Session Presenters
Roger Bairstow serves as an executive on the managing board for Broetje Orchards. In his role, Bairstow helps the business balance its social-responsibilities agenda through such enterprises as Broetje’s affordable housing operations Snake River Housing Inc. and C.A.S.A. LLC, both of which he oversees. Bairstow also directs Mano à Mano, a nonprofit dedicated to asset building for low-income and disadvantaged populations. His work emphasizes the Broetje Orchards’ business-as-ministry model. Prior to Broetje Orchards, he was an assistant professor with Oregon State University Extension Service, did community economic development work in Oregon, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and spent eight years conducting international development work in Senegal, Kenya, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.
Jill Bamburg is the dean of academic affairs at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, which offers an MBA in sustainable business and works to prepare students to build enterprises that are financially successful, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable. She helped co-found BGI in 2002. Bamburg also serves as a member of the core faculty at BGI, where she teaches courses in sustainable business, social justice, and strategy. She is the author of Getting to Scale: Growing Your Business Without Selling Out (Berrett-Koehler, 2006). Previously, Bamburg served for seven years in a variety of marketing roles at Aldus Corporation, the inventors of desktop publishing and creators of the PageMaker software program. For the last 10 years, she has served on the board of the Positive Futures Network, the publisher of YES! magazine.
Craig Campbell is president of Campbell/Nelson Volkswagen & Nissan in Edmonds, Washington. He’s spent 22 years in the car business. Campbell is also a board member for Crista Ministries and the past president of the Puget Sound Auto Dealers. Married for 17 years, he and his wife have four sons.
Kohl Crecelius is the CEO and co-founder of Krochet Kids international – a nonprofit lifestyle brand focused on empowering communities and engaging customers to make a sustainable impact on global poverty. Now spanning three continents, including Africa and South America, KKi connects the producer with the customer through a hand-signed label that accompanies every handmade product. It’s just part of how Crecelius and his close friends are trying to revolutionize what it means to do business and do good. Crecelius says he crochets, surfs, skateboards, and blogs to stay grounded.
Albert Erisman, Ph.D., is executive in residence in the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University, where he also teaches. Erisman is the co-founder and editor of Ethix magazine, which provides illustrations of business ethics challenges through positive examples of best practices and exemplary leadership. He has been involved with business development efforts in the Central African Republic, the Ukraine, Nepal, and India. In April 2001, Erisman completed a 32-year career at The Boeing Company. During the last 10 years of his career at Boeing, he served as the director of R&D for computing and mathematics.
Brigit Helms is a senior expert for financial inclusion at McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm that advises leading companies on issues of strategy, organization, technology, and operations. Previously, she was the CEO of Unitus, spent four years with the International Finance Corporation in East Asia, and was a founding member of CGAP. Over the past 25 years, Helms has lived or worked in more than 35 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She holds advanced degrees in economic and agricultural development, and advanced international studies.
Peter Heslam is director of Transforming Business, a research and development project at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, that analyses and catalyzes ethical enterprise solutions to global poverty. He is a prolific writer, speaker, and researcher on this issue. Heslam is a senior member of Trinity College (Cambridge, U.K.), a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an advisor to Business Fights Poverty and to Pioneers of Prosperity.
A free copy of Heslam’s book Transforming Capitalism will be available at the conference.
Brian Howe
is the founder and lead attorney for Vox Legal, a law firm that serves world-changing companies and nonprofits conceived and structured to alleviate poverty, better the environment, or further some other social-justice cause. He spends his nights and weekends teaching graduate courses in international development, serving on various boards, and running a nonprofit that helps artists connect with and care for youth recovering from the effects of modern-day slavery. Howe loves sailing and rooftops.
Todd Johnson is an attorney with Jones Day, which is ranked among the world's most integrated law firms and among the best in client service. Johnson opened Jones Day’s Silicon Valley office in 2000, where he has served as regular outside counsel for public companies and start-ups alike. Today, he works with companies which are focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency, "bottom of the pyramid," and driving impact through use of the internet and “for-benefit” models. Johnson serves (or has served) as regular outside counsel to companies including SunPower Corporation, Harman International, Green Harvest Technologies, Notiva, LaborFair.com, and Pura Vida Coffee. He also serves (or has served) as pro bono counsel for organizations tackling some of the world’s hardest problems, including Grameen Trust, Fair Trade Pictures, and DripTech, and he enjoys working with those who are expanding the "for-benefit" sector, including Aspen Institute, GlobalGiving and B Lab (certifier of B Corporations).
Bob Lonac is the president and CEO of CRISTA Ministries , which is a family of seven Christian nonprofit ministries dedicated to serving people and delivering solutions for a range of needs. He brings years of top-level leadership and a heart for ministry to his position. From 1967 to 2000, Lonac served in various capacities in Young Life, including as the senior vice president for the Western Division Field Operations during his final three years with YL. He also served as the executive vice president and COO of International Justice Mission, and as a member of the advisory board of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College.
Elisa Murray is director of communications for Global Partnerships, a Seattle-based nonprofit that supports microfinance and other sustainable solutions to poverty. Previously, she served as communications director for Sightline Institute, the Northwest's sustainability think tank; as a public information specialist for the University of Washington; and as editor for Q. Magazine in Ecuador. During her time in Ecuador, she saw firsthand the potential for tools like microfinance to help loosen the deep roots of systemic poverty.
