IBGC Speaker Series
Each academic year, the Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC) Speaker Series hosts a number of high profile events featuring a industry leaders and entrepreneurial visionaries from diverse international business fields to share their experiences, insights and advice with students and the community at large. These international business leaders render culturally stimulating, entertaining and thought-provoking discussions on topics as compelling as cross border trade and finance, developing capital markets, emerging market entry strategy, business diplomacy, and international entrepreneurship.
Since 2001, our Speaker Series has hosted these executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators to share insights and debate the issues shaping global business. Our purpose is to examine inclusion, sustainability, risk, innovation, and other challenges as experienced by leaders navigating them firsthand, inspiring and offering a “breadcrumb trail” for the next generation.
IBGC Speaks | Net Positive: How Businesses Can Give More Than They Take and Better Our World | Paul Polman
Paul Polman Former CEO, Unilever; Co-founder and Chair, Imagine, visited Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, Innovation Models for Building Inclusive Businesses class on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, to speak with students about how businesses can make the world more environmentally sound. He answered many students’ questions over the course of the talk as well.
Recent Macro Trends in FinTech & Its Impact Across Financial Sectors:
Dr. Paul Toldalagi, FinTech CEO, Advisor, Board Member of L4S Corporation
On Thursday, April 14, the Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC) had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Paul Toldalagi, FinTech CEO, Advisor and Board Member of L4S Corporation to campus to discuss trends in the emerging FinTech industry and the impact of FinTech on the traditional financial sector. The talk was hosted by Professor Laurent Jacque, Walter B. Wriston Professor of International Finance & Banking and attended by students who joined both in person and virtually, as well as by Dr. Toldalagi’s daughter who is a Tufts undergraduate student.
‘Car Wash’ Prosecutor Speaks on
Anti-Corruption in Latin America
On March 1, Deltan Dallagnol, a former federal prosecutor from Brazil spoke via Zoom to students at the Fletcher School as part of The Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC) Speaker Series about the work he completed as the leader of the biggest anti-corruption investigation in Brazil known as Car Wash (Lava Jato) 2014-2020. He and a group of fellow prosecutors brought more than 500 indictments and 150 convictions as part of Car Wash and reached agreements to recover more than 3 billion dollars.
The session was moderated by Prof. Rodrigo DeMello, Visiting Associate Professor, who teaches Business and Political Economy in Latin America and specializes in how the relationship between business and governments in Brazil informs the strategic decisions of both domestic and multinational corporations.
From Novavax to Neom: Where Creative Problem Solving Converges with Data, Gov’t, & the Customer Experience l IBGCSpeaks: Pete Groves, SVP Strategy & Transformation
Pete Groves, SVP Strategy & Transformation at Publicis Sapient delves into some of the “ripped from the headline” projects he and Fletcher alumni at this consulting firm are currently working on. Learn about opportunities where you can too can flex your contextual intelligence skills on a variety of international projects.
Strategic Decision Making in a Complex Geopolitical Environment: The Boeing Perspective l IBGC Speaks with Rik Geiersbach
IBGC Speaks had Rik Geiersbach, VP Strategy, Boeing Defense, was on campus in February and spoke about the complex geopolitical environment in this IBGC Speaker Series talk. In his engaging and at times humorous talk, Geiersbach speaks on both Boeing’s focus and evolution in the commercial and defense aircraft space. He then answers Fletcher School students’ questions.
Dystopian Nightmare or Breakthrough Technology: Metaverse Keynote Debate
The Tufts University Gordon Institute organized a virtual debate, “Dystopian Nightmare or Breakthrough Technology: Metaverse Keynote Debate”. Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business and executive director of Institute for Business in the Global Context and Josephine Wolff, associate professor of cybersecurity policy joined industry experts to discuss the Metaverse and its implications on society.
Where the Public & Private Sectors Converge: A Day in the Life of Tech, Policy, and Development l IBGC Speaks with Mimi Alemayehou
Mimi Alemayehou, F’98, SVP of Public Private Partnerships at Mastercard and Board Member at Twitter discusses how the government, public sector, and private sector innovations intersect to partner on the most pressing development challenges of our time in th IBGC talk. Mimi discusses the companies that are looking for people with new skill sets that include education and experience working on environmental policy, governance, foreign policy, and negotiations.
