On 18 July, over 300 individuals from business, civil society and government came together for Business Fights Poverty Oxford 2018 to explore the themes of business, purpose and collaboration.
We took the opportunity to celebrate Mandela’s Centenary and this year’s theme for Mandela Day: #ActionAgainstPoverty. The event centred around the stage that Mandela, himself, spoke from on 13th April 2002 when he opened the lecture theatre at Saïd Business School named in his honour. We marked the occasion with a moving opening performance by South African Soprano, Caroline Modiba.
The amazing support and engagement of our supporters, speakers, partners and participants is reflected in the strong feedback scores we received in the post-event feedback. Based on over 160 responses,
- 97% rated the event good or excellent
- 89% made a useful new connection for their work
- 95% learnt something valuable for their current or future collaborations
- 98% would recommend the event to a colleague
The videos of all of our plenary sessions are now available, and we’re delighted to include them below.
Opening by Caroline Modiba and Welcome by Zahid Torres-Rahman, Founder and CEO of Business Fights Poverty
The opening keynote speech by Holly Branson, Chair of Virgin Unite and Co-Author: “WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make A Living, and Change the World”
A panel discussion with Gib Bulloch, Author, “The Intrapreneur”; David Grayson, Professor Emeritus, Cranfield School of Management, and author “All In: Why Sustainability is the Future of Business”; Anita Hoffmann, Executive Coach, and Author “Purpose and Impact”; and Harriet Lamb, CEO, International Alert and Author of “Fighting the Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles”.
Closing keynote speech by Antonio Zappulla, Chief Operating Officer at the Thomson Reuters Foundation
Closing keynote speech by Sizakele Marutlulle, CEO + Founder, Marutlulle + C/O
Along with a range of content partners, the event also included range of workshops across 5 topic zones: Corporate Social Innovation (with the League of Intrapreneurs), Women’s Equity and Inclusivity (with CARE), Partnerships (with The Partnering Initiative and Ethicore), Inclusive Business (with Hystra, BoP Inc and Practical Action) and Investing for Impact (with Acumen). The full agenda is available here.
We are grateful to all those made the event possible, including our sponsor, The Amersi Foundation. Thanks also to our video partner, Be Inspired Films and photography partner, Soulphotography.
We’re now busy planning for our next flagship event, Business Fights Poverty NYC 2018, which we are co-hosting with Barclays and GSK in New York on 24 September to coincide with the UN General Assembly week. Places are very limited. To secure your place register here.
