A Letter to the Community
A Note from Laura D. Tyson, Kristiana Raube, Ben Mangan and Robert Strand Dear Friends, As the year draws to a close, at the Institute for Business and Social Impact, we reflect on the election,…
Read MoreEthics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Launching the Investment for Impact Research Prize
The Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business has just launched a $5,000 research prize for work on the role of impact investment aimed at improving society or the environment. The…
The 2017 Global Social Venture Competition Gets Underway
The 18th annual Global Social Venture Competition, which attracts social impact startup ventures from around the world, is about to get underway with the biggest prize pool yet. This year, the winners of the…
The Patagonia Case Competition: Finding an Eco-Friendly Water Repellent
By Edmund L. Andrews Few companies have tied their identities more closely to environmental responsibility than Patagonia, the outdoor apparel manufacturer founded decades ago by the rock climber Yvon Choinard. Patagonia’s mission statement is “build…
Optics v. Sexual Harassment at UC Berkeley
Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, two faculty members at Berkeley-Haas argue that the UC Berkeley’s response to charges of sexual harassment are “inadequate” and “might make the problem worse.” Kellie McElhaney, adjunct professor at…
David Vogel in Wall Street Journal: Virtuous Companies Don’t Earn Higher Returns
By Edmund L. Andrews Investment funds that focus on social and environmental responsibility have enjoyed explosive growth over the past decade, amassing $5 trillion in assets by the end of 2014. As a general matter,…
Laura D. Tyson: Preserving the Social Contract in a Gig Economy
In a new column published by Project Syndicate, Laura D. Tyson and Lenny Mendonca argue that the rise of digital, on-demand work platforms – from Uber and TaskRabbit to Freelancer.com – requires new policies to…
The Global Social Venture Competition: Enter Now
Calling social entrepreneurs from around the world: the application deadline for the 2016 Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is coming up fast on Dec. 4. Offering a total of $50,000 in prizes, the GSVC…
Green Chemistry: From Blue Jeans to 3-D Printing
By Edmund L. Andrews When people talk about “green” business, they often think about renewable energy and products that have a smaller carbon footprint. But there is also a burgeoning business interest in “green…
A Danish Food Entrepreneur Moves to New York City for Business and Social Change
By Edmund L. Andrews For more than 30 years, the Danish food entrepreneur Claus Meyer has been preoccupied with the idea that healthy and delicious cuisine can be both an instrument of social change…