 Message from the CEO
The weeks since the last newsletter have been ones of considerable progress. This will have been apparent to the increasing numbers of you who have been following our frequent updates to the CSI website.
I am particularly excited that Cheryl Kernot has accepted the position of Director of Teaching and Learning. Cheryl and I sometimes shared a parliamentary committee room, and robust debate, when we engaged as Senator and Departmental Secretary respectively. It seems a long time ago.
Since then Cheryl has had a distinguished career in the area of social enterprise at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurs at the Said Business School at Oxford University and the School for Social Entrepreneurs in London. Her knowledge, experience and insight will add considerable value to CSI, not least in the role she will play as a key part of the leadership team.
I am delighted, too, that Sally Capp has agreed to join the Board of CSI. I know just how busy she is as the Chief Executive Officer of the Committee for Melbourne and in a range of not-for-profit activities. Her presence will add significantly to the governing oversight of the Centre.
I found the first meetings of the Melbourne and Sydney Advisory Councils energising. I feel extraordinarily fortunate that I have access to such a distinguished group with such diverse experience. I have no doubt the meetings will influence significantly the teaching, research and advocacy roles of the Centre. The task of harnessing the enthusiasm and ideas of the membership will be challenging but rewarding. It is clear that their enthusiastic engagement will stimulate new approaches to the building of not-for-profit capacity, social enterprise and the framing of public policy.
I have attended a lot of forums (and given a few too many speeches!) in the last month. The great advantage has been the opportunity to meet hundreds of people who care about the future of the Centre and the positive role that it can play. To all of you who have taken the chance to speak to me or emailed your comments, many thanks. Your positive feedback adds heart, energy and inspiration to all who work in and with the Centre.
Peter Shergold,
Chief Executive.
csi.edu.au
Two scholarship winners
CSI has awarded two scholarships, in conjunction with the Chain Reaction Foundation and Jobs Australia, for two lucky individuals to attend a development conference in India. Alicia Mollaun, an Executive Officer in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Claire Hammerton, a solicitor at Deacons law firm, will shortly be heading to New Delhi to attend the PRIA International Internship Program.
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Kakabadse and Casey seminars
Participants in well attended seminars run by Andrew and Nada Kakabadse in Sydney and Melbourne in August were asked to put themselves in the shoes of Corporate Social Responsibility managers of large corporations. The leadership demands on a CSR manager rival those on a board chairman in scope and complexity, the participants were told, so CSR managers need guts and capability to succeed in an environment which can be suspicious of and even hostile to their work. The day was peppered by lively discussions about how NGOs can best approach a CSR manager under siege, and the characteristics of a truly effective change agent. John Casey’s one day course also in August focused on what topics might be important in the upcoming Federal Government consultations compacts between government and NGOs, and provided some useful resources to help organisations prepare.
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CSI a member of global community
CSI is extending its reach and tapping into global resources on social impact through international memberships and involvement with global initiatives. CSI is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, and supports the Principles for Responsible Management framework for engaging academic institutions to help advance corporate social responsibility. The Centre is soon to be a member of the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS). Recently, CSI was represented at the Beyond Grey Pinstripes Web Conference. Beyond Grey Pinstripes is an alternative ranking for business schools across the world based on the quality and innovation of their MBA programs which focus on social and environmental responsibility in business.
CSI Melbourne seminar on social innovation
CSI will host a seminar on social innovation in Australian society in Melbourne this month with keynote speaker Charles Leadbeater, strategic adviser to corporations and governments, regular contributor to the Financial Times and author. Leadbeater will be presenting on social innovation, policy reform and the new public sector, as well as taking questions from forum participants. Also presenting are Professor Peter Shergold, Professor Glyn Davis, Vice Chancellor at the University of Melbourne, Tom Bentley, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, and Martin Stewart-Weeks, Chair of the Australian Social Innovation Exchange Working Group. These will be followed by a panel discussion facilitated by Professor Vijoleta Braach-Maksvytis, senior advisor to CSI from the University of Melbourne.
CSI hosts CEO dinners
Peter Shergold will host two special dinners for not-for-profit CEOs this month, one in Canberra, the other in Sydney. Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation in the UK and author of Good and Bad Power: the ideals and betrayals of government, will present at the Canberra dinner on the topic ‘how to get the right relationship between government and civil society.’ Geoff has held various government positions in the UK, including director of the government’s Strategy Unit and head of policy in the Prime Minister’s office. Professor Steven Rathgeb Smith from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington will present at the Sydney dinner on ‘the changing role of nonprofit agencies in providing public services: lessons from the United States.’ Professor Smith is the co-author (with Michael Lipsky) of Nonprofits for Hire: the welfare state in the age of contracting.
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