Toward True Sustainability Reporting: Balancing Social, Economic and Environmental Priorities

Posted on May 14, 2004 by wnsfwriter

June 2004 Volume II Number 2

Net Contents
I. Network Presentation
Key Learnings
Perspectives

II. What’s Next?

III. The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
The Concept of the Network

I. Network Presentation
Many thanks to those who attended WNSF’s first Washington, D.C. luncheon panel on May 14: “Toward True Sustainability Reporting: Balancing Social, Economic and Environmental Priorities.” The event, co-hosted by Weyerhaeuser Company at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C., explored several approaches to internal and external sustainability reporting and the advantages and disadvantages of standardization.

Key Findings

  • Companies should not wait for government to regulate sustainability reporting but drive the process themselves. Stakeholders and the public are demanding more information.
  • The demand for sustainability reporting is growing. While most inquiries still come from so-called professional stakeholders, such as NGOs, institutional investors and community organizations, more customers and ordinary people are asking for increased transparency.
  • Companies should involve high-level management throughout the company in sustainability issues and reporting to make sure the topic gets the priority it deserves.
  • Standardization of reporting, while worth targeting, is still probably a distant goal at this moment in time. Some companies are still scrambling to release sustainability information to the public in a sensible, comprehensible way.
  • Setting comparable standards makes the most sense for companies within the same industry.
  • Companies are likely to make progress on sustainability when they sense a competitive advantage to doing so.
  • Sustainability resonates with employees.
  • They want to be proud of their company and like to know it cares. This positive attitude can be further enhanced by building sustainability issues into employee performance evaluation.

Perspectives

Moderator: Ann Goodman, Acting Director, WNSF.

Corporate: Sara Kendall, Vice President, Environment, Health, and Safety, Weyerhaeuser Company; and Clair E. Krizov, Executive Director, Environment and Social Responsibility, AT&T, and member of WNSF’s board of directors.

Government: Jay Benforado, Director, National Center for Environmental Innovation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Leslie Carothers, President of the Environmental Law Institute, an independent, non-partisan education and research organization, welcomed those in attendance. Having been a professional environmentalist for over 30 years, she underlined the value of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future, explaining: “There are a lot of women in this field with significant responsibilities, and it’s great that the organization exists to promote the causes.”

Sara Kendall explained how Weyerhaeuser’s first sustainability report, for the year 2002, “Roadmap for Sustainability,” is an example of reporting tailored to the company’s challenges. She called the process of handling and reporting sustainability issues a “journey.” The second yearly report which monitors the journey toward the company’s sustainable future, will be published this summer.

According to Kendall, sustainability is about a balanced triple bottom line that combines the financial, social, and environmental elements. For example, at Weyerhaeuser, a natural resources company, a healthy triple bottom line depends on a healthy eco-system. Environmental sustainability – sustainable forestry, conservation of natural resources, and pollution reduction – plays a pivotal role in ensuring positive long-term performance. The financial and economic issues are just as important. Underlining the importance of economics, Kendall said: “We obviously have to make money, to be able to protect the environment and to meet our social goals.” She pointed out, among other things, that many employee retirement funds are invested in Weyerhaeuser’s stock. The company has a particular responsibility to deliver solid financial performance. Besides caring for employees and applying ethical business practices, attending to the social aspect of sustainability means involving the community in the reporting process. Said Kendall: “Open communication is a word that is often used, but often means “we tell you what we want to.” Communication, to be effective, has to be transparent.” Companies have to provide the facts, she said, to give their stakeholders the opportunity to form their own opinions. Kendall addressed three historical stages of sustainability reporting and transparency:

  • low transparency, when only the government and maybe neighbors requested accountability
  • some transparency in performance, process, and environmental issues, demanded by the government, the public, NGOs, and investors
  • higher transparency in processes and performance, with companies answering not just to the government, the public and NGOs, but increasingly entering into exchanges with customers and investors.

Most of the information published in Weyerhaeuser’s first sustainability report was available before, Kendall said. But it wasn’t connected in the way it now has been outlined in the “Roadmap for Sustainability.”

Clair Krizov highlighted the fact that AT&T’s environment and social responsibility reporting includes internal and external communications. AT&T was one of the first companies to place Environment and Social Responsibility Communications on the Web. Relying heavily on the Internet, the company uses the Internet as an internal communications tool to connect with their 60,000 employees about Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S) issues. Depending on the current topics, 10 to 50 percent of employees visit this AT&T internal EH&S Web site every month. Besides practices, policies, tools, programs, legal, regulatory, and contact information, the internal EH&S Web site also offers employees EH&S newsletters and games. AT&T’s EH&S Organization provides EH&S updates to the Board of Directors and the Chairman. A special employee awareness survey provides communication measurement data twice a year.

The information on the AT&T external EH&S Web site that is available to the general public includes the company’s EH&S report and related EH&S articles and games. It promotes AT&T’s “Champions of the Environment,” awards given to AT&T employees who worked on community and workplace ideas to make this planet a better place on which to live. As measurement of its external EH&S program, AT&T uses Social Value Added based on net profit operating margins.

Despite the vast information placed on the Internet, AT&T still receives sustainability-related questionnaires and inquiries. “Everybody has their own questions,” explained Krizov, who sees difficulties in implementing standardized reporting: “What is the common denominator? Number of employees, number of facilities?” In addition, Krizov noted that if a primary goal is to integrate environment and social responsibility considerations into everyday business activities and decisions, then how does one measure integration?

