Events Archive

For details of future events, click here.

Transforming Business

Faith in Capitalism
Transforming Business is a member of the Council of Christians and Jews. On 22nd June the Council is co-hosting with the international law firm Simons & Simons a breakfast seminar in London on Faith in Capitalism: How can we make the global economy more ethical?' Speakers include Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach (Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs and Chairman, Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lambeth Fund); Alex Brummer (City Editor, Daily Mail and columnist, Jewish Chronicle); and John Micklethwait (Editor-in-Chief, The Economist and author of God is Back). The breakfast is free and further details can be found here.

Sustainable Business in the Developing World
The Christian Association of Business Executives (CABE), to which Transforming Business belongs, is holding a CABE Forum on 'Sustainable Business in the Developing World' on 23rd June. Speakers include Shona Passfield (CMS), Jyoti Banerjee (KiteBlue), Andrew Tanswell (Tough Stuff), Sally Reith (Shared Interest), Tom Sanderson (Five Talents). The event will be held at the Cass Business School in London and will begin at 6.15 for 6.30 pm. A flyer with further details can be found here.

New Wine Leadership Conference 2010
Dr Flint McGlaughlin, Director of Enterprise Research in the Transforming Business network, will be speaking in several sessions of a leadership conference in Harrogate, UK, from 17-19 May 2010. He will be drawing on his experience as CEO of a group of companies and as a church leader (as well as on the findings of his business and theological research). He will address topics such as decision-making and staff appraisal. The conference is targeted in particular towards young and emerging leaders. Details here.

Institutions, Ethics and Finance
This is the title of the next conference in the series on 'Poverty, Entrepreneurship and Integral Development' organized by the Acton Institute (sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation). It will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 18th March 2010. Transforming Business' Peter Heslam will deliver a lecture on 'Tackling Poverty through Economic Inclusion: The Promise of Catholic Social Teaching' and take part in a panel debate. Further details here.

Pioneers of Prosperity
Dr Peter Heslam, the Director of Transforming Business, will be a judge in a business competition on enterprise solutions to poverty in El Salvador organized by the OTF Group and the S.E.VEN Fund from 10-12 March 2010. As this competition is known as the 'development version' of the popular TV series Dragon's Den, Peter will be acting as one of the Dragons! The Final Awards Ceremony will take place at 6.00 pm on Friday 12th March at the Theatro de las Ruinas, Suchitoto, El Salvador. Email pioneersofprosperity@otfgroup.com for an invitation and click here for details of the Pioneers of Prosperity initiative.

Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit
Dr Rick Goossen, Director of Entrepreneurial Leadership in the Transforming Business network, is convening a major summit of entrepreneurial Christian leaders at one of the world's leading business schools. The summit, which will take place February 21-24, 2010, in Phoenix, Arizona, will be run in partnership with Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. It is intended for leaders in business, non-profits and churches who want to reflect on and re-envision their vocation to leadership. It will also provide a forum in which leaders in business and the church can share best practice in entrepreneurial leadership and begin the break down some of the barriers that divide them. Further information, including a programme and a four-page brochure, is available at http://www.BreakThruSummits.com.

Faith and Entrepreneurship
Dr Rick Goossen has directed a research project involving 125 interviews with entrepreneurs in Canada, the US and the UK whose work is inspired by their faith. He will be presenting key findings derived from a detailed statistical analysis of the questionnaire used in the research process at a presentation on November 4th at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leaders, School of Business, Trinity Western University in Canada. The research forms the basis for a book on the topic to be published in 2010.

Economics and Religion
The John Templeton Foundation is sponsoring a global investigation into Economics and Theology as a new interdisciplinary research field. Part of this is a small gathering of economists and theologians in Montreal from 4-6th November 2009. This consultation, in which Peter Heslam will participate, will consider key research questions, how research in the field, especially by young non-Western scholars, can best be supported, and how its impact can be optimized in the business, governmental and faith communities. The conference has been planned to coincide with the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Montreal from 7th-10th November (see here), at which the findings of the consultation will be presented.

Leadership Summit
McGill University in Montreal Canada is holding the McGill Leadership Summit on October 15-16th 2009. Dr Rick Goossen will be speaking at this event on 'Engaging the Next Generation of Volunteers', in which he will share insights from his research and business experience. Another speaker is former US President Bill Clinton, who will be receiving an honorary doctorate from McGill.

