Sustainability/CSR Educational Sessions

ISO 26000 – Guidance on Corporate Social Responsibility: An Overview of What it Means for Your Company

Sponsored by Praxis Consulting Group, Inc.

The community of socially responsible organizations is eagerly anticipating the emergence of Draft International Standard ISO 26000––Guidance for Social Responsibility. For organizations beginning to address social responsibility and for organizations more experienced with sustainability implementation, this session provides critical information about how ISO 26000 can be leveraged to support social responsibility and sustainability initiatives. The session also shows how ISO 26000 assists organizations in enhancing the credibility of reports and claims made about their Social Responsibility programs. Participants will leave this session with a clear understanding of the standard, the path to finalizing the standard, and how it can be used to support social responsibility and sustainability initiatives.

Speakers: Ted Freeman, Principal, Praxis Consulting Group, Inc.; Peter J. Hall, C.G., CEA, Principal, Sustainability Practice Leader – EHS Management, MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc.; Carolyn Schmidt, Program Director, ECOLOGIA / Virtual Foundation

The Triple Bottom Line as a Decision Making Tool for Sustainable Business Practices

Sponsored by Barker Architects PLLC

Is your company concerned with more than profit? Consumers are increasingly drawn to companies that value the common good. The triple bottom line more accurately reflects an organization’s environmental, social and economic, performance. Learn the metrics to design and implement sustainable business practices. Meet companies that have adopted context-based sustainability management on a wide-ranging basis and created specific metrics targeting each site’s impacts and operating environment.

Speakers: Dan Vooris, LEED AP, Energy and Sustainability Consultant, Integrated Building Energy Associates LLC; Eric Lowitt, Manager of Strategy & Operations Practice, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Michelle Hamm, Environmental Manager, Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc.

Getting Started in Corporate Social Responsibility–A Practical Guide

Sponsored by New Hampshire Electric Co-op

Are you new to social responsibility? Would you like to learn the basics of corporate responsibility and what it could mean for your organization? What do all those acronyms mean and how can you apply principles of corporate responsibility to your organization in a meaningful way? You’ll hear from well-respected companies that will share their stories and inspire you with ideas and lessons from their experience. You’ll leave with the framework for creating a customized plan that meets your own unique needs.

Speakers: Robin Eichert, Principal, PeopleSense Consulting LLC; Jeff Allar, Vice President - Human Resources, Stonyfield Farm; Amanda Osmer, General Manager, Grappone Automotive Group

What the Recession has Taught us about Business Sustainability

Sponsored by Altus Investment Group LLC

The recession has forced most companies to make painful adjustments to their business practices in an effort to survive. This is an especially difficult challenge for values-led companies trying to preserve their competitiveness without undermining those values. Join this workshop to hear how some companies have turned this adversity into an asset, determined to move forward as stronger companies in terms of both finance and values. They will share with you some creative no- and low-cost examples of how they have maintained their values-driven business agendas in spite of having to cut costs.

Speakers: Spencer Putnam, Adjunct Professor, Green Mountain College; Val Zanchuk, President, Graphicast Inc., Johanna C. Jobin, Sustainability Programs Manager, Millipore Corporation