Jay Benforado acknowledged that sustainability cannot be mandated through regulatory means. “Inspections and Permits are not enough,” he said. Demand for information should be the driver for disclosure, and he counts on companies to take the initiative. “The business community has to provide leadership.”

Collaboration between government and certain industry sectors could help to improve both regulated and non-regulated information, said Benforado. But sustainability has to move beyond compliance with a government-driven system. Possible tools include:

  • a leadership committee with high-end companies
  • working with the public
  • partnerships, volunteer programs
  • setting performance goals
  • an environmental management system to get executives to look at the products, processes, and so on.

Benforado also advocated the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) template that is still adaptable to different industries and companies. “Standardization of how to report to the public is needed but it is too early.” He suggested learning from companies’ different approaches. Corporations should be encouraged to try various ways of finding good models for a standardized reporting blueprint.

II. What’s Next?
Look for an email invitation to the next NYC luncheon panel. “ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE?,” to be hosted by Bertelsmann on October 4.

III. The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
The Concept of the Network

The Network provides a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect, and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally, and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.

For more information, please contact:

Ann Goodman, Acting Director
Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
Please direct inquiries to:
Eugenia.shafer@us.interfaceinc.com

Fiscal Agent:
National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-833-2933
WNSF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting and Acting Director, WNSF; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Interface Inc.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

This issue of Net Notes was written by Irmintraud Jost and edited by Susan Rifkin of McGraw-Hill’s ‘Writers to the Rescue’ volunteer program. WNSF thanks founding sponsors AT&T and the Ford Foundation for their generous support.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” -Lewis Mumford

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Toward Sustainable Supply Chains

Posted on February 3, 2004 by wnsfwriter

March 2004 Volume II Number 1

Net Contents
I. Network Presentation
Key Learnings
Perspectives

II. New Sponsor

III. The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
The Concept of the Network

IV. What’s Next?

I. Network Presentation
Many thanks to those who attended WNSF’s February 23rd luncheon and panel discussion: “Toward Sustainable Supply Chains (introducing women in management to those on the factory floor).” The event, co-hosted by Eileen Fisher, Inc. and Interface, Inc. at Interface’s NYC showroom, explored challenges and successes of managing supply chains.

Key Learnings

Panelists agreed that to make supply chains more sustainable, companies should:

  • Create partnerships with government and factory workers. Stakeholder exchange fosters better understanding among various parties and improves communication and processes to bring about lasting change.
  • Make a business case for corporate social responsibility both inside and outside the company. Raising public awareness of corporate social responsibility encourages consumers to make buying decisions based on companies’ sustainability practices – rewarding those that comply with standards and creating incentives for those that don’t. This kind of public accountability can encourage greater corporate transparency overall.
  • Build capacity at the local level. Companies should help factories develop procedures to facilitate positive change and create or strengthen capacity building initiatives that engage local managers and workers.
  • Integrate CSR throughout the corporation. Successful CSR initiatives that transcend divisions can help drive sustainable supply chain management throughout the company.

Perspectives

Moderator: Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President of Design Relations at Interface, Inc. and Chairman of the WNSF Board of Directors. Corporate: Marcela Manubens, Vice President of Human Rights Programs at the Phillips – Van Heusen Corporation, and Tom DeLuca, Vice President, Imports and Compliance at Toys “R” Us. Non-Profit: Mil Niepold, Director of Policy at Verité, a nonprofit organization that ensures people worldwide work under safe, fair and legal conditions.

Dr. Ann Goodman, Acting Director of WNSF and President of Telesis Consulting, welcomed those in attendance and introduced moderator Joyce LaValle of Interface, Inc.

Joyce LaValle introduced the panel by offering an overview of the topic. She defined a supply chain as the entire lifecycle of a product (or service), from development and production through sale and eventual reuse, recycling or disposal. Because virtually all organizations in some way manage such a process, they should aim to do so in a responsible, sustainable way.

Marcela Manubens discussed the traditional monitoring approach and its efforts to uncover and correct non-compliance at factories worldwide. She then shared some lessons she has learned at Phillips – Van Heusen and concluded with some thoughts on the future of the field.

During the past decade, the traditional approach to building sustainable supply chains focused on uncovering infractions in factories abroad and effecting immediate, corrective action. Prompted by Northern NGOs and pro-labor groups, leading multinational corporations accepted their responsibility and attempted to increase transparency surrounding these issues. In many cases, codes of conduct were developed independently, drawing from ILO conventions and UN Declarations. However, many leading companies didn’t monitor activities, nor were they subject to scrutiny for inaction. Many companies are still missing from the debate today.

A key problem with this traditional approach is that it doesn’t improve corporate accountability or build understanding through interaction of stakeholders, including civil society and government. Dialogue and negotiation have taken place in only a few instances. One such example is the Fair Labor Association (FLA), created in 1996, a tripartite organization representing nonprofit and pro-labor organizations, universities and corporations, including founding member Phillips Van Heusen. However, there was little trust and collaboration, and efforts focused on policing rather than capacity building.

Additionally, because it often overlooks the importance of overseas workers, the traditional approach doesn’t effect change at the factory level. Ineffective local labor laws – often inconsistent with internationally recognized rights – and the lack of inspection and corrective action by local governments have also contributed to the current human rights crisis.