CS Lewis Lecture – Can Capitalism be Healed?
Peter Heslam will be delivering the prestigious CS Lewis Lecture on 28th September 2009, at the Institute of Bankers in Dublin to a large audience of senior bankers, business leaders, politicians and academics. The title of his talk is 'Can Capitalism be Healed? Market Ethics and the Virtue of Thrift'. In the eyes of many, capitalism has been left badly wounded by the recent financial turmoil. If this is true, can it be healed, and, if so, how? More information here.

Peace through Commerce
Interest in the role of entrepreneurship in peace-building in conflict regions around the world is rapidly increasing. Peter Heslam will be addressing a conference at George Washington University in Washington on this theme and taking part in high-level consultations with global leaders, from 24-25th September 2009. Although the conference is invitation-only, it will feed into a major public conference in 2011, organized by the Peace through Commerce Alliance, details of which will follow.

Business Fights Poverty
Business Fights Poverty is a rapidly growing network of individuals and groups that share with Transforming Business a commitment to entrepreneurial solutions to poverty. Together with a number of other partners, including the UK government's Department for International Development, the network is holding a series of events in London. Details are available here.

Happiness and thrift
Transforming Business is having input in an international conference on 'Happiness and Relational Goods: Well-being and Interpersonal Relations in the Economic Sphere' in Venice, 11-13th June 2009. Several hundred delegates from around the world have booked to attend. Peter Heslam, the director of Transforming Business, will be giving one of the talks, based on his research on thrift and entrepreneurship. The conference will take place on a beautiful Venice island. For more information, click here.

Moral Economy
Transforming Business takes an active role in the Business in Society Research Group of the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at Cambridge University. The theme the Group has selected for this year is 'The Moral Economy?' A brief introduction can be found here.

On 22nd and 23rd May 2009 the Group will hold two one-day conferences on issues relating to the role of business in human development. Peter Heslam, the Director of Transforming Business, is one of the speakers on 23rd May and the title of his talk is 'Make Poverty Business: Entrepreneurship, Philanthrocapitalism and the Spirit of Enterprise'. Click here for information.

Business in Development
Transforming Business has invited Michael Green to be the speaker at a CRASSH event in Cambridge on 1st June. Together with Matthew Bishop of The Economist, Michael is the co-author of a new book that is fast becoming a best-seller: Philanthrocapitalism: How the rich can save the world and why we shout let them. Click here for details.

Global Leadership, Global Ethics?
Ashridge, one of the world's leading business schools, is holding a conference entitled 'Global Leadership, Global Ethics: In Search of the Ethical Leadership Compass', on 15-17 May 2009. It will bring together leading figures from business and academia. Transforming Business' Director, Peter Heslam, will be speaking (on 16th May) on 'The Contribution of Business to Human Development: Thrift, Entrepreneurship and Social Captial'. Click here for details.

Rebuilding trust - the G20 and beyond
On the eve of the G20, St Paul's is hosting a high level debate about the moral questions raised by the dramatically changing world we find ourselves in.

Can opportunities for society's good come from the economic crisis? Has there been a disconnection between morality, policy-making and practice? What are the prospects for remaking the global order, rebuilding financial systems and re-establishing trust? How will a new global order actively include development goals and address climate change?

Those on the platform will include a very senior member of the Cabinet, and the debate will be open to questions from the audience.

For dates and information about this event, click here.

Principles in Business
How can Christian virtue ethics enrich and inform the conduct of contemporary business? That has been the key question of a seminar series on the Principles of Business in which Peter Heslam, Transforming Business' Director, is involved. These one-day seminars are co-hosted by Faith in Business and CABE (the Christian Association of Business Executives). They are practically oriented and are by invitation only. Information about the programme for 2008 can be obtained from Dr Richard Higginson, the director of Faith in Business, to whom application can be made to receive an invitation.

Entrepreneurship
Together with Faith in Business, a business initiative at Ridley Hall in Cambridge (UK), Transforming Business is holding a residential conference on entrepreneurship from 27-29 March 2009. Entrepreneurship involves either starting new organizations or revitalising mature organizations, particularly businesses, by identifying opportunities. It involves innovation and is associated with vision, passion, risk-taking, persistence and decisiveness. This conference with address such questions as:

- what makes a successful entrepreneur?
- what is the relationship between entrepreneurship and leadership?
- what are the ethical challenges of entrepreneurship in the global economy?

