Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman of Interface Inc. and Sustainability Expert to be the First Businessman to Receive WNSF’s Sustainability Award 

NEW YORK, NY, September 22: The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future (WSNF,) announced that its 7th Annual Businesswomen’s Sustainability Leadership Summit will be held on Tuesday, October 5th, providing a 360 degree perspective on the business strategies and practical solutions that will drive competitive opportunity in today’s emerging sustainable economy. The Summit is estimated to bring together more than 200 women business leaders from the world’s premier companies.  

This year’s event also marks the first time WNSF will honor a businessman, Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman of Interface Inc., as its Sustainability Award winner. Anderson is internationally recognized in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability. 

In addition to Mr. Anderson, WNSF has lined up a premier roster of women executive presenters from industry, government and the non-profit world, whose work represents leadership in sustainable business. Speakers include: 

• Frances Hesselbein, President and CEO, Leader to Leader Institute and Chair, Study of Leadership, West Point Military Academy, as well as, the former CEO of Girl Scouts U.S.A., will discuss how to work with partners and competitors on sustainable issues

• Wendolyn Holland, Senior Advisor in Commercialization and Deployment, Department of Energy (DOE), will discuss US policies on climate change and cleaner energy sourcing, as well as, how women will play a larger role in planning a more energy-secure, sustainable future

• Roelfien Kuijpers, Managing Director and Global Head of DB Advisors, Deutsche Asset Management, will share climate change research that is creating sustainable investment opportunities

• Charlene Wall-Warren, the North American Sustainability Manager, BASF, will describe new ways to increase engagement through supply chain and diversity networks

• Alicin Williamson, Senior Vice President, MTV Networks, will discuss ways to integrate sustainability and social responsibility into business goals.

REGISTER for this event!  WNSF would like to offer an additional 15% discount off  to the Leader to Leader Institute's constituency. 

Contact:

Lana Zaman

Zaman.wnsf@gmail.com

212-497-3534

As Chair for the Study of Leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Frances Hesselbein is responsible for helping to advance the study and practice of leadership at the Academy. Since her appointment last year, Frances has focused on engaging cadets and faculty with leadership experts, bringing top thought leaders to West Point for Leadership Dialogues with cadets. Last Tuesday, Alan Mulally, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, accompanied Frances and the Leader to Leader staff to the hallowed grounds of West Point.

Visiting the campus at West Point is a true military microcosm, complete with it’s own culture, moral code, dress code, and way of life. The school is a living memorial to great military leaders of the past. We were greeted by Colonel Kolditz, Professor and Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership.

Col. Kolditz introduced the Leadership Dialogue by explaining that the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership focuses on “building a leader identity,” which requires cadets to not only aquire a leadership skill set, but “to create a self concept that they are a leader wherever they go,” and therefore “subsequent to military service, they can be leaders of the nation—leaders of personal character.”

Mr. Mulally then engaged in an open dialogue with cadets who were members of the Black and Gold Leadership Program. Answering questions from the cadets, he described the characteristics he looks for in leaders, and pointed out the importance of fundamental values: “honesty, integrity, being what you are and saying what you think.”

Mr. Mulally talked about transitioning from aviation to automobiles and described a leadership secret he has learned: the importance of making the organization credible in the eyes of the consumer. He also spoke about the challenges he faced while at Boeing after the attack on 9/11, noting that he “never thought airplanes would be used as a weapon,” and this now “changed the way airplanes are created.”

The most striking element Mr. Mulally touched on was the similarities in culture of the corporate world created at Ford and the culture of the U.S. Military Academy. Just as cadets wear a decorated uniform symbolizing honor, duty, and respect for their country, Ford employees carry blue and white cards, created by Mr. Mulally, emblazoned with the words: One Ford. Both sets of individuals embrace the code of their culture, and conduct themselves by the essence of leadership demonstrated by their leaders.

 -Risa Cohn  

In the most recent Pitt Chronicle, the second annual Student Leadership Summit of the University of Pittsburgh Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement was featured.

We also wanted to share a few photos from the event, which convened fifty college students from the United States and 14 other nations.

Photo 1: from left, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg; Kathy W. Humphrey, Pitt vice provost and dean of students; Mrs. Hesselbein; and Patrick Moon-Rhoades, a junior at Pitt-Johnstown, Hesselbein’s alma mater.

Photo 2: Pitt trustee Eva Tansky Blum (seated at left with black-and-white jacket) served as a professional mentor for summit participants. Cochair of Pitt’s $2 billion capital campaign and a past president of the Pitt Alumni Association, Blum (A&S ’70, LAW ’73) is senior vice president and director of community affairs at PNC Bank and chair of the PNC Foundation.

Photo 3:Also serving as a professional mentor was Pitt trustee and former Pitt Alumni Association president Keith Schaefer (A&S ’71), right, president and CEO of BPL Global, Ltd. He is speaking with Lesley “Yemi” Adewunmi (A&S ’10), a summit attendee and former president of Pitt’s Black Action Society.

Photo 4:Riding the Gateway Clipper were (from left) Elaine Lewis, a Pitt senior majoring in history and political science; and Waqas Khatri of Karachi, Pakistan, and Krithika Sundar of Tamil Nadu, India, both of whom are Penn State graduate students.