Craig Nakagawa
is a co-founder of VillageReach, a social enterprise recognized for its innovation in creating private-sector market access and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. Nakagawa has 20 years of experience in global health, development, and infrastructure in developing countries, and he’s led the development of VidaGas, a propane gas joint venture in Mozambique established to provide energy services to the ministry of health and the wider business community and households.
Dan Radcliffe is a program officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing innovations in health, development, and learning to the global community. As part of the Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor initiative, Radcliffe works on the development of mobile phone-based payment systems in developing countries. Previously, he has worked on financial inclusion issues with the Centre for Micro Finance in India and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor in Washington D.C.
John Sage is the founder of Pure Vida Coffee Company, a pioneering organic, fair-trade coffee company. An innovative, passionate and battle-tested entrepreneur with more two decades of experience leading marketing initiatives for high-performance organizations such as Microsoft, Disney and Starbucks, Sage is an Ashoka Fellow, an honor that recognizes leading entrepreneurs who are using business to transform society. He is an active volunteer and board member with numerous philanthropic organizations, and a frequent speaker on competitive strategy, sustainability, and social enterprise.
Gregory Spencer is the director of marketing and social media for The Paradigm Project, which is a low-profit, limited liability company (L3C) that seeks to create sustainable economic, social, and environmental value within developing world communities. The Paradigm Project was recognized by the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative. Prior to The Paradigm Project, he worked as a marketing director for an innovative electronics firm and as a paid intern at Blue Source. Within The Paradigm Project, Spencer is responsible for strategic partner management, project design management, and implementation on the ground in the developing world countries in which the organization operates.
Jacinta Tegman serves as the director of fund development at World Concern and CRISTA Ministries, which is a family of seven Christian nonprofit ministries dedicated to serving people and delivering solutions for a range of needs. In this role, she builds meaningful partnerships with individuals, businesses, and organizations that care about issues of local and international poverty. Tegman’s background includes two decades of ministry experience, both overseas and at the local church level. She believes that the hallmark of Christian faith is how believers respond to the needs of others.
Joe Whinney is the founder and CEO of Theo Chocolate, the first organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the U.S. After many years spent working on sustainable agricultural and agro-forestry in the humid tropics, Whinney pioneered the U.S. organic cocoa and chocolate market in the early 1990s. Theo Chocolate is the culmination of his experience in working with cacao farmers and his expertise in navigating the economics of cocoa and chocolate manufacturing. His dedication to the fundamental principle “there is no luxury in products that benefit us today but deplete the resources of future generations” is at the core of Theo’s mission and vision as a company.
Tess Wilkins is general merchandise manager for Costco Wholesale, which operates an international chain of membership warehouses that carry brand-name merchandise at substantially lower prices. For the past six years, Wilkin has developed food products for Costco’s exclusive brand, Kirkland Signature. She manages a team of buyers that works globally to create relationships with farmers and processors to ensure the necessary quality and quantity of Kirkland Signature products. In her role, Wilkin also focuses on land stewardship, and on the betterment of the lives of the farmers and of those associated with food production around the world — a methodology she refers to as “responsible buying.”
Danielle Harder
Senior Manager, Social and Environmental Accountability
Microsoft Xbox
Gregg Nebel is head of social and environmental affairs for the Americas for the adidas Group – which includes such brands as adidas North America, Reebok International, TaylorMade Golf, and Rockport. He is also a founding member of the social and environmental affairs department. A polyglot who speaks French, Spanish, and Portuguese, Nebel directs regional field operations and compliance activities with the Group’s footwear, apparel, and accessories supply chains. He has represented the adidas Group as a director of the Fair Labor Association Board since 2003, and he also sits on the board of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, an organization dedicated to the enhancement of ethical sourcing practices.
Rob Smith is CEO of Earthwise Ventures and president of Thain Boatworks Inc., both of which work with a consortium of African and American companies in order to launch a boat manufacturing company in Uganda to help bring ferry service to Lake Victoria. He is a strong advocate for good business and sound working infrastructure as solutions to poverty, as opposed to most forms of aid. Smith is active in the Christian not-for-profit sector. He founded the Agathos Foundation, which recently merged with Pilgrim, a Ugandan-based Christian relief and development organization. He is on the boards of various African relief and development organizations.
As director of environmental sustainability at Hewlett-Packard, Bonnie Nixon managed the vision, strategy, marketing, messaging, employee engagement and stakeholder relations program. As director of ethical sourcing at HP, Nixon implemented and oversaw the world’s largest and most complex electronic ethical and sustainable supply chain program for 10 years — with more than $50 billion going through HP’s supply chain. She’s been a key driver in a common industry code of conduct and complimentary tools and processes as a founder and board member of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC). Nixon also serves as a resident scholar at Stanford University, as executive faculty at Presidio’s Sustainability MBA, and as chairwoman of Sustainable Silicon Valley.
Collin Timms is founder and chairman of Guardian Bank, a cooperative bank established for the poor in Bangalore, India. He is also managing trustee of The Bridge Foundation, one of the largest microenterprise development organizations of India. Timm has founded many other enterprises, including GSK Enterprises, a venture-capital company developing socially responsible enterprises with a wide portfolio in health care, transportation, hospitality, and education; Spot City Transit, a social enterprise for self-employment that uses city taxis; and MICRON, India's first credit bureau for microfinance.