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This week’s Global Problems and Solutions Colloquium Speaker is Jeri Jensen, of Business Driven Development LLC.  Jeri will give expert insight about the field of sustainable development, impact investing, and the intersection of economic policy and development.  Anyone interested in corporate social responsibility, or the challenges in engaging the private sector in international development, will greatly appreciate this lecture. This session will also include Dennis Flemming of Chevron via webinar recording. Dennis will explain his role in the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative, a partnership that fosters Sustainable Livelihoods in the Niger Delta Region.

Event Details:

Who: Jeri Jensen

Lecture topic and key considerations:

Economic Diplomacy in a New Sustainable Development Paradigm

When: April 14, 6-9pm

Where: McGowan Building, Room 102 at 411 Pierce Street 

Key Questions and Considerations:

• How are the roles of government and the private sector shifting on economic development and what does that mean for economic statecraft (and the future of business/government relations)?
• Can sustainability influence the power agenda?
• Can economic power influence the sustainability agenda?
• Can moral suasion be a powerful force in a competitive world?

Speaker Profile:

Jeri is a thought-leader and practitioner on innovative business models that directly engage the core business of companies in economic development and business-led development strategies for donors. She has led programs in both the public and private sector to increase business participation in U.S. development initiatives and now works to provide companies and donors opportunities to leverage their investments to increase living standards in developing countries. She is a senior associate for the U.S. Leadership in Development Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Her experience includes Vice President at the Initiative for Global Development, a network of CEOs and senior executives interested in sustainable investment in Africa, and Managing Director for Private Sector Initiatives at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a major U.S. donor to developing countries. She has also worked as Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South East Asia and for Labor Affairs at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. As Executive Director for Trade Policy and Promotion at the Department of Commerce, she managed coordination of trade promotion efforts across U.S. trade, finance and investment agencies. She also managed trade and economic strategy for Latin America at the National Security Council, and was a Strategic Advisor to the Chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Business Driven Development LLC, a strategic advisory firm which Jeri leads, increases social investment in emerging markets. The firm works to harness the core businesses of international investors to raise living standards in the communities where they operate. We also enable donors to leverage their participation in economic development with the private sector and enhance the developmental impact of company investments.

 

Dennis Flemming

Dennis Flemming began serving as Project Director of the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative in 2009 and has been based in the Nigerian capital of Abuja ever since. Most of his professional years were spent in Papua New Guinea, initially when he was assigned by the Peace Corps to serve as Business Development Officer in the South Pacific Island nation in 1986. Three years later, Flemming helped create Income Marketing Ltd, an organization established to provide small business development services and advice.

Flemming joined Chevron as Local Business Development Supervisor in 1992; and later on became Community Affairs Manager. He spent a year as Staff Planning Analyst in the company’s headquarters in San Ramon and came back to Papua New Guinea in 2000 as Sustainable Development Manager. In this capacity, he established and managed the CDI Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to socio-economic development of rural communities near the company’s field operations. In 2004, Flemming managed the Angola Partnership Initiative and other corporate responsibility and socio-economic development programs for Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, Chevron’s Angolan subsidiary. When he joined Chevron Nigeria Ltd, Flemming spearheaded community engagement strategies including renegotiation of agreements with regional development councils. Dennis Flemming holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in Sustainable Development specializing in Development Management from the University of London.

To read more about the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative, click here: http://ndpifoundation.org/

This event is free of charge and open to the public. To RSVP to attend this speaker, please email Erina McWilliam-Lopez at emcwilliam@miis.edu

To learn more about the colloquium, please visit the Colloquium Landing Page.

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