How do leadership capabilities and mindset influence the 2030 agenda?

Steve Schein, author of A New Psychology for Sustainability Leadership: The Hidden Power of Ecological Worldviews, and professor of business at Southern Oregon University, led a panel discussion on how K-12 education, study abroad, and immersion learning can provide leaders with the worldview to succeed in a global context.

Harris Ginsberg, Program Director of Leadership Development at the Conference Board, convened a roundtable discussion in leadership and mindset, and how companies, nonprofits, and educational institutions can work together to foster mutual understanding and a meaningful mindset in a complex world.

Jennifer Clinton, CEO of Global Ties, gave a Flash Chat on the power of global exchange to open doors and minds.

Yasmina Zaidman, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Acumen, hosted a plenary panel,  Funding the Challenge, which featured perspectives from Matt Arnold, Managing Director and Head of Environmental Affairs at JPMorgan Chase, the Ricardo Michel*, Director of the Center for Transformational Partnerships at the US Global Development Lab at USAID, and other innovative funders seeking to leverage blended capital for sustainable impact.

David Wilcox convened a roundtable discussing on how diverse funders and investors can work together to advance and ultimately achieve the SDGs.

Sustainable supply chain is often one of the most underutilized tools for corporate social impact, but an important area for innovation to achieve the goals in economic growth and conservation.

Deirdre White, CEO of PYXERA Global, convened a panel discussion on how local enterprise and supply-chain can effectively advance the SDGs. The panel included Gosia Nowakowska-Miller, Local Supplier Development and Strategic Community Investment Specialist at the International Finance Corporation and Chris Anderson of Yirri Global who discussed how large multinationals are leveraging local supply chains for economic growth and gain.

Partnership and volunteering are two critical enablers of the SDG agenda.

Sue Stephenson, Vice President of Community Footprints at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, convened a panel and discussed the commitments companies are making to volunteering through the IMPACT 2030 initiatives, and how corporate volunteering in particular has the potential to deliver sustainable impact in support of the SDGs.

Alice Korngold, author of A Better World Inc, led an exploration of the power of volunteering to drive sustainable transformation. The panel included representatives from GSK and Credit Suisse, who discussed a recent study on how cross-border volunteering can develop corporate leadership competencies.

Scott Beale, CEO of Atlas Corps, hosted a roundtable discussion on the power of volunteering to create opportunity, featuring BPeace, Moving Worlds, and the Utopia Foundation.

Deirdre White, CEO of PYXERA Global, convened a roundtable discussion on the challenges of effective partnership, and how public, private, and social leaders can leverage partnership for mutual gain.

Health is a complex, integrated issue, driven by access to healthcare, food security, and well-managed water and sanitation.

Pape Amadou Gaye*, CEO of IntraHealth International, delivered a Flash Chat focused on how the organization is leveraging mobile technology for effective health monitoring.

C.D. Glin, Associate Director, Africa Region for The Rockefeller Foundation, shared how post-harvest loss can effectively address Goal 2, the quest to end hunger with affordable nutrition, and Goal 12, the pursuit of sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Sue Norton, Vice President of Global Citizenship at PepsiCo, gave the closing keynote on the first day. She discussed PepsiCo’s commitment to Performance with Purpose, and how their focus on healthy lives, effective resource management, and women’s empowerment, has positioned the company for growth and social impact.

Eunice Heath, Global Director of Sustainability at the Dow Chemical Company, discussed the company’s commitment to innovation, especially in the domain of environmental conservation and effective resource management.

The Nature Conservancy* convened a panel discussion on how to address Goals 11-15, which are focused on resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The conversation also addressed the challenges and opportunities of developing sustainable consumption and production patterns, the policy and production changes needed to combat climate change and its effects, as well as the environmental mandate to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Nicole Goldin*, a leading expert in global youth, development, international affairs at CSIS, convened a panel discussion on how education and skill development can create jobs and foster economic growth, featuring Alicia Lenze, Vice President and Head of Global CSR at SAP and Deborah K. Holmes, Americas Director for Corporate Responsibility at EY.

Sheryl WuDunn, author of Half the Sky and A Path Appears, provided the closing keynote addressing how a focus on women and girls, justice, and livelihoods as a human right, can effectively end poverty and enable sustainable growth.

The Forum also featured interactive workshops by Ideo.org and CollaborateUp, to help committed partners discover how to advance the SDGs!