David E Shaw: Public leadership support at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

My relationship with Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government began in 2002 when I joined the faculty as a Senior Fellow.

With other faculty members I organized seminars on corporate governance, business social responsibility and public leadership.

It was a time of great turbulence in the world of corporate governance, with numerous large scale business collapses and scandals associated Enron Corporation, Worldcom, Tyco International, Adelphia and others. In response to the resulting crisis in confidence about corporate governance practices, the US congress enacted legislation for accounting reform and enhanced investor protection. The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 set new standards for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms.

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/programs

In parallel with corporate governance policy projects of that era, I collaborated with others at the Kennedy School to convene thought leaders on the subject of corporate social responsibility, and to explore opportunities for business and societal benefits associated with these practices. Many examples of successful social responsibility programs demonstrate positive impacts on business performance, the environment, consumers, employees, communities and other stakeholders.

My relationship with the Kennedy School included support of leadership development programs in the school’s Center for Public Leadership (CPL), led by David Gergen. I served on the Advisory Board for CPL and helped launch the center’s leadership role modeling program: America’s Best Leaders.

Read my article in Compass on the partnership with military and private sector here.