Socially Responsible Investing

Robert Reich to speak at investment conference Sept. 21

Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will deliver the keynote address Thursday, Sept. 21, to kick off a two-day conference on socially responsible investing. The conference is sponsored by Brown’s Values Initiative.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich will deliver the keynote address to open a conference titled Socially Responsible Investing on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000, at 5 p.m. in Sayles Hall on The College Green.

Reich, currently a faculty member at Brandeis University, will speak on “The Theory and Practice of Socially Responsible Investing.” The conference is being sponsored by the Stephen Robert Initiative for the Study of Values.

“Reich has long written on the effect of globalization and business innovations on labor, and questions about labor conditions are at the center of socially responsible investing concerns,” said conference coordinator Nancy Rosenblum.

The conference program will continue on Friday, Sept. 22, with panel presentations on “Corporate Responsibility” at 4 p.m. and “Managing University Endowments” at 7:30 p.m. In the first session, panelists will discuss mechanisms for holding corporations socially responsible. During the 7:30 session, panelists will address the responsibilities of managers of university endowments and how to maximize returns while keeping the university untainted and promoting progressive social change.

Panelists will include Jill Schlesinger ’87, vice president and owner of Progressive Financial Strategies in Providence; Linda Kimball, manager of Stanford University’s endowment; Paulina Borsook, columnist for Salon.com and author of Cyberselfish/ A Critical Romp through the Terribly Libertarian Culture of High Tech; Thomas Wyly, higher education consultant for the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH); and several business and law school professors. The Friday panels will take place in the List Auditorium at 64 College St.

The Stephen Robert Initiative for the Study of Values, named for Brown’s 19th chancellor, was introduced to the campus community during the 1999-2000 academic year. It is a three-year initiative to promote sustained, focused study and discussion of fundamental human values inside and outside the classroom.