Blog posts by Jeffrey Hollender,
featuring posts about sustainability,
social responsibility, entrepreneurship,
and more.
Recent Posts
Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts by Lawrence Lessig
“There is a feeling today among too many Americans that we might not make it. Not that the end is near, or that doom is around the corner, but that a distinctly American feeling of inevitability, of greatness—culturally, economically, politically—is gone. That we have...
Video Interview: Jeffrey at the New Economics Institute
Video Interview: Jeffrey Hollender at the New... by tvnportal Video Interview: Jeffrey Hollender at the New Economics Institute Strategies for a New Economy...
Green vs. Green: The Sustainability Debate
Recently, I moderated a panel at the UN Social Innovation Summit with Coca-Cola, Verizon and Intel. Here is the conversation that took place.
Giving Birth to a New Economy
The "Strategies for a New Economy" conference was held on June 8th-10th at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The conference was organized around ten themes that the New Economics Institute sees as essential components in transitioning to an economy that is...
Appearance of Conflict of Interests Poses Reputational Risks
Just prior to Senate testimony by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that more than $4 trillion in near zero-interest Federal Reserve loans and other financial assistance went to the banks and businesses of at least 18 current and former...
In Bed Together: EDF & the Walton Family
Since 2004, the Walton Family Foundation has given EDF (the Environmental Defense Fund) more than $53 million. Last year, the foundation’s donations totaled an astounding 15 percent of EDF’s budget, or $13.7 million. This news generated a front page New York Times...
Struggling to Keep Up With Green Product Demand
A new survey by the consulting firm Accenture finds that consumer demand for green products is outpacing supply. While price premiums for green products have not disappeared, one-third of the businesses in the study said they could not keep up with customer demand for...
The Key to a Sustainable & Resilient Economy
On June 11–13, 2012, the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), a national public policy and advocacy organization, is bringing more than 125 innovative and triple bottom line business leaders from across the country to meet with at the White House with senior...
Ending Our Obsession With Growth & Productivity
We’ve designed an economy that is dependent upon endless growth. We’ve also designed an economy that generates incremental profits by constantly increasing productivity. One of the reasons we’re now experiencing a “jobless recovery” is that large companies keep...
Notes from the 2012 UN Social Innovation Summit
There is something awe-inspiring about being at the United Nations. One recounts the historic events and world-renowned decisions made here. Whatever is discussed here is given heightened importance due to this venerable venue. It’s an ideal place for a discussion on...
Who’s Banking on Coal?
A new report from the Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, and the Sierra Club evaluates which of the nation’s mega-banks provide the most money to the coal industry. Based on an analysis of the number of transactions that a bank was involved in, Bank of America...
Jeffrey Hollender Named Fall 2012 NYU Professor
May 2012 -- This fall of 2012, Jeffrey will teach "Sustaining Social Change in the New Economy: Opportunities and challenges for a just and equitable future" at New York University. The class is sponsored by, and was developed in conjunction with, the NYU Reynolds...
Tell AT&T: Drop Your Support of ALEC!
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a membership association that legislators and corporations pay to be a part of. In return, ALEC hands “model” bills from corporations to legislators advocating changes in the law to directly benefit the business’...
Checking in on Unilever’s Sustainability Progress
Recently, Unilever and CEO Paul Polman have been one of my favorite examples of brave and unparallel leadership in the sustainability space. Unilever recently announced its progress one year into the implementation of its “Sustainable Living Plan,” providing a great...
Jeffrey Hollender to be inducted into SVN Hall of Fame
This press release was originally published on CSRwire and is accessible here. May 2012 -- Social Venture Network (SVN) just announced the second group of inductees into the SVN Hall of Fame. Five “Environmental Evangelists” will be presented with the SVN Impact...
Solar Arrays Produce Clean Energy, Create Revenue for Burlington
The following is a speech I gave at the launch of a new solar project that will produce clean, renewable energy at two local schools, and will provide an estimated $300,000 in direct economic benefit to the city of Burlington. This project, located at Burlington High...
Disgraced Executives Still Serving on Corporate Boards
Why is the former chief of Fannie Mae still a director of a public company as prominent as Goldman Sachs and Target? How can Charles O. Prince III, the former chief executive of Citigroup, who resigned under pressure in 2007 amid huge write-downs at the bank, be an...
America’s Top Consumers of Renewable Energy
Recently, the EPA announced the 50 organizations that are using more than 15 terawatts (that’s a lot!) of clean energy annually. These 50 are avoiding carbon pollution equal to that created by the electricity used by more than 1.3 million U.S. homes each year. That’s...
MIT Sustainability Summit (Why I Feel Less Guilty About Drinking Starbucks)
While I went to MIT’s Sustainability Summit to speak, one of the most compelling reasons to go was not for myself, but to hear Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist at GMO, a Boston-based asset management firm with nearly $100 billion under...
70% of 1 Billion Who Are Chronically Hungry Are Farmers
Dispatches from The New York Times/Shell Oil 2012 Energy Summit titled Earth 2050: The Food Water Energy Nexus. Eric Holt-Gimenez, Executive Director, FoodFirst Institute for Food and Development Policy, says that of the one billion people who are chronically hungry,...
Coke is Sipping Out of Your Water Glass
Dispatches from The New York Times/Shell Oil 2012 Energy Summit titled Earth 2050: The Food Water Energy Nexus. In Houston, the cost of water over the last five years has skyrocketed from $.50-$1 to $5–$6. That’s a 500% to 600% increase. Joe Rozza, Global Water...