A more effective model is to engage those in the field in order to:

  • Improve transparency in companies, government and NGOs by building understanding of complex labor and human rights issues overseas.
  • Develop partnerships among companies, pro-labor groups (and other NGOs), and government to improve monitoring standards, retraining current monitors, as appropriate.
  • Empower managers at the local level to create sustainable practices, helping them improve communications channels with those on the factory floor and create a safe space where workers feel comfortable speaking out.
  • Build the business case for responsible corporations, partly by publicizing success stories – such as new partnerships and innovative solutions – as a step toward improved accountability.
  • Train associates in the field, who are “activists at heart” and eager to improve human rights.
  • Consolidate code-monitoring efforts, thus preventing audit fatigue and inconsistencies.
  • Share expertise to bring consistent, measurable progress.
  • Integrate CSR into the whole business by raising awareness among employees of how their roles affect workers overseas.

Tom DeLuca talked about his efforts to integrate corporate social responsibility throughout Toys “R” Us, partly sparked by customer demand. Toys “R” Us has worked especially to improve toy safety and supply chain management.

A code of conduct is one way to integrate CSR into the company. In fact, 60% of the Fortune 500 companies have such codes, but they can be effective only if the corporation’s actions stand behind its words. The Toys “R” Us Code of Conduct for Suppliers attempts to do that. The company frequently audits its suppliers (using a third party) to make sure they meet its standards; it uses similar procedures to investigate allegations of manufacturing problems. A factory certification using the SA8000 program of Social Accountability Int’l helps build accountability by means of continuous improvement. However, non-compliance with the Toys “R” Us programs could ultimately lead to terminating the business relationship as a last resort.

Toys “R” Us’ most important customer is “Mom.” At one end of the company’s distribution channel, Moms from diverse backgrounds in the 25-to-44 year-old age bracket are the main toy buyers. At the other end, 75% of toys sold in the US are made in China, where the vast majority of workers are young women between the ages of 18 and 25. So the success of Toys “R” Us depends critically on treating women well, as both customers and workers.

That’s one reason the company pays such close attention to safety. In late January, allegations were made about unfair labor practices at a Toys “R” Us supplier that makes the “Etch-a-Sketch” product. Immediately, Toys “R” Us launched an audit to assess the working conditions at the factory. It wasn’t easy. The audit firm first had to find the factory and then wait until after the Chinese New Year to begin the audit. To determine if workers were working excessive hours at less than minimum wage, workers were interviewed and time cards were analyzed. The results of the audit disputed the allegations, but nonetheless discovered problems at the factory, which was given a deadline to change to its safety practices.

Toys “R” Us has worked to play a proactive role in toy safety, working with both the federal government and the toy industry. The company was the first to add age grading to its products and the first to remove unsafe products from its stores, including look-alike toy guns. Toys “R” Us also supports other organizations affecting change. Once example is Kids in Danger, a non-profit that works to pass legislation on products used in non-toy environments such as day care centers. Toys “R” Us is also currently involved in a new government initiative to launch a national website that allows consumers to register and receive direct information from a number of government agencies that have recall authority.

Based on his experience, DeLuca outlined remaining challenges for CSR managers:

  • Developing fair standards and holding everyone accountable, including competitors.
  • Harmonizing efforts, because no one company can do it alone.
  • Increasing the role of the federal government in CSR programs.

Toys “R” Us does business in a socially responsible way because, says DeLuca: “It’s the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. And, it makes good business sense.”

Mil Niepold began with the history of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the continued to discuss Verité’s role in the field of labor rights and ethical supply chain management. She then shared thoughts on the future of labor rights compliance and how managers can create sustainable supply chains.

Verité is the only global non-profit that conducts social audits, as well as training and research. Mostly known as a global monitor, the organization is small but operates in 65 counties. To date, Verité has conducted 1,000 audits and interviewed over 13,000 workers. Its monitors are trained to use socially responsible techniques to garner information. For example, only female monitors interview female workers in order to build trust. Such practices are crucial, given the high percentage of women in workforce (80% to 90% of workers interviewed are women) and the severity of violations encountered, including: forced sterilization, abortions, high toxicity levels that lead to infertility, and lack of childcare.

The so-called cowboy approach, where each organization works alone, used to be the core belief of the US business world, not the global workers, said Niepold. In addition, “cops and robbers” monitoring, where offenders are penalized, may not be the best approach, mainly because it categorizes stakeholders according to good and bad, often without actual verification. There are no standards or quality control measures for monitoring; instead, each organization has developed its own technique, making it difficult to draw parallels and collaborate. The most successful Verité initiatives have been those that brought together people from disparate spheres of influence.

The main flaw of monitoring, said Niepold, is that workers often don’t see an improvement. A factory may be audited as many as 40 times a month without any change. A potential danger is that workers feel they’re not heard and stop talking. In a recent lawsuit in Saipan, the settlement was weak and took almost five years to be paid out. Attorneys have had a hard time finding the original workers. Of the total $20 million settlement, the attorneys received the majority of the funds while the workers received just $120 each.

Monitoring is just the first step towards sustainable supply chain management, Niepold said. Capacity building requires not just resources but a paradigm shift, where local knowledge and partnerships inform change efforts. To achieve long-term, systemic change, Niepold recommended: * Exploring the economics of supply chains. Child labor, contract labor, overtime systems all have economic roots.

