Rochester TRENDS: The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward.

Stanley Litow, Professor at Columbia and Professor and Innovator in Residence at Duke University as well as IBM Vice President Emeritus of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs and President Emeritus of the IBM Foundation is also author of the book “The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward.”  
 
At this February 13 Rochester TRENDS Featured Speaker Series event, Litow plans to discuss the role of corporations in society and why that topic is one of the most contested issues in American life.  Litow believes big companies will be motivated to step up their efforts to create jobs, reduce poverty, improve education and health, and address climate change issues — both domestically and around the world. He argues that for some leaders in the private sector this is not a matter of public relations or charity. It is integral to their corporate strategy, resulting in creating new markets, reducing risks, attracting and retaining top talent, and generating growth and realizing opportunities.

Read Stanley Litow’s New York Daily News essay “Why mandate vacation pay before trying other means? The private sector can be nudged to innovate”

Litow makes the case that a corporation with a solid plan for giving back to society is producing real sustainable value.  The presentation will touch on corporate impact on the environment, income inequality, and a range of social ills from discrimination and illiteracy to obesity and opioid addiction. In The Challenge for Business and Society, Litow offers a road map to improve corporate social responsibility.
 
The Business Council of New York State recently presented Litow its prestigious Corning Award, which goes to an individual who best demonstrates an outstanding level of accomplishment in their chosen discipline, as well as a deep and sustaining commitment to the people of New York.  Stanley Litow also serves as a trustee of the State University of New York where he chairs the Academic Affairs Committee of SUNY.

This series is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Avani Technology Solutions, Inc