2009 Summit on the Future of Pensions: From Crisis to Sustainability

Times have changed for Canada’s pension leaders.

In our 2008 pensions survey, most pension managers felt they had put their major funding issues behind them, and were anticipating plan surpluses that would address many of their remaining challenges. What a difference a year makes! Once again pension funding has moved to the top of the corporate agenda, and CFOs and other senior executives have renewed concern about this issue and its impact on their organizations’ long-term outlook. Learn how leading organizations are responding to the current crisis.Benefit from the insights of Canadian and international experts, and learn how they’re dealing with the current funding crisis, and participate in the discussion of longer term strategies you’ll need once the immediate crisis abates.

Learn about upcoming regulatory changes and their impact. Provincial and federal changes may have a huge impact on the near-term outlook for your pension and, combined with the business and financial environment, may necessitate a complete reassessment of your long-term pension strategy. Meet the regulators, discuss the issues with your peers, and refine your long-term perspective.

Register here

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Greening Your Home Office

iStock_000004780659XSmall_1_.jpgBy Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

Being a professional in the working world today is tough. Between clients, business meetings, and family, very few women have the time or energy to take on extra projects. Recent surveys have shown that the green movement is slowly finding its way into corporate offices. If major corporations can find the time and resources to “greenovate” during these trying economic times, there’s no excuse as to why your home office can’t get an eco-friendly facelift of its own.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 million Americans work from home a couple of days a week. Essentially, that means the added energy use from lights and office equipment and extra paper consumption from faxes, sticky-notes, and computer printouts is taking its toll on the environment as we speak. The idea of turning your home office into an efficient, eco-friendly workspace may seem overwhelming at first, but rest assured it’s not as difficult or time-consuming as you may think. Taking the time to consider a few minor adjustments will make a big difference in your life and to the lifespan of the planet.

Greening your home office doesn’t have to entail an entire overhaul that takes weeks to complete. As a matter of fact, getting rid of your old things is wasteful and defeats the purpose of greening. You don’t have to rip out your carpet and replace it with cork flooring or ditch all of your office furniture for new hemp furniture. Kelly LaPlante, celebrity interior designer, owner of Organic Interior Design in Venice Beach, CA, and author of écologique: The Style of Sustainable Design, knows green design inside and out and says one of the biggest misconceptions is that you have to throw out all of your non-green items and start from scratch. “You can’t green your office from the perspective that you’re going to buy all new eco-products. The greenest thing you can do is nothing at all. Keep what you already have and don’t send things off to a landfill and contribute to the environmental impact that new production has on the environment. Start with the principal of reusing or repurposing already existing items in new and interesting ways,” LaPlante said. Bookshelves can be painted, existing chairs can be upholstered in organic fabrics, walls can be painted with low VOC paints- you get the idea.

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Power of Partnership

An opportunity for businesses to increase their positive impact on society through their work with the community. At this event businesses and community organisations will have a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face, forge working partnerships and build mutually beneficial relationships.

Power of Partnership is an annual event which inspires, challenges and supports business in continually improving its impact on society. This year the event will illustrate how businesses have brokered successful partnerships with communities in the region through Cares, ProHelp and Business Action on Homelessness. There will be the opportunity for businesses to learn how they can become involved in one of these programmes as well as increase the impact they are already having.Power of Partnership will incorporate workshops and individual surgeries and is open to both businesses and community groups.

For further information, or to reserve your place, please email Carola Vorlop or Marie Smith or call on 0117 972 2111.

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NYSBA: Introductory Lessons on Ethics and Civility‏

The Commercial and Federal Litigation Section and the Committee on Continuing Legal Education of the New York State Bar Association are pleased to present the 10th annual Introductory Lessons on Ethics and Civility CLE Program.

Designed for all practicing attorneys regardless of their level of expertise, the seminar features a combination of lectures and a colloquium on ethics and civility. Ethical issues faced by attorneys will be explored through a discussion of real-world case scenarios. Panelists include judges, ethics experts and experienced practitioners.
This program includes an overview of the new New York Rules of Professional Conduct. Conflicts of interest and law firm civility issues will also be discussed.