  • Getting away from the cops and robbers approach and creating partnerships. CSR is not just about corporations; it’s a shared responsibility among government, consumers, and corporations.
  • Building capacity at the local level.
  • Focusing on the business case for CSR. Morality goes only so far. Simply put, bad factories don’t make high quality products.

II. New Sponsor
WNSF’s is glad to welcome its latest sponsor, Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis Corporation.

III. The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
The Concept of the Network

The network provides a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to: improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.

For more information, please contact:

Ann Goodman, Acting Director
Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
Please direct inquiries to: mailto:Eugenia.shafer@us.interfaceinc.com

Fiscal Agent:
National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006
T: 202-833-2933
WNSF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting and Acting Director, WNSF; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Interface Inc.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

IV. What’s Next?
Look for an email invitation to the next NYC luncheon panel hosted by McKinsey on May 6: Businesswomen and Business Responsibility: The NYC Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women presents results of a survey of NYC women and companies

This issue of Net Notes was written by WNSF Executive Associate Dana Vetrecin and edited by Acting Director Ann Goodman.

WNSF thanks founding sponsors AT&T and the Ford Foundation for their generous support.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.”- Lewis Mumford

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Consumers as Stakeholders: Women Consumers and Corporate Responsibility

Posted on December 2, 2003 by wnsfwriter

December 2003 Volume I Number 4

Net Contents
I. Network Presentation
“Consumers as Stakeholders: Women Consumers and Corporate Responsibility” Hosted by Unilever

II. Network Presenters and Presentations
Perry Yeatman, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Unilever
Jim A. Guest, President, Consumers Union
Tom DeLuca, Vice President, Product Development/Safety Assurance, Toys ‘R’ Us (Tom had to cancel because of weather concerns, but graciously supplied his notes for this report)

III. Network Holiday Party
Eileen Fisher Inc. Hosts December Holiday Benefit at Soho Boutique

IV. Network’s New Donor
BP and Nathan Cummings Foundation Sponsor WNSF

V. Network’s Next Event
WNSF to hold panels next year

VI. Network Concept

I. Network Presentation
Thanks…to all who attended WNSF’s sixth event, the luncheon panel presentation “Consumer as Stakeholder: Women Consumers and Corporate Responsibility,” hosted by Unilever in NYC on December 2. And to those of you who missed it, we look forward to welcoming you to our events in 2004.

II. Network Presenters
The presentations on “Consumers as Stakeholders: Women Consumers and Corporate Responsibility” showed clearly: Consumers have learned how to make their opinions and values count, and increasingly companies have been incorporating consumers’ messages into their policies.

More and more consumers are now voting with their dollars on how well a corporation addresses values like its impact on the environment, health, society-and on consumers’ pocketbooks. Explaining the growing trend of ‘sustainable consumption,’ Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, said: “In a global survey of 22,000 consumers conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999–even before the Enron or Ford/Firestone debacles made national headlines–40 percent reported that during the past year they had responded negatively to actions by a company perceived as not socially responsible. And half of this number–one in five–reported avoiding the company’s product or speaking out against it to others.”

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) now contributes importantly to a company’s public image and therefore has become a key business factor. According to Tom DeLuca, vice president of product development at Toys ‘R’ Us, 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies have established a code of conduct policy. Importantly, women comprise a majority of Toys ‘R’ Us’s customer base, and its product safety messages are geared to ‘Mom.’

Eighty-five percent of Unilever’s products, sold in virtually every household in the U.S., Europe and beyond, are purchased by women, said Perry Yeatman, vice president of corporate affairs. Responding to consumers’ growing concern with environmental and social values, Unilever has developed a scorecard to measure its performance relative to stakeholders’ principles. Yeatman pointed out that the company’s consumers, employees and other stakeholders often overlap, and that Unilever’s approach to measurement reflects consumer needs and safety, as well as eco-efficiency in manufacturing and eco-innovation in products.

Companies have to maintain an environmentally friendly and socially responsible image-and policy-partly to avoid backlash from consumers, watchdog groups, the media and NGOs who target corporations that do not comply with their values. Yeatman explained that Unilever, the world’s largest buyer of fish and largest producer of fish fingers, entered into a partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to address over-fishing of some species. Greenpeace initially raised the issue with Unilever, and the company subsequently promised to buy only fish from sustainable fisheries by 2005. As it turns out, this deadline probably won’t be met, mainly because the supply from sustainable fisheries won’t satisfy demand that soon. Yeatman also mentioned that sometimes consumers are part of the sustainability problem. In the case of fish fingers, consumers actually prefer the taste of some species that are fast disappearing. Unilever is experimenting with flavor additives to appeal to consumers’ palates.

New social demands placed on companies have changed their attitudes toward product recalls, too. Once considered a mere necessary evil, product recalls affect a company’s reputation, so managing them skillfully becomes an ever more important tool to position the company as responsible, honest and trustworthy.

Even corporate watchdogs have to pay attention to product tests to avoid public fiascos: Two years ago Consumers Union found itself in the embarrassing position of having to recall a promotional glove compartment organizer it had sent out-untested-as part of a marketing campaign.

