Heimans Delivers Keynote Talk at Shared Value Summit

The Shared Value Initiative’s Summit, which drew over 400 shared value practitioners and 800 more via livestream, took place on May 12th-13th in New York City. Our co-founder & CEO, Jeremy Heimans, gave a keynote perspective titled Harnessing New Power to Build a Shared Value Movement. The Shared Value Initiative, a joint effort among the mission-driven consulting firm FSG and numerous global partners, focuses on building “a global community of leaders who find business opportunities in societal challenges.”

Justin Bukule, Shared Value Initiative’s Executive Director, introduced Jeremy and noted the progress that this area of social business has made in recent years. He anecdotally described that when the Initiative began four years ago, the common understanding among the corporate world was that “companies don’t do movements.” He continued, “look at us now,” reflecting on the fact that he was speaking to a room full of companies fully engaged in building a movement around social engagement and impact.

On a similar note, to illustrate the evolving nature of the world, Jeremy discussed some of Purpose’s work and the development of new power. He focused on the connection between the ideals of new power and those of the Shared Value Initiative, centering on their overlapping missions to bridge the gap between business and social good. He ultimately called for each company in attendance to focus on aligning its values and actions across its range of constituencies from investors to consumers to employees in order to achieve the heightened level of power possible when all constituencies are mobilized. 

Watch Jeremy’s full talk here: