Social Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities in the Current Economic Climate, April 15th

Come join us to interact with organizations and learn how they are making progress in the current economic climate.

 

April 15th from 6:00PM to 8:00PM

Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor

 

This event focuses on the challenges that organizations involved in social innovation are facing in the current economic climate and explores ways to overcome them. Speakers from different sectors will come together to discuss how they are turning the current challenges into opportunities for growth. Additionally, panelists will discuss the impact on the job market. This event is sponsored by Bridge:  Students for Social Innovation.

A Q&A session and reception will follow the panel discussion. Bring your questions and ideas and join us for an engaging and open conversation.

Participants:
-David Schachter, Assistant Dean and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration, NYU Wagner

-Gina Harman, President and CEO, ACCION USA
-Meryl Schwartz, Portfolio Manager, Blue Ridge Foundation

-Adrienne Cademenos, Associate, Advisory Services, Business for Social Responsibility

-Kevin Hager, Associate for Development,
Do Something

RSVP at <http://wagner.nyu.edu/events/bridge-04-15-2009>.

                   

 

Moderator:
-David Schachter, Assistant Dean and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration
NYU Wagner
http://wagner.nyu.edu/

David Schachter is the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at NYU Wagner. Focusing on the totality of the student experience, he oversees student, program, and career services, as well as events, alumni relations, and the Capstone program. He teaches Wagner’s Composing Your Career workshop, and he has offered training, consulting, and facilitation nationally in the areas of leadership, staff development, supervision, team building, training of the trainer, and career planning. David received the 2006 NACE/Chevron Outstanding Achievement Award for Innovative Programs in Career Services for his partnership with Action Without Borders/Idealist.org on the creation of the Institute on Public Service Careers, a series of conferences designed to educate college career services professionals from across the country on how to increase the visibility and accessibility of public service careers to their students. He is on the Idealist.org advisory board and contributed chapters to The Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers and The Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers for Sector Switchers. David received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from NYU Wagner and a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Panelists:
-Gina Harman, President and CEO
ACCION
USA
http://www.accion.org/

Gina Harman assumed the position of President and CEO of ACCION USA on July 1, 2008.  She has functioned in the same capacity at ACCION New York and New Jersey since February 2008. Her appointment as President and CEO was preceded by her seven-year tenure on the Board of Directors of ACCION New York and New Jersey.

Prior to her role at ACCION, Ms. Harman served as President of the over $600 million consumer division of publicly-traded Harman International. As president, she was responsible for the strategy, engineering, product development, marketing, manufacturing, sales and distribution for multiple brands worldwide. Her career with the company spanned 22 years.

Previously, Ms. Harman served in a variety of nonprofit positions in both New York and Chicago focused on child care, labor relations and community development. She was the executive director of the Greater Astoria Development Corporation from 1983 to 1985, a Program Manager with the NYC Youth Bureau and founder and director of the Washington Square Methodist Day Care Cooperative.

-Meryl Schwartz, Portfolio Manager
Blue Ridge Foundation
http://www.brfny.org/

Meryl Schwartz is the portfolio manager at Blue Ridge Foundation New York. Before coming to Blue Ridge, she worked as a consultant to nonprofits, government agencies, and foundations in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice, high school reform, and youth development. Among many projects, Meryl was deeply involved in the creation of two small high schools-the School for Human Rights and Community Prep High School-which transitions youth released from prison and jail back to school. Her background in justice system reform and program design was sharpened in her 10 years with the Vera Institute of Justice, where she planned and managed programs dealing with juvenile justice, school safety, policing, child welfare, and immigration. Meryl created and led Vera’s planning department, where she developed demonstration projects in partnership with government agencies. She began her career as a legal services lawyer representing individuals and groups in disputes concerning public benefits, immigration, HIV/AIDS, and family law. She has a J.D. from City University of New York at Queens College and a B.A. from State University of New York at Binghamton.

-Adrienne Cademenos, Associate, Advisory Services
Business for Social Responsibility
http://www.bsr.org/

An important force for BSR’s office advisory services practice  in New York City, Adrienne applies her management consulting expertise to develop CSR strategies  for corporations across several industries, including apparel,  finance, and  publishing.   Adrienne has worked with a wide range of companies since joining BSR in 2008, including Tiffany, Philips-Van Huesen, Unilever, Wiley Publishing, and Sony.  She has also supported grant-funded work for the ILO, CAFTA, and the MacArthur Foundation.  

Her work focuses on developing strategies for social and environmental sustainability that also support and propel business objectives.  Examples include: Base of the Pyramid market entry strategies; CSR program organization, governance and change management; company-specific issue identification and prioritization; and coordinating a cross-industry working groups to magnify impact on challenging issues like international labor migration. 

Adrienne comes to BSR with a background in organization and change management in the financial services and mining sectors. Her skill set and experience include change management strategy, training, employee engagement workshops, and communications strategies. She has also conducted a variety of market research analyses and generated significant thought partnership and on-the-ground project deliverables to analyze metals manufacturing operations. Adrienne has worked as a consultant at Accenture. 

Adrienne received her B.Com. in Finance and Strategy from McGill University, where she also studied sustainability. 

-Kevin Hager, Associate for Development
Do Something
http://www.dosomething.org/

Kevin is the person who is responsible for raising 8 million dollars (by the end of next week). He is so happy to be in New York, where he is thiiiiis close to his idol, Audra McDonald. If you know who she is, then you’re probably a big musical theatre fan, too. That being said, he is proud to call Shawnee Mission, Kansas his first home. He studied Art History and Sociology at the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!) and was active in promoting volunteerism and service learning at the Center for Community Outreach and the Center for Service Learning. He has worked on several political campaigns in the Midwest and continues to be involved in the movement for LGBT equality.