III. Network’s Holiday Party
WNSF thanks Eileen Fisher Inc. for hosting a festive holiday benefit at its flagship boutique in Soho on December 9. The company generously donated 10 percent of the day’s sales to WNSF. Special thanks to Amy Hall, Susan Schor, Christine Wiltshire and Ann Young.

IV. Network’s New Donor
WNSF thanks new sponsors, BP and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, for their generous contributions to the Network.

V. Network’s Next Scheduled Events
Look for email invitations early next year to WNSF luncheon panels and other events.

VI. Network Concept
The concept of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is to provide a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to: improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.
For more information, please contact: Ann Goodman, Acting Director
Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
Please direct inquiries to:
Eugenia.shafer@us.interfaceinc.com

Fiscal Agent: National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006
T: 202-833-2933
WNSF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting and Acting Director, WNSF; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Interface Inc.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

This issue of Net Notes from the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future was written by Irmintraud Jost and edited by Ann Goodman.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future gratefully acknowledges Founding Sponsors AT&T and the Ford Foundation for their generous grants.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” – Lewis Mumford

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Public Health, Women, and Corporate Responsibility

Posted on October 31, 2003 by wnsfwriter

 

November 2003 Volume I Number 3

Net Contents
I. Network Presentation
“Public Health, Women, and Corporate Responsibility” Hosted by Pfizer

II. Network Presenters
Dr. Barbara DeBuono, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Medical Director / Group Leader, Pfizer Public Health Group

Mark. A. Goldberg, Senior Vice President, National Coalition on Health Care

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, M.D. Professor, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU

III. Network’s New Donor
The Ford Foundation is WNSF’s newest Founding Sponsor

IV. Network Next Events
Unilever to host panel, “The Consumer as Stakeholder” Eileen Fisher to sponsor holiday benefit party

V. Network Concept

I. Network Presentation
Thanks…to all who attended WNSF’s luncheon presentation, “Public Health, Women, and Corporate Responsibility,” hosted by Pfizer at Pfizer headquarters in NYC on October 31. And to those of you who missed it, we look forward to welcoming you to our next scheduled event on December 2 (see section IV, below).

II. Network Presenters
The luncheon panel on October 31 was the Network’s fifth event and coincided with the first anniversary of its founding almost exactly a year ago.

“Public Health, Women, and Corporate Responsibility”: Three speakers addressed this topic from three different perspectives-Dr. Barbara De Buono represented the corporate angle for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Mark Goldberg added the view of a health care “activist” for the National Coalition on Health Care, and from an academic point of view, Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, presented the results of a recent study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the future of the public’s health. All speakers agreed that there is a need for a stronger emphasis on health promotion and prevention by both corporations and health care providers.

Nancy Nielsen, Senior Director, Corporate Citizenship at Pfizer spoke of the dilemma in the pharmaceutical industry: The balancing act of investing in advanced research and development while assuring that medicine is accessible and affordable to people who need it today. She also welcomed Dr. Ann Goodman, co-founder and Acting Director of the Women’s Network, who moderated the panel and the lively discussion.

Dr. Barbara DeBuono, Senior Medical Director of Pfizer Public Health Group, focused her remarks on women’s health issues. Women are critical health care decision makers, controlling about 69 percent of the annual amount paid for health care in the US ($1.1 trillion in 1995) and making health care decisions in 75 percent of US households. Women account for 60 percent of all physician visits. While taking care of their children, their husbands, sometimes their parents and often their community, women tend not to take enough care of their own health.

The female population is increasingly affected by serious diseases (cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs), cancer, depression, arthritis) and—due to their longer life expectancy— are prone to chronic diseases which may effect their quality of life if not treated appropriately. CVDs are often under diagnosed and under treated in women and kill more women than breast cancer does. The CVD mortality rate in women is steadily increasing, while the rate for men is going down. Women also suffer disproportionately from depression, a disease that is hard to detect and often under diagnosed, but seriously affects their overall health. “Women perform well while suffering from serious depression”, warned Dr. DeBuono. She recommends better communication between the health care provider and patient as a first step toward improving health. The patient should leave the doctor’s office knowing exactly what is going on and what should and can be done.

Mark Goldberg, Senior Vice President for Policy and Strategy at the National Coalition on Health Care, stressed health care’s political factor, which is being played out in the current presidential campaign. Nearly 44 million Americans were without health care in 2002. An increase of 2.4 million uninsured marked the largest single year increase since 1992. Even more disturbing: close to 90 percent of uninsured households have an income of more than 25,000 dollars a year. The companies that do not offer coverage, said Goldberg, “are offloading the cost to other people.”

He also pointed out deficits in most benefit packages. Many health care programs do not sufficiently cover chronic diseases, like hypertension, asthma, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Of people age 18 to 44, 21 percent suffer from at least one of these diseases. Of those in the 45 to 61 age range, 57 percent need special health care. Like Dr. DeBuono, Mr. Goldberg advocates better communication and information for patients: He emphasized preventative health care through life style changes and increased awareness. Most patients don’t get enough counseling.

