BSR Gathers Chief Sustainability Officers During Climate Week

By Invitation Only

Date and Time

September 25, 2024
7:00 pm-9:30 pm EDT

Location

New York

As sustainability leaders from around the world gather in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Climate Week NYC this fall, the context for sustainable business is undergoing tremendous change. Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) are navigating this new environment at a time when the need for progress is clearer than ever, and regulatory, economic, and political developments are leading to a reshaping of the role of the CSO.  

We are delighted to invite you to join your fellow Chief Sustainability Officers (and equivalent) for a private dinner to connect and explore how to understand and have impact amidst several interlocking changes.  In addition to informal dialogue, we will preview findings from our exclusive research based on interviews with more than 20 CSOs across sectors, as well as an update on our “Doing Business in 2030” scenarios from our Sustainable Futures Lab.  We hope you can join us for a generative and inspiring evening. 

Dinner and drinks will be served. This event is by invite only, non-transferable, and limited to one participant per company.

Important Note: This event is currently at capacity

Scheduled Speakers

• Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
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Aron Cramer
President and CEO, BSR
San Francisco
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Aron is recognized globally as a preeminent authority on just and sustainable business. In addition to leading BSR, which has grown substantially throughout his tenure as President and CEO, Aron advises senior executives at BSR’s 300+ member companies and other global businesses and partners on the full spectrum of environmental, social, and governance issues.
Aron joined BSR in 1995 as the founding director of its Business and Human Rights program. He later opened BSR's Paris office in 2002, where he worked until becoming President and CEO in 2004. Aron has served on advisory boards to CEOs at AXA, Barrick Gold, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Recruit Holdings, SAP, Shell, and he serves as a director of the We Mean Business Coalition and RISE.
Aron speaks frequently at leading business and public fora and is widely quoted in top-tier media, such as the Financial Times, Le Figaro (France), The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Politico. He is co-author of the book Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World, which spotlights innovative sustainability strategies that enable business success.
Prior to joining BSR, Aron practiced law in San Francisco and worked as a journalist at ABC News in New York. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley.
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• Laura Gitman, Chief Impact Officer, BSR
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Laura Gitman
Chief Impact Officer, BSR
New York
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Laura is a global expert on corporate sustainability, with two decades of experience in strategy consulting and has advised senior executives at global companies across a range of industry sectors and sustainability issues.
As Chief Impact Officer (CIO), the first in the organization’s 30-year history, Laura focuses on maximizing the impact of BSR’s work with its network of over 300 members, both through direct engagement on project work and as a mentor for teams throughout the organization. She also oversees BSR’s collaborative initiatives and the Center for Business and Social Justice, and a recognized thought leader and innovator in strategic business.
She has been an instrumental leader in BSR’s organizational growth and impact. She launched BSR’s financial services practice and New York office, and she served as Chief Operating Officer for five years, leveraging her strengths in strategy, organizational change, and people management. Laura works with leading global companies to develop and enhance their sustainability strategies to maximize value for business and society, and she is sought after to facilitate senior-level strategy workshops and multi-stakeholder collaborations.
She previously worked for Deloitte Consulting, where she acquired extensive strategy experience advising multinational financial services companies. She also worked on several community and economic development projects in Latin America.
Laura holds a MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is an adjunct professor in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program, a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and a member of the UN Global Compact Expert Network.
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• Jacob Park, Director, Sustainable Futures Lab, BSR
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Jacob Park
Director, Sustainable Futures Lab, BSR
New York
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Jacob leads BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab, a new practice using strategic foresight techniques to help businesses engage with emerging issues that are reshaping the global landscape.
Before joining BSR, Jacob was the lead futurist in the New York office of Forum for the Future, where he used scenario planning and other futures techniques to develop sustainability strategy and drive innovation for leading businesses, foundations, and multistakeholder groups. Prior to that he worked at Adaptive Edge, a boutique strategic foresight consultancy, on collaborative scenario planning. Jacob began his career doing human rights research and advocacy at Human Rights First and the Center for Economic and Social Rights. He speaks English and French.
Jacob holds an M.B.A. in Sustainability from Presidio Graduate School and a B.A. in History from the University of Chicago. 
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• David Korngold, Managing Director of BSR Innovation Group, BSR
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David Korngold
Managing Director of BSR Innovation Group, BSR
New York
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David partners with corporate boards, executives, and investors to develop high-impact sustainability strategies. As part of BSR’s Transformation team, he co-leads engagement with boards of directors to promote effective board governance and leadership ambition on sustainability. 
Having previously led BSR's Financial Services team, David continues to work closely with financial companies on sustainability, ESG integration, and impact investing. David has led engagements in nearly all of BSR’s focus areas and major industry groups. This includes leading climate scenarios workshops with boards, creating net-zero road maps for investment firms, designing and operationalizing a leading impact investing fund, conducting materiality assessments, undertaking human rights impact assessments, and co-authoring research on topics like ESG for emerging public companies and responsible investment policies for private equity firms.
Before joining BSR, David worked in strategy and management consulting at Bain & Company.
David holds a BA in History from Amherst College.
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• Elisa Niemtzow, Vice President, Consumer Sectors and Membership, BSR
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Elisa Niemtzow
Vice President, Consumer Sectors and Membership, BSR
Paris
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Elisa leads BSR’s consumer sectors practice globally and oversees the BSR global membership network. She works with companies in the luxury, beauty, fashion, hospitality, retail, and food industries to better integrate sustainability into core business strategy, products, and operations.
She helps companies understand the world’s big disruptions, create resilient and inclusive business models and practices, and evolve brand strategy to integrate changing consumer expectations. Elisa also leads BSR’s Responsible Luxury Initiative and the Southeast Asia Reptile Conservation Alliance (SARCA).
Prior to joining BSR, Elisa was an account manager at CHANEL and a consultant at Accenture and Ernst & Young.
Elisa is French-American. She holds an M.B.A. in Luxury Goods Marketing and Management from Sup de Luxe, an M.A. in International Relations from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques Paris, and a B.A. in French from the University of Pennsylvania.
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