Capitalism – Needing Reinventing? Are Corporate Sustainability's Focus on ESG Part of the Mix of Reinvention?

There are many voices raised now and joining in the public dialogues on corporate sustainability, citizenship, responsibility, ethics, governance…and more. These fit into the commentary stream on the future of capitalism -- and how to make it work for everyone.

There are rigorous companion dialogues – rapidly growing in number -- related to the role of sustainable investing as many more asset owners and their managers adopt new approaches, many focused on corporate ESG performance and outcomes.  We see this as further reinventing of capitalism. Do you?

On Corporate Purpose – How, What, Why and more – another public dialogue dramatically expanding since the release of the Business Roundtable’s revised mission statement in summer.

There are more voices being added to the expanding public dialogues on all of the above and more, which is what our Top Story focuses on. A fascinating range of voices will be raised by Fast Company as the publishers spotlight “15 voices” working at the forefront of trying to reinvent our economic system…and together the pursue important structural reforms and ides to bring about “fairness” (much needed in 2019!).

The first voice “raised” by Fast Company is that of Darren Walker, Ford Foundation president who says in his essay “capitalism is in crisis” and explains why in -- “How to Save Capitalism From Itself”. 

As the editors of Fast Company explain, the voices to be raised in the future (that you will want to follow via Fast Company essays) include Zeynep Ton, MIT b-school prof who sounded the Good Jobs Institute; Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy (the artisanal marketplace) whose company’s social-impact initiatives are held to the same standard as financial reporting; fashion icon Eileen Fisher (champion of the B Corp movement); Barry Lynn, founder of Open Markets Institute (who favors more regulation to address today’s monopolies); and Rachel Lauter, ED of Fair Work Center..and more!

Keep in mind Fast Company is a must-read for many GenExers and Millennials – and so you will want to keep up with the publication’s voices no matter what generation you belong to.

The Ford Foundation’s CEO essay is at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90411391/ford-foundations-darren-walker-how-to-save-capitalism-from-itself

This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.