As major financial contributors to the U.S. health care system, companies can use their influence to contribute to the policy debate and the improvement of the overall health care system, argued Mr. Goldberg. Companies’ health care coverage costs have increased 14 percent this year and 43 percent since 2000. By using their negotiating power—as they do with other suppliers—companies might be able to create better, more affordable and more efficient health care plans

Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford, Professor, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, pointed to specific examples of companies reducing their health costs by investing in prevention information campaigns. She reported that Citibank after investing $1.9 million in health promotion saved approximately $9 million on health care costs. Age appropriate preventive services, said Dr. Boufford, are often not even included in health plans. She suggested tax incentives as one way to encourage companies to invest in health promotion and prevention campaigns.

Overall population health in the U.S. is not what it could be, stressed Dr. Boufford, quoting the IOM’s recently released report, “The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century:” The U.S. spends more than 13 percent of the GDP on health, more than any of the other 39 industrialized countries, but the health of the American people lags significantly. In addition, the U.S. health system was ranked 37th in the world by the World Health Organization. Only one percent of total US health expenditures is spent on public health and prevention, and 99 percent of healthcare dollars are targeted to illness after it occurs.

Of premature deaths, 50 percent can be attributed to risk behaviors, 20 percent to environmental factors, and an additional 10 percent are due to inadequate access to medical care. Diet and activity patterns, which might be changed through better information and prevention policy, were responsible for about 28 percent of premature deaths in 1990. As many as one million Americans die each year from preventable health problems. Therefore, Dr. Bouford emphasized, people should be informed, educated and empowered about health issues.

Dr. Boufford stressed that society as a whole must invest to control infectious diseases and assure clean air and water and safe blood, food and drugs. Critical to achieving better public health is a combined effort by government public health agencies, communities, the personal health care delivery system, employers and businesses, media and academia.

III. Network’s New Donor
WNSF thanks new Founding Sponsor, the Ford Foundation, for its generous contribution to the Network.

IV. Network’s Next Scheduled Events
Unilever will host WNSF’s next luncheon panel, “The Consumer as Stakeholder: Women Consumers and Corporate Citizenship,” on from noon to 2pm on December 2 at Lever House in New York City. And Eileen Fisher Inc. will sponsor a benefit holiday party at its Soho boutique on December 9 from 6pm to 8pm, with 10 percent of purchases donated to WNSF. Look for emailed invitations to RSVP to these events.

V. Network Concept
The concept of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is to provide a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to: improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.

For more information, please contact: Ann Goodman, Acting Director Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
Please direct inquiries to: Eugenia.shafer@us.interfaceinc.com

Fiscal Agent: National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006
T: 202-833-2933
WNSF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting and Acting Director, WNSF; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Interface Inc.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

This issue of Net Notes from the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future was written by Irmintraud Jost and edited by Ann Goodman.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future gratefully acknowledges Founding Sponsors AT&T and the Ford Foundation for their generous grants.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” – Lewis Mumford

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Gender and Sustainability: Why Women Care More

Posted on June 24, 2003 by wnsfwriter

 

July 2003 Volume I Number 2

Net Contents
I. Network Presentation:
Hosted by GE Structured Finance

II. Network Presenters:
Judy Samuelson, Executive Director
Nancy McGaw, Deputy Director Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program

III. New Network Donor
Swiss Re is WNSF’s First Associate Sponsor

IV. Network’s Next Scheduled Event
Pfizer to Host Luncheon Panel Public Health and Corporate Responsibility

V. Network Survey

VI. Network Concept

I. Network Presentation
Thanks…to all who attended WNSF’s luncheon presentation, “Gender and Sustainability: Why Women Care More,” hosted by GE Structured Finance at the GE Building in NYC on June 24. And to those of you who missed it, we look forward to welcoming you to our first scheduled event next fall (see section IV, below)

II. Network Presenters
WNSF…was pleased to invite Judy Samuelson, Executive Director, and Nancy McGaw, Deputy Director, of the Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program to present results of a newly released survey of MBA students at premiere business schools, titled “Where Will They Lead? MBA Attitudes about Business & Society 2003.” The 20-minute presentation was followed by a lively 40-minute discussion, during which participants exchanged stories of on-the-job experiences that largely confirmed anecdotally much of the survey’s statistical information. The survey results reveal that attitudes of women MBA students diverge markedly from those of their male counterparts across a range of issues, from CEO compensation to investing in the developing world. Notably, the results suggest that women MBAs are more likely than men to view a “well-run” company as one that adheres to a strong mission and code of ethics.

Women MBAs place greater emphasis on four values-related issues:

  • Corporate responsibility to contribute to the community
  • Progressive corporate environmental policies
  • Corporate responsibility and reputation of a potential employer
  • Values-based issues in the classroom

Men and women cite the same three reasons to earn an MBA-to gain business savvy, to improve career opportunities, and to grow professionally and personally-and five years later both say building careers and relationships are their top two priorities. But they place different emphasis on other goals: women want to make a positive impact on society, pursue personal interests and earn a high income-in that order-with men reversing the order of those aims. The study reveals a number of noteworthy statistics. Just 42 percent of men say being involved in their community will be a priority five years after graduating, compared with 51 percent of women. When it comes to corporate reputation, 63 percent of women strongly agree it’s important in deciding on where to work, compared with 52 percent of men. And 29 percent of women, versus 18 percent of men, strongly agree they want to know more about how companies fulfill their social responsibilities while they’re being recruited. Progressive environmental policies are more important to women than to men. Overall, men place more emphasis on remuneration-for themselves as earners and for shareholders-than women. Said Nancy McGaw: “The report supports the general trend that the definition of business success is changing. Within this trend, women are a major force in rethinking the business landscape and holding corporate decision making to a high standard.” Twelve prestigious business schools, including Columbia, Haas, Wharton and Yale, participated in the study. Of respondents, 65 percent were men, 35 percent women. The Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program’s mission is to “increase the supply of business leaders who understand-and seek to balance-the complex relationship between business success and social and environmental progress.”

