The Social Capital Markets Conference in San Francisco September 2008 was an opportunity for MEC to meet up with other entrepreneurs working at the intersection of business and human progress. Coming in the midst of a growing financial crisis, many commented that the strong attendance was an indication that from the crisis could come a new way of organizing our financial markets. By measuring social and environmental impact, we would improve capitalism. My personal take on the Social Capital movement is that by attempting to bring the rigors of measurement to the benefits that accrue to people and society, the movement is fundamentally about bringing balance back to markets and capitalisms.
My ethics professor at Notre Dame business undergraduate studies (Hock) in the 1980s often commented that “creating the customer for the longterm” was an eroding value in modern American business, with long term catastrophic tendencies for capitalism. Thus, stable earnings occur when business leaders take the long view. Creating the customer means to me seeing the potential of each individual regardless of the accident of where they were born and finding ways to make them part of your financial future.
MEC recognizes that measuring the benefits of clean energy for people, planet, and society is vital for ensuring that mission remains linked to that long term “create the customer” ethic.
I got a lot out of the SoCap conference, and look forward to keeping in touch with this hopeful group of people.