This IBGC talk is moderated by Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at the Fletcher School.
How Luxury Conquered the World: The Inside Story of its Pioneers l IBGC Speaks with Astrid Wendlandt, F’99
Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, hosts this fireside chat with author and journalist Astrid Wendlandt, F’99. Astrid discusses the secretive world of fashion and luxury. She also discusses her latest book How Luxury Conquered the World: The Inside Story of its Pioneers (2019).
How Luxury Conquered the World explains how the luxury industry has become one of the pillars of the global economy, putting it on a par with Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple combined in terms of job creation and economic might.
The Future of Digital, Climate and Work: How You Can Shape It| IBGC Speaks with Ragu Gurumurthy
Ragu Gurumurthy, Chief Innovation Officer of Deloitte Global and Chief Innovation & Chief Digital Officer of Deloitte LLP discusses The Future of Digital, Climate and Work: How You Can Shape It in this IBGC speaker series talk. Ragu describes some of today’s biggest trends and global challenges and how Deloitte is addressing them. He takes a deeper dive into how business leaders are reshaping all aspects of their enterprises with digital tools, platforms, and innovations to respond to changes in climate and the nature of how people work.
Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, moderates the session.
Creating a “Career Portfolio” & Other Superpowers to Thrive in a World in Flux | IBGC Speaks | April Rinne, F’04
Watch this fireside chat with April Rinne, F’04, on how to create a “career portfolio” so you have the superpowers necessary to thrive in this constantly changing world.
April is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and ranked one of the “50 Leading Female Futurists” in the world by Forbes magazine. April Rinne is a change navigator: she helps individuals and organizations rethink and reshape their relationship with change, uncertainty, and a world in flux. April is the author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change.
Moderated by Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, The Fletcher School/Tufts University as part of the Institute for Business in the Global Context Speaker Series.
Navigating Your Career and the Future of Work in a World of Flux | IBGC Speaks with April Rinne
Our world was in flux even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Now the situation is more dire, with sectors of the economy in free fall, prospects of slow recovery and a future full of doubt. April Rinne (F’04) has been weaving a story about how to thrive amid flux, drawing on her history as a global development executive, microfinance lawyer, investor, advisor, mental health advocate and insatiable hand-stander.
In this IBGC Speaks session, April discusses why the career of the future looks more like a portfolio rather than a clear cut path. April will also detail how a ‘flux mindset’ can help students and professionals as they navigate the future of work- or a global pandemic.
Small Actions, Big Difference: Leveraging Corporate Sustainability to Grow Business and Societal Value | IBGC Speaks with CB Bhattacharya
IBGC Speaks invites Professor CB Bhattacharya, Author “Small Actions Big Difference,” to share stories and sustainability strategies that companies can implement using profit in service of people and planet. CB Bhattacharya is the H.J. Zoffer Chair in Sustainability and Ethics at the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. He is a world renowned expert in business strategy innovation aimed at increasing both business and social value. His research and teaching focuses specifically on how companies can use under-leveraged “intangible assets” such as corporate identity, reputation, corporate social responsibility and sustainability to strengthen stakeholder relationships and drive firm market value.
Competing Through Sustainability and the Private Sector’s Role in the COVID-19 Response | IBGC Speaks with Paul Polman
This exclusive video segment is taken from Dean Bhaskar Chakravorti’s Innovation Models for Building Inclusive Businesses class, featuring Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever and co-founder and chair of Imagine, a benefit corporation and foundation accelerating business leadership to achieve the Global Goals; chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, The B Team and Oxford Said Business School; and vice-chair of the U.N. Global Compact. Dean Chakravorti and Paul Polman discuss his role as former CEO of Unilever and his current work to propel the private sector’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Optimizing for Social and Business Value | IBGC Speaks with David Young
In this IBGC Speaks session, we explore how businesses can optimize for social and corporate value with David Young, Managing Director & Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group. Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, moderates the session.
In this IBGC Speaks session, we explore how businesses can optimize for social and corporate value with David Young, Managing Director & Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group. Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, moderates the session.
