Do sustainable business investments fatten a company’s bottom line? This question is at the heart the inaugural Managing for Sustainability forum hosted by the University of Colorado Denver Business School, which takes place on Wednesday, September 26, from 7:30 to 10:00 AM. The event, titled Getting Green by Going Green: Why a Major Private Equity Group is Investing in Sustainability, is presented by FirstData, and is designed to help people learn how using sustainable business practices can generate value and why the study of managing a sustainable business is more relevant than ever.
Getting Green by Going Green is an interactive discussion which will be moderated by Sustainable Business Lecturer Graham Russell. The event will include remarks from Elizabeth Seeger (via weblink) from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP (KKR) and Ellen Sandberg from First Data. Seeger and Sandberg will explore the reasons why their respective organizations are embracing the principles of sustainable business, the challenges they encountered and the significant results they have already achieved. The discussion will highlight why sustainability is being embraced as a sound business practice.
The forum will be held at the University of Colorado Denver Lawrence Street Center, in the Terrace Room, on the second floor. The CU Denver Lawrence Street Center is located at 1380 Lawrence Street in Denver.
First Data, with 1,200 employees in Denver, is owned by KKR, one of the largest and most successful private equity groups in the world. A leading provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions, First Data is part of KKR’s investment portfolio that spans 14 industry segments across the U.S., Europe and Asia. In the past few years, KKR has recognized that the trend toward a more sustainable global economy is inevitable, a source of opportunity, and a competitive advantage for those companies willing to take advantage of it. As a result, KKR is leading its portfolio companies to rethink the way they do business, and to implement sustainability initiatives that will enhance their enterprise value.
You can reserve your space in the event or get more information by visiting business.ucdenver.edu/getting-green
About the event’s speakers
Elizabeth Seeger
Elizabeth Seeger joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) in 2009 to help oversee the management of environmental and social responsibility issues and opportunities across KKR’s portfolio, including through KKR’s Green Portfolio Program (http://green.kkr.com). Elizabeth was previously a Project Manager in the Corporate Partnerships Program of Environmental Defense Fund. Prior to EDF, Elizabeth was a consultant with the Corporate Executive Board, where she advised companies across a broad range of industries in Europe and the United States. Before CEB, Elizabeth was an Associate at the Environmental Law Institute, a non-profit organization focused on environmental law and policy research and education. Elizabeth has more than 10 years of experience working on corporate environmental and social issues and earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ellen Sandberg
Ellen Sandberg is vice president of community relations at First Data, and president of the First Data Foundation, which she established in 2007. Prior to this, she served five years as senior program officer at the Western Union Foundation focusing on global grant making global, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. Before corporate philanthropy, Ellen led major gifts and direct mail fundraising for the American Red Cross. A native of California, Ellen graduated with a degree in political science from the University of California in San Diego in 1988. She has lived in Chile, Mexico and Nicaragua and speaks fluent Spanish. Ellen has also traveled for work extensively in Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Graham Russell
Graham Russell is a sustainable business professional and sustainability consultant. He brings 25 years of CEO experience in small to mid-sized companies in the environmental services and transportation industries to the task of helping organizations understand how a strategy based on the principles of sustainability and green business thinking drives innovation, competitive advantage, job creation and improved financial performance.
Through TrupointAdvisors (www.trupointadvisors.com), he provides consulting services to companies wishing to develop and implement a sustainability-based strategy as well as strategic marketing and planning services to companies in the environmental services and cleantech industries with a special focus on waste elimination and water-related services.
Russell was the creator in 2006 of the Sustainable Opportunities Summit, now the largest sustainable business conference in the Rocky Mountain West. He currently directs an MBA course in sustainable business at the University of Colorado, Denver, Business School, and is a frequent writer and speaker on the subject of the benefits of sustainable and green business thinking. He is co-author of “A Simple Path to Sustainability – Green Business Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses”
