less plastic, but posed some engineering challenges and required a communications effort with customers unaccustomed to the new look.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor, Harvard Business School, author, and the second featured speaker of the morning, illustrated the unexpected ways in which profitability and social good align. She shared the story of Diageo, the largest alcoholic beverage company in the world, which bought an east African brewing company and helped solve a major public health problem in Kenya by making affordable beer with clean water to replace homemade brews made with contaminated local water that caused blindness. Supercorp, Kanter’s new book, examines the business practices of “vanguard” companies—highly profitable and successful organizations that put social value at the heart of the enterprise.

In a panel discussion moderated by Alan Webber, founder of Fast Company magazine, Smith School professors Rachelle Sampson, assistant professor of logistics, business and public policy; Oliver Schlake, Tyser Teaching Fellow of management and organization; and Ritu Agarwal, Robert H. Smith Dean's Chair of Information Systems; doled out some practical advice for aspiring social innovators in a lively question-and-answer session. Much of their conversation focused on changing corporate culture.

Two breakout sessions rounded out the morning – one, an interactive workshop that had participants learning how to use service innovation to reinvigorate their organizations, led by leaders from business development consultancy Anerian LLC. The other session addressed public-private partnerships with Richard Kiy, president and CEO of International Community Foundation, highlighting a case study of the U.S.-Mexico border’s response in overcoming barrier to health care access.

Event participants enjoyed the opportunity to network while sharing lunch before hearing from Shirley Sagawa, co-founder of Sagawa/Jospin, on how government and nonprofits can solve problems together. She was followed by lunch keynote Thomas Schelling, Nobel Laureate and Distinguished University Professor, Emeritus, of the University of Maryland. Schelling talked about climate change and mass cooperation needed to combat this global problem.

After lunch Paul Light, the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at New York University, talked about his research on social entrepreneurship and assumptions he thought were myths, but actually turned about to be true. Light’s research provides ample support for the assertions that social entrepreneurs are optimistic and confident and continually innovate by applying tried business application to new problems.

Next was a presentation and discussion led by producer and filmmaker Charles Stuart. Stuart collaborated on the acclaimed PBS series, “The New Heroes,” that featured social entrepreneurs from around the world. He showed clips from the series that he had produced, including interviewing Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi banker and economist who created microcredit, and other entrepreneurs in Africa and Egypt.

The day wrapped up with concurrent sessions. One was led by Shannon Hebert, vice president of integrated marketing with National Geographic Global Media, who talked about strategies to communicate social responsibilities practices and National Geographic case studies. The other was a panel discussion on how to scale a social enterprise, measure success and remain competitive, tackled by moderator Heather Peeler of Community Wealth Ventures with Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen; and Brian Gaines, a vice president with College Summit.

The forum was the official launch event of the Smith School’s Center for Social Value Creation, which was created to support Dean Anand’s vision and address a growing demand from students, corporate constituents, and alumni to make social and environmental impact a Smith School priority. The center will help inspire and equip students to tackle some of society’s most critical environmental and humanitarian needs through engaging curriculum, real-world field experience, cutting-edge research, and targeted career planning.