III. New Network Donor
WNSF…thanks Christine Seketa, former sustainability communications manager at Swiss Re, for her support of the Network. Thanks to her efforts, Swiss Re has become WNSF’s first Associate Sponsor, joining AT&T as Founding Sponsor.

IV. Network’s Next Scheduled Event
Pfizer…will host WNSF’s next scheduled luncheon panel, “Public Health, Women and Corporate Responsibility,” on October 31. Look for emailed save-the-date invitations.

V. Network Survey
WNSF’s second survey was distributed at the June 24 event and later emailed to all who confirmed their participation beforehand. In developing future direction and programs, the Network places enormous value on participant input, and we urge you to return completed surveys by email to: Eugenia.shafer@us.interfaceinc.com.

Participants will receive periodic reminders throughout the summer to complete and return surveys. If you haven’t received a survey but would like to fill one out, please notify Eugenia Shafer via email.

VI. Network Concept
The concept of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is to provide a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to: improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.
For more information, please contact: Ann Goodman
Co-Founder, Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
info@wnsf.org

Fiscal Agent: National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006 T: 202-833-2933
WNSF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Interface Inc.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation.

This issue of Net Notes from the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future was produced by Ann Goodman, with contributions from Nancy McGaw of the Aspen Institute’s Business & Society Program and Marc Kaplan of Kaplan Communications.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future gratefully acknowledges Founding Sponsor AT&T for its generous seed grant.

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.”- Lewis Mumford

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Sustainability, Finance and Women

Posted on April 29, 2003 by wnsfwriter

“Giving women in the workplace a voice in the sustainability debate”

May 2003 Volume I Number 1

I. Network Panel:
April 29 at Swiss Re

II. Network Panelists
Eight-Step Program
Adrienne Atwell

Soul and Money
Joyce Haboucha

Giving Women Credit
Donna Katzin

III. Network’s Next Event

IV. Network Concept

I. Network Panel:
April 29 at Swiss Re
Thanks…to all participants-over 50 of you–at the April 29 luncheon panel sponsored by Swiss Re in New York City. And to all who missed it, we hope you’ll be able to join us at our next event in June (see section III, below).

Called “Sustainability, Finance and Women,” the panel featured three speakers: Adrienne Atwell, sustainability manager of Swiss Re; Joyce Haboucha, portfolio manager in charge of socially responsive investing at Rockefeller & Co.; and Donna Katzin, executive director of Shared Interest, a non-profit group focused on community investing and micro-finance.

Christine Seketa, Swiss Re senior communications manager, introduced the panel, evoking the inspiring work of eminent environmental scientist Jane Goodall. Ann Goodman, Network co-founder and president of Telesis Consulting, moderated the discussion, substituting for Linda Descano, COO of CitiGroup subsidiary Women & Co. and a Network board member. The event was dedicated to the late Robert Pestel of the European Commission, whose warmth, wit, wisdom and tireless support of the Network through thick and thin make him its honorary godfather.

Representing three distinct perspectives on finance-insurance, investing and micro-lending–panelists examined how a company’s socially responsible activities-or lack thereof–affect its business. In particular, panelists discussed how corporate sustainability initiatives influence insurance costs and share value. The panel also looked at an important way that companies can put financial resources to work in a pro-active, socially responsible manner through micro-finance programs in communities where they operate.

II. Network Panelists
Each panelist highlighted one of three key roles women play in finance:

  • by sensitizing companies to the financial consequences of their socially responsible activities, frequently as risk managers concerned with insurance costs;
  • by recognizing their rights as shareholders to influence corporate actions, not just by screening their investments but also through proxy voting
  • and, as micro-loan recipients, by establishing independent businesses, investing in their families and communities and by earning high credit ratings through consistent loan repayment.

Eight-Step Program
Kicking off the panel, Swiss Re’s Adrienne Atwell examined how companies can cut their insurance costs through sustainability efforts, such as waste-minimization and energy-savings programs. The biggest obstacle, she noted, is that most insurers “don’t know what sustainability means,” because up to this point they haven’t seen its direct effect on their loss ratios. That puts the onus on companies not just to learn to “speak the language of insurers,” but also to do the hard mental acrobatics of “equating risk reduction through sustainability with insurance products and services.”

In theory, “insurance companies should reward companies that do positive things” by cutting their premiums, Atwell said. “But in reality, insurers reward companies only if their own risks are reduced.” Again, that means the onus falls on companies to do the hard work to realize cost savings. But Atwell recommended eight steps to help companies streamline the process of cutting insurance costs:

  1. Work with a good insurance broker
  2. Know your company’s insurance program, including what it covers, and whether it provides for environmental liabilities
  3. Understand how your company is rated by insurers
  4. Negotiate with the broker to earn a better rating
  5. Invite the insurer’s site inspectors into the discussion (hint: simple cooperation can earn you a reduction of up to 10 percent)
  6. Speak the language of insurers (hint: they’re largely engineers concerned with loss)
  7. Have confidence in the organization
  8. Look at the total cost of risk, not just component parts

Soul and Money
Socially responsible investing (SRI) “isn’t about your soul,” insisted Joyce Haboucha, Rockefeller & Co.’s SRI portfolio manager and the panel’s second speaker. A key misconception about SRI is that it simply screens portfolios to avoid “bad” industries, like tobacco or weapons, for instance, she explained. Instead, SRI is really about “positive screening in favor of a company’s willingness to address tough problems and engage in social change,” Haboucha said.

