Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Video Interview: Jeffrey Hollender at the New Economics Institute Strategies for a New Economy Conference Recorded live at the New Economics Institute Strategies for a New Economy Conference on June 9, 2012, Seventh Generation and American Sustainable Business Council Co-Founder Jeffrey Hollender speaks about initiatives to transform business from being the source of problems for our economy to being part of the solution. As the co-founder and chair of the American Sustainable Business Council, which is a group of 140,000 small and medium sized businesses, we're involved in public policy initiatives like the Jobs Bill to create a more level playing field and a better public policy environment for a new economy to emerge, says Hollender. I know that in most instances, business doesn't operate in a particularly responsible, moral, or sustainable fashion -- and that is something we need to correct, he continues. But we don't have jobs without business, so we need to figure out how to change the structural context of our economy in ways that encourages businesses to behave differently. Visit the Strategies for a New Economy Conference webpage for more information, including videos, resources, and a Storify timeline of tweets from the conference: http://neweconomicsinstitute.org/conference For information on the New Economics Institute, please contact: Carina Millstone 857.284.2915 carinamillstone@neweconomicsinstitute.org About The New Economics Institute The New Economics Institute is a US organization that combines vision, theory, action, and communication to effect a transition to a new economy -- an economy that gives priority to supporting human wellbeing and Earth’s natural systems. The organization is the successor organization to the 30-year old,well-respected E.F. Schumacher Institute. The Institute is headed by newly appointed President and CEO, Dr. Robert K. Massie and currently has offices in New York City, NY, and Great Barrington, MA. The New Economics Institute’s multidisciplinary approach employs research, applied theory, public campaigns, and educational events to describe an alternative socio-economic system that is capable of addressing the enormous challenges of our times. NEI current projects include the well-known BerkShares Local Currency Program, the Community Land Trust Program, and the Global Transition Map to a New Economy. The New Economics Institute Board of Directors include Gar Alperovitz, Jessica Brackman, John Fullerton, Neva Goodwin, Hildegarde Hannum, Eric Harris-Braun, Dan Levinson, Bob Massie, Richard Norgaard, David Orr, Will Raap, Gus Speth, Peter Victor, Stewart Wallis, Timothy Wirth and Susan Witt.

Jeffrey Hollender was a co-founder of Seventh Generation and is the founder of Jeffrey Hollender Partners, a business strategy consulting firm, and is a leading authority on social entrepreneurship, corporate responsibility, sustainability, and social equity. More than 23 years ago he co-founded Seventh Generation and went on to build the company into a 50 million natural-product brand known for its authenticity, transparency, and progressive business practices. His passion for changing the negative impact that industry has on the environment and society is evident in each of his seven books, including The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win (2010). He is the 2011-2012 distinguished Citi Fellow in Leadership and Ethics at the NYU Stern School of Business. Jeffrey’s first business ventures were in the fields of banking, education, and publishing. He was a co-founder of Brooklyn’s Community Capital Bank and the founder of the Skills Exchange in Toronto and Network for Learning in New York City. He sold Network for Learning to Warner Publishing, a division of Warner Communications in 1985. Chair of the Greenpeace Fund US and a board member of Health Care Without Harm and Verité, a leading workers’ rights organization, he is also co-founder and Board Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council, a coalition of 110,000 business leaders committed to changing the rules of business.