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Americas Conference – Sustainable Resilience: Catalyzing Innovations

09 - 11 Nov '23

Americas Conference – Sustainable Resilience: Catalyzing Innovations

San Francisco
09 - 11 Nov '23

Americas Conference – Sustainable Resilience: Catalyzing Innovations

San Francisco

About this Event

The Americas Conference at the INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation will provide an exceptional platform to rethink and discuss what innovation and sustainability mean today and how to put new concepts and goals into action to advance business as a force for good.

Overview

Sustainable Resilience: Catalyzing Innovations

Today, companies are asked not just to innovate but to innovate sustainably. To remain competitive, companies must accommodate a business landscape that embraces circularity and demands that companies operate in an eco-friendly, sustainable fashion.

The Americas Conference, to be held at the INSEAD San Francisco Hub For Business Innovation, provides an exceptional platform to rethink and discuss, with senior business and government leaders, INSEAD faculty, and alumni, how companies can integrate environmental, social, and financial factors into their decision-making as well as generate new business ideas and organizational models.

On Nov 10th, we will announce the winners of Karel Cool and Ataly Atasu’s INSEAD’s Business Sustainability Awards. We are honoured to have Andreas Jacobs, Chairman of INSEAD’s Board of Directors, join us for an awards ceremony and celebrations.

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Program

Thursday 9th Nov (Pre-Conference)

2:00 - 7:00 pm

  • 2:00 pm | INSEAD Innovators Showcase Sponsored by Loyal VC
    Michael Kosic, Founder and Managing Partner at Loyal VC
    Kamal Hassan, Managing Partner at Loyal VC
  • 2:00 pm | BCG Roundtable (invitation-only)
    Ron Soonieus, Sr Advisor BCG
  • 4:30 pm | Loyal VC Update
    Kamal Hassan, Managing Partner at Loyal VC
  • 5:00 pm | Welcome Cocktail with Francisco Veloso & Celebration of the Succession of the US NAA President from Cintia Tavella to Amit Akhelikar.

Friday 10th Nov (Conference + Awards + Gala)

8:45 am - 6:30 pm 

  •  9:00 am | Masterclass "Sustainability through the Lens of Strategy"  
    INSEAD Professor Karel Cool
  •  10:15 am | Keynote "Sustainable Business Opportunities for a Just and Resilient Society"  
    Joel Makower, Chairman and Co-Founder at GreenBiz Group
  • 11:30 am | FUL Foods Degustation Activity
    Julia Streuli, CEO of FUL Foods
  • 1:00 pm | "The Role of the Board: Building Resilience in Business" 
    moderated by Mary Francia, CEO at Serowires Strategy Consulting,
    Ron Soonieus, Sr Advisor at BCG, 
    Dave Young, Managing Director and Sr Partner at BCG,
    Scott Atkinson, Managing Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, 
    Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO & Founder at Competent Board
  • 2:00 pm | "GenerativeAI in Turbulent Times" Fireside chat
    Brad Lightcap, COO at OpenAI,
    Geoff Ralston, President at Y Combinator,
    Peter Zemsky, INSEAD Professor of Strategy
  • 3:15 pm | "Trillion Dollar Investment Question"
    moderated by Ilian Mihov, INSEAD Professor of Economics,
    John Fleming, Partner at ERM: Environmental Resource Management,
    Eva Zlotnicka, Founder & Managing Partner at Inclusive Capital Partners,
    Bill Weil, Climate Finance Advisor at Tempest Advisors,
    Katie Schmitz Eulitt, Director Outreach, Global Investors at IFRS Foundation
  • 4:00 pm | "Tackling over 90% of Global Emissions" (INSEAD Women in Business Global Club)
    moderated by Megan Pillsbury, Founder and CEO at Duna Analytics,
    Kirsten Ritchie, Principal and Global Director, Climate Action + Sustainability at Gensler,
    Karen Bozynski Wilson, Director at KS2
  • 5:00 pm | Award Ceremony
    Announcement of the Winners of the INSEAD's Business Sustainability Award, with Francisco Veloso, Dean, Karel Cool, INSEAD Professor of Competitive Strategy, and Andreas Jacobs, Chairman of the INSEAD Board

 

6:30 pm to 11:00 pm

  • "Blooming Extravaganza: Magic, Music, and Dance" Dinner & Gala - at 25Lusk - Within walking distance of the INSEAD San Francisco Hub, head straight for an unforgettable party! The more the merrier: Bring your partners and friends!

Saturday 11th Nov (Conference + Social)

9:30 am - 2:30 pm

  • 9:30 am | "Future of Living" - in collaboration with Swissnex
    moderated by Payal Vora, Founder of Payal Vora Associates,
    Ning Wang, UZH,
    Sascha Roesler, USI,
    Arabelle de Saussure, ETHZ
  • 9:30 am | "From Vision to Action: Driving Sustainable Transformation in Global Supply Chains" 
    moderated by Karel Cool,
    Valerie Touchon, Chief Impact Officer at Ecovadis,
    Russell Chung, Chief Procurement Officer of the University of California, Berkeley, 
    Matthew Eaton, Head of Responsible Sourcing at VMware
  • 9:30 am | Blitz hackathon - "Design Your Sustainable Future" 
    Gabriel Lomeli, Strategy & Account Mgr at LinkedIn Media Production
  • 10:45 am | "Enhance Your Career: Aligning Purpose and Possibilities" 
    Jonathan Yeo, Founder at The Potential Space
  • 10:45 am | "Sustainability Leadership in Action"
    Jing Liao, CAO of Solera, Inc.
    Catherine Zhu, Partner & Global Head of Sustainability Practice at Egon Zehnder 
  • 10:45 am | "Demystifying Angel Investing"(INSEAD US Angels Club)
    James So, NPO Board & Venture Investor,
    Bernard Yong, Co-Founder @ SLEEVE
  • 12:30pm | Foodtruck Festival in a Repurposed Doubledecker @ Spark Social