Increasingly, SRI looks for synergies between a company’s social and financial performance. For the investor, that translates into managing portfolio risk for social consequences of corporate action or inaction (for instance, on climate change) and “asserting proprietary interest as a shareholder,” Haboucha said. “Once you realize you’re an owner, your attitude toward responsibility and power changes. You begin to realize you may have an obligation and some influence.” Globalization and communications technology, so they can’t rely solely on short-term financial results to bolster reputation.

In fact, SRI investors are at the forefront of investment issues, always anticipating tomorrow’s challenges. Said Haboucha: “There is an urgent need to change companies’ thinking from short- to long-term, and we, as socially responsible investors, have to help them. What’s important, if capitalism is to survive, is to reassert our ownership rights in the company.”

Part of being an owner is to face up to the fact that there are things companies do to promote sustainability that don’t save money, such as some upfront costs for environmental improvements. But some things that enhance sustainability do promote productivity. For instance, diversity efforts, such as “hiring women and really integrating them into the company,” can save money down the road, Haboucha pointed out.

The costs and savings of sustainability seem to even out in the end, since SRI portfolios have performed similarly to ordinary portfolios, Haboucha said. The important question, she concluded, isn’t whether portfolios perform better but “whether companies perform better.”

Giving Women Credit
“The highest-impact community investments are done with and by women, so they are the heart of the international sustainability movement,” proclaimed the panel’s third speaker Donna Katzin of Shared Interest, which funnels loans into South Africa.

A way to mobilize funds for poor communities, community investing provides financing to build sustainable communities-through, for instance, credit unions, loan funds and overseas community development projects. While investment in socially responsible funds has swelled eight percent to $2.3 trillion, community investing has soared 41 percent to $7.6 billion in the past two years.

“Women sustain life,” Katzin noted. In many places, they are also the family’s primary financial support. So, with micro-credit, women have greater social impact on the community when they borrow money. Women also have a higher loan repayment rate-99.2 percent for one micro-credit program in South Africa–and tend to reinvest the dividends in their families. In micro-lending programs, women sometimes come together in groups to borrow so they can cover each other if one falls short on periodic repayments, while providing support for each other and their respective businesses.

Sustainability of community development programs depends on partnerships, including some with corporations. And companies are starting to appreciate the stake they have in communities where they do business. Corporate responsibility offers companies the chance to take the lead in being good community actors, and women in companies have the vision to help guide corporations toward their own long-term interest in community investment, Katzin said.

Women provide leadership by asking the right questions and by connecting with each other, in poor communities and in groups like the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future, said Katzin. She added: “All over the world, women are socialized to believe they’re responsible for making families and communities succeed. Performing those roles successfully makes women inherent managers.”

III. Network’s Next Event
The Network’s next event, will be hosted by GE subsidiary GE Structured Finance in the NBC Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City on June 24 from noon to 2pm. Called “Gender and Sustainability: Why Women Care More,” the luncheon panel will feature research from the Aspen Institute’s Initiative for Social Innovation in Business pointing to women’s greater interest for sustainability and social responsibility. The results set the stage to explore the following questions: Why do women appear to care more than men about these issues? How can their concern be harnessed in the workplace to foster a more sustainable, responsible business climate? What special qualities do women bring to the sustainability debate that can promote this agenda in the workplace and the larger community? How can the Women’s Network support businesswomen in effecting sustainability goals? And what specific programs and projects will make the Women’s Network most effective for participants? Please watch your email for an invitation. RSVP to: patricia.ricard@ge.com

IV. Network Concept
The concept of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is to provide a forum for business and professional women to congregate, reflect and act on the converging issues of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Through meetings and simple electronic support tools, the Network aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices on these vital workplace issues. By creating a new network of executive women, the Network seeks to: improve responsible practices in workplaces; sensitize corporate culture more generally to issues of sustainability and social responsibility; and encourage a public commitment locally, nationally and internationally to sustainability principles.

The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future is a 501c3 organization.
For more information, please contact:
Ann Goodman
Co-Founder, Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future
T: 212-243-4327
E: info@wnsf.org
Fiscal Agent: National Environmental Education & Training Foundation
1707 H Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20006
T: 202-833-2933
WSNF Board Member/NEETF Liaison: Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs

Board of Directors: Linda Descano, COO, Women & Co., CitiGroup; Muni Figueres, formerly of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development; Joanne Fox-Przeworski, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College; Ann Goodman, President, Telesis Consulting; Clair Krizov, Executive Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, AT&T; Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Interface Corp.; Kathy Robb, Esq., Partner and Head of Environmental Practice, Hunton & Williams; Deborah Sliter, Vice President of Programs, National Environmental Education & Training Foundation

Net Notes from the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future Produced by Ann Goodman

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart L. Udall

“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” – Lewis Mumford

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