Executive Workshops and Briefings

Gib Hedstrom directs three councils of The Conference Board focused on EHS and sustainability. Each council is a member-only group, consisting of senior executives from Fortune 500 companies. The councils meet three times each year for several days. The main focus of each meeting is learning about cutting-edge developments, benchmarking best practices, and networking.

• Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Officers’ Council. Consisting of ~60 blue chip companies, the Council members are vice presidents of EHS from about 20 major industry sectors. The primary themes from our 2012-2013 meetings have included: sustainability strategy, external sustainability ratings, product risk management, supply chain stewardship, and carbon risks and opportunities.
• Sustainability Council I: Strategy and Implementation. This council, formed in 2013, focuses on implementing actionable initiatives, programs and systems that drive footprint reduction, cut costs, and thereby contribute to member companies’ bottom lines.
• Sustainability Council II: Innovation and Growth. This council focuses on “top-line” revenue growth by applying transformational thinking, business models, and technology to develop products, services, and solutions with sustainability principles at their core – while also helping companies’ customers to reduce their environmental and social footprints.

A privately held Swiss company in the resource and materials businesses was feeling growing pressure from customers and competitors concerning sustainability. We organized and facilitated a three-day workshop for the CEO, his direct reports, and a dozen other executives, drawing on outside speakers and a special benchmarking survey.

We have designed and run dozens of workshops on sustainability for clients ranging in size from Fortune 50 companies to small, privately-held companies. Following a design that we have honed over the years, we typically start with a dinner and evening speaker to provide a provocative introduction to sustainability. For the next day and a half, we work through a simple framework starting with a look at where the client wants to be in the future, followed by a “brutally honest” look at where they are today. We end with identification of the “critical few” high leverage initiatives and concrete action plans to present to the senior executive who is the sponsor of sustainability within the company.

Gib Hedstrom hosted (along with Ashland and The Conservation Fund) an invitation-only forum on how leading corporations can deliver shareholder value from strong sustainability practices. Fifteen senior executives from “blue chip” companies joined with NGOs and Wall Street leaders for a high-impact meeting.

At Hedstrom Associates, frequently we are asked to facilitate meetings of corporate EHS staff – and we have done so for 20 years. We provide proven experience in meeting facilitation with in-depth knowledge of EHS issues and best practices as we draw on our insights gained from working with many clients globally.

Gib Hedstrom was asked to be the keynote speaker at the annual Novartis sustainability conference in May 2009 and again in June 2010.