The conference, to be held in Cambridge, is intended for anyone interested in entrepreneurship: proven entrepreneurs, budding entrepreneurs, frustrated entrepreneurs, and people involved in working or living alongside entrepreneurs. It will draw richly on the experience of those who have practised entrepreneurship and thought deeply about it. Further details and a programme can be found here. Speakers include Transforming Business' Dr Peter Heslam, Dr Flint McGlaughlin, and Dr Rick Goossen.

The Spirit of Social Enterprise
The Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture (OCCC), Regent's Park College (Oxford University) is organizing a series of lectures on 'The Spirit of Social Enterprise' during the Michaelmas term of 2008. These are official lectures of the University but they are open to all. They will be held on Tuesdays at 5:00pm and run for about 50 minutes plus 15-20 minutes of Q &A. Dr Peter Heslam, Director of Transforming Business, will present a lecture in this series on 25th November which will focus on thrift as solution to the credit crisis and to global poverty. For further information, contact Dr Isabella Bunn, Associate Director of the OCCC.

What is Economic Justice?
The current financial crisis invites ethical reflection on the direction of the global economy. Transforming Business has teamed up with the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics to do just this in a series of lunchtime seminars in Cambridge. The seminars will explore an important new book on the theme by Dr Andrew Hartropp, an economist and theologian, entitled What is Economic Justice?, which includes a discussion of the role of business in development. The seminars will be held at Tyndale House from 12.30 to 2.00 pm on the following Wednesdays: 19 Nov and 3 Dec. For further details and for copies of the book (though reading it is not a requirement for attendance) contact Tania Riola.

Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty
Seton Hall University on the edge of New York is organizing an evening with Dr Peter Heslam, Director of Transforming Business, on October 17th 2008 entitled 'Transforming Business - Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty'. Peter will present case studies and practical models that inform, motivate and multiply poverty-reducing enterprise. Further details from Debbie Kurus.

Global Impact Banquet
ServanTek, Inc, is a global organization that assists not-for-profit organizations to integrate IT systems effectively into their operations. In doing so, it takes a relational and human-centric, rather than to a techno-centric approach. On 18th October ServanTek is hosting a banquet in New York to share its vision and goals with corporations, businesses and individuals. Transforming Business' Peter Heslam, will be the guest speaker. Click here for details and to request an invitation.

Transforming Global Markets
The deepening credit crisis raises the question whether the global financial markets can be transformed so that they make a positive contribution to human well-being? Peter Heslam thinks they can and on 19th October 2008 he will share his reasons to be cheerful at the eye of the storm in New York, to a gathering that will include many banking and finance professionals. His talk will be followed by discussion and a pizza lunch. All are welcome. Further details here.

Transformative Commerce: Enterprise, Ethics, and the Elimination of Poverty
The convergence of appropriate technology, social entrepreneurship and faith groups can provide a powerful stimulus to enterprise solutions to poverty. The Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, is holding a symposium from 23rd-25th October 2008 to examine how this convergence can understood and multiplied. It is entitled Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty. Dr Flint McGlaughlin and Dr Peter Heslam, both of Transforming Business, will be co-presenting. Further details, including a conference programme, are available here.

Entrepreneur Forum
What is probably the world's largest gathering of faith-based entrepreneurs is happening in Vancouver on 29th October 2008. And the key-note speaker at this forum, Larry Farrell (leading entrepreneur and former Vice President of American Express), has probably taught entrepreneurship to more individuals, organizations, and governments than anyone else in the world. The event will be held in one of Vancouver's top conference venues and is organized by Transforming Business' Dr Rick Goossen in conjunction with the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leaders at the School of Business, Trinity Western University, which he directs. Transforming Business' Dr Flint McGlaughlin and Dr Peter Heslam will also be making a stage appearance. More details here.

Other organizations

Gordon Brown at the launch of Global Enterprise Week

Global Enterprise Week British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Dr Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, have launched the countdown to Global Entrepreneurship Week, set to run from 17-23 November 2008. They plan for it to become the world's biggest event celebrating and promoting entrepreneurship amongst young people. Representatives from more than 25 participating countries attended the launch and to plan the events. To find out events due to take place where you are, click here.

Institute of Economic Affairs
Economic Issues for Christians in the Modern World - this seminar is aimed at individuals who have an interest in understanding how economics and Christian thinking can inform public policy. The speakers will discuss topical developments in economics (including the environment, taxation and welfare) that are important in informing debates on issues of interest to Christians involved in public life or in education. Wednesday 22 October 2008, 1:00pm. At the IEA, 2 Lord North Street, Westminster, London SW1 (entrance on Great Peter Street). Click here for further details.