• Program 2012-13

How to Win Campaigns and Influence Businesses: Diverse Approaches to Holding Profits Accountable to Values

Date: 

April 25, 2013

Time: 

6-8 pm

Host: 

The Yes Lab at the Hemispheric Institute at NYU

Venue: 

The Einstein Auditorium (room 105) in the Barney Building (34 Stuyvesant St at E.9th St)

What can you do when you have a problem with how a company behaves?

While companies are made-up of generally well-intentioned people seeking to do their respective jobs, nevertheless we end up with the BP Macondo oil spill, fires at factories in Pakistan, unsafe financial products, tax dodging, exploitation of workers, risky chemicals in consumer products and the environment, and climate change, just to name a few of the impacts of industry on society. When government fails to prevent harm, what can the rest of us do to hold for-profit behavior accountable to our social values?

Change seekers have pioneered a diverse array of strategies and tactics to influence the behavior of businesses, from protest to partnership and litigation to investment. These groups and individuals vary, too, in the issues they pursue and scale of their actions.

Our April panel includes leaders representing a wide variety of approaches to changing corporate behavior. We'll talk about how they pick their battles, what tactics they've found the most productive, who they target with their messaging efforts, and how various activist approaches reinforce or undermine each other. Input in the conversation from activists, companies, and others in the audience will also be encouraged.

Moderator: 

Conan Magee

Panelists: 

Andy Bichlbaum, co-founder of the Yes Men; Amielle DeWan, Director of Conservation Research and Monitoring at RARE Conservation; Shin Furuya, Vice President of Investment Research and Engagement Specialist at Domini Social Investments; Josh Levin, Senior Program Officer in Finance & Commodities at World Wildlife Fund; Soledad Milius, Director of Standards, Governance, & Accountability at Equitable Origin