Events, Media & Communications

Social Innovation Summit Gathers Executive Leaders to Explore the Big Ideas Driving Social Transformation

May 29, 2012 2:00 PM ET
Campaign: 2012 Social Innovation Summit

(3BL Media) New York, NY – May 29, 2012 – The Social Innovation Summit, one of the leading events in social responsibility is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, May 30-31, 2012. At a time when business leaders are engaging in CSR in higher numbers than ever before, the Social Innovation Summit engages leading minds from Fortune 500 executives, venture capitalists and high-profile organizations across public and private sectors – including the United Nations, the White House, Starbucks, Facebook, and Microsoft – in a two day-long private forum focused on building partnerships and identifying potential solutions to the world’s largest social challenges.

Speakers will address the most urgent and compelling topics in social innovation, including:

  • The positive impact of celebrities’ work in international causes and learning from those investments, featuring celebrity singer, philanthropist and activist Alicia Keys, Global Advocate for HIV/AIDS and Co-Founder of Keep a Child Alive
  • The role of sustainability in shaping core business strategies and its contribution to enterprise longevity, featuring Jeff Swartz, former CEO of Timberland; Coca-Cola’s Chief Environmental Officer Jeff Seabright; and Jeffrey Hollender, the co-Founder of Seventh Generation.
  • How best corporate practices are fueling entrepreneurship and economic development presented by Hunter Walk of YouTube and Jonathan Greenblatt, Director, Office of Social Innovation for the White House.

”Following recent economic turmoil and recovery, companies took the opportunity to change their approach to doing business, putting a greater emphasis on social value.These organizations are now seeing positive social and financial returns from their investments, further spurring more action.When business innovation meets social transformation, everyone wins,

The Social Innovation Summit works to extend the impact that these innovative businesses are having and further partnerships among top companies and social entrepreneurs in social good.

“For me, charitable giving alone isn’t enough to drive global social change,” says artist and global AIDS/HIV advocate, Alicia Keys, “that’s why participating in forums like the Social Innovation Summit is so important; it provides an opportunity to collaborate, share best practices, and drive universal impact.”

This year’s event at the United Nations is the third annual Social Innovation Summit, and to date, more than 80 partnerships have been formed from introductions made including millions of dollars of cash and in-kind grants, multiple new board members being matched, and philanthropic opportunities discovered amongst the participants

On Twitter, follow the official event hashtag #SIS12 and the handle @socinnovation to track and engage in the conversation.

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide is managing PR and communications for the Social Innovation Summit. For additional information, please contact Cecile Farmer at cfarmer@waggeneredstrom.com or 425-638-7492.

 

About Landmark Ventures
Landmark Ventures was founded in 1995 as a family office and today has grown to encompass a broader footprint as a global investment bank and corporate advisory firm.  We focus on growth opportunities within the Innovation Economy (technology, media, communications, semiconductors, internet, cleantech and healthcare) and provide mergers & acquisition advisory, corporate development and capital raising services for a unique client roster of growth-oriented private companies, leading public companies and investment funds. 

The Social Innovation Summit was founded as part of Landmark Ventures’ corporate philanthropy program, with the goal of leveraging our convening power to create a platform for the business community to identify, explore and actualize partnership opportunities for driving global social innovation. It represents our passion for fostering growth and innovation within the for-profit sector and applying these same business principles to the non-profit sector.

About Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE) is a global, integrated communications agency. For more than 25 years the independently owned firm has developed strategic communications programs for innovative and world-changing clients, working to influence markets, inspire people and improve lives. This year, the agency was named Best Large Agency to Work For by The Holmes Report. In 2011, the agency was named Digital PR Firm of the Year by PR News, was listed in PR News' Top Places to Work in PR and received Bulldog Reporter’s Stars of PR Awards’ Communications Agency of the Year. In 2010, The Holmes Report named WE the Technology Agency of the Decade. The agency has more than 800 employees in 18 offices around the world, and its Global Alliance partners expand the agency’s reach to more than 80 additional international markets. WE has seven global practices: Analyst Relations, Consumer, Corporate, Healthcare, Public Affairs, Technology and WE Social Innovation, along with its WE Studio D® digital strategies group. To learn more, visit http://www.WaggenerEdstrom.com.