 

* this program is subject to change
** the conference is open to all professionals and NON-INSEAD communities
*** Active INSEAD NAA members get an additional 20% off. Email [email protected] for the member's code.

Speakers and Hosts

Opening Reception

Vic Woo
Director of
INSEAD SF Hub
Francisco Veloso
Dean of
INSEAD
Cintia O Tavella Gomez
President of US
NAA INSEAD, 2020-2023
Amit Akhelikar
President of US
NAA INSEAD, 2024

INSEAD Innovators Showcase

Master Class:
Sustainability through the Lens of Strategy

Karel Cool
INSEAD

Keynote: Sustainable Business Opportunities for a Just and Resilient Economy

Joel Makower
GreenBiz Group

The Role of the Board: Building Resilience in Business

Mary Francia
Serowires Strategy Consulting

Scott Atkinson
Heidrick&Struggles
Helle Bank Jørgensen
CEO & Founder at Competent Board

GenAI in Turbulent Times

Trillion Dollar Investment Question

Ilian Mihov
INSEAD Professor of Economics
John Fleming
Environmental Resource Management
Eva Zlotnicka
InclusiveCapital Partners

Katie Schmitz Eulitt
IFRS Foundation
Bill Weil
TempestAdvisors

Tackling over 90% of Global Emissions

Megan Pillsbury
Dunya Analytics
Karen Bozynski
ventureLAB

Future of Living, with Swissnex

Payal Vora
Payal Vora Associates
Ning Wang
University of Zurich
Dr Sascha Roesler
Universita'della
Svizzera Italiana

From Vision to Action: Driving Sustainable Transformation in Global Supply Chains

Russell Chung
University of California,
Berkeley

Sustainability Leadership in Action

Catherine Zhu
EgonZehnder
Jing Liao
Solera

Enhance Your Career: Aligning Purpose and Possibilities

Jonathan Yeo
The Potential Space

Blitz Hackathon - Design Your Sustainable Future

Demystifying Angel Investing

James so
NPO Board & Venture Investor
Bernard Yong
Co-Founder @ SLEEVE

Organizing Committee

INSEAD NAA Volunteers

INSEAD Team

Practical Information

The Venue

The Americas Conference 2023 will be held at the INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation.

The INSEAD SF Hub is located at 224 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107

 

Ride Sharing

INSEAD aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, including Scope 3 (read more).
We encourage you to support the school in this effort and use public transportation to get to the event. If you must travel by car, please consider carpooling.

Parking

Please note that there are no on site parking facilities at the SF Hub. You can use SpotHero to check parking availability and rates in the nearby area.

Accommodation

View the list of hotels

 Hotel Via 
138 King Street 
San Francisco, CA 94107 
Tel: +1 415 200 4977 
Hotel website 
4 mins walk to Hub 

 Breakfast option: 
Offer breakfast voucher or Grab & Go. 

Housekeeping service: 
Daily service available. 

Onsite valet parking from USD70 per day plus tax 

Hyatt Place 
San Francisco/Downtown

701 3rd Street 
San Francisco, CA 94107 
Tel: +1 415 767 2000 
Hotel website 
2 mins walk to Hub 

 Breakfast option: 
Breakfast included with rates - Continental breakfast 

Housekeeping service: 
Daily service available. 

 Limited onsite valet parking. From USD75 per day plus tax 

 Click here for reservations 

Note: Corp code - 156814

LUMA Hotel San Francisco
100 Channel St.
San Francisco, CA 94158
Hotel website
8 mins walk to Hub

Breakfast option: 
Breakfast not included with rates 

Housekeeping service: 
Daily service available. 

Onsite valet parking from USD75 per day plus tax 

InterContinental San Francisco 
888 Howard Street 
San Francisco, CA 94103 
Tel: +1 415 616 6500 
Hotel website 
19 mins walk to the Hub 

Breakfast option: 
Breakfast not included with rates 

Housekeeping service: 
Daily service available 

Onsite valet parking from USD77  per day plus tax 

Click here for reservations 

 Note: Select ‘INSEAD’ 
(Rate Preference) 

Dress code

The dress code for the Americas Conference is business casual, and cocktail attire for the Gala

Media, filming and photography

INSEAD may engage professional photographers for this event. All sessions will be filmed. We reserve the right to use any film and/or photography from the event in our print and digital marketing collateral. 

Gala venue

The Gala will take place at 25 Lusk, one of San Francisco’s top private dining venues, located just steps away from the SF Hub.

25 Lusk

 

25 Lusk is located at 25 Lusk St, San Francisco, CA 94107