4.0 MCLE CREDITS

Register here

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The 7th Annual Michigan Women in Finance Conference

Theme: Thriving in Times of Change

Breakfast, Conference Sessions and Luncheon
Featured speakers include Patricia Aburdene, one of the world’s leading social forecasters and author of Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism.

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Working With the World of Autism

Gray_Walker_1_.jpgBy Elizabeth Harrin (London)

“Being a mother of an autistic child impacts the core of who I am,” says Tracey Gray-Walker, Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at AXA Equitable. “Everything I do – even how I work – stems from my experiences with the world of autism.”

Tracey became involved with Autism NJ about 14 years ago when her son was first diagnosed as autistic at the age of three and a half. “It was the first organization I found that provided me with the information, education and resources I was going to need as a parent of an autistic child,” she says. “I got involved to help other families of autistic children and to help create programs and activities to help our children lead more enriched and productive lives. In the beginning, I helped in whatever way I could. As the years went on, I became more involved in organized programs and activities.”

Today, Tracey spends around 12 hours a month volunteering which she balances with a senior role at the life insurance company AXA Equitable and the needs of her own family in Plainfield, NJ. “Balance is a challenge,” she admits. “Recognizing that everything needs to be managed and addressed, then gravitating to what needs to be addressed at that moment. Prioritizing and re-prioritizing. But, when it comes to autism, for me the most important thing is to continue to drive awareness. Autistic people need a voice, they can’t speak for themselves. I always want to be one of those voices.” Read more

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Leveraging Technology for Changing Regulatory and Reporting Environment

The finance industry is always changing. With the challenges we faced in 2008 and the new administration in place regulations are sure to change. Don’t let your company fall behind.Please join us as we listen to the observations and experiences of leading hedge fund finance, operations and regulatory experts as they tackle the real time challenges of how technology can be levered to address the needs of reporting, compliance, risk management, operational controls and the regulatory environment.

Participants:

Claire Walton, Liberty Square Capital
Siu Chiang, Clarium Capital
Richard Goldman, Bingham McCutchen, LLP
Annie Morris, Moderator, Linedata Services, North America

Event Details Time: 5:15 PM Registration.
We will begin promptly at 6 PM; please arrive early.
RSVP here

Space is limited. No walk-ins will be permitted.

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Transforming the Landscape of Leadership in Microfinance: Maintaining the Focus on Women

Women Advancing Microfinance NY is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion of Women’s World Banking’s new publication:

Transforming the Landscape of Leadership in Microfinance: Maintaining the Focus on Women

This publication introduces WWB’s new methodology for helping MFIs support gender diversity at all levels of their institution. WWB has expanded its Women’s Leadership Development Program, which works with individuals, to include a tool that focuses on the challenges and opportunities microfinanceinstitutions face in the attraction, retention, and promotion of qualified women staff members – the Organizational Gender Assessment.

The publication offers concrete examples of policiesand programs that can help institutions achieve gender diversity. Through astudy of WWB network member Kashf Foundation (Pakistan), it shows that even thoseorganizations with an ingrained commitment to diversity can benefit from anorganizational assessment. Based on these findings, WWB presents itsprescriptions for creating and maintaining a healthy, gender-inclusivemicrofinance institution. The paper also presents findings from a survey ofglobal participants of the WWB Leadership Development Program. Panelists will be:

Kate McKee, Senior Advisor on Policy, Poverty Outreach and AidEffectiveness, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking

Inez Murray, Vice President of Technical Assistance and Programs atWomen’s World Banking

Elizabeth Lynch, Publication Author and Senior Associate, Women’s Leadership Program

The panel will be held on Thursday, April 16, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at White and Case, 1155 Avenue of the Americas.

Due to building securityrestrictions, please RSVP name, company name, email, and phone number to wamnewyork@yahoo.comby COB on April 14.

No cost to WAM NYmembers, $10 for others

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FWA’s Fourth Annual Speed Networking Program

Back by popular demand – speed networking. This is the event where you can make new contacts to build your business, win a promotion or find a job. You’ll meet people just like you who are interested in expanding their circle of contacts. The way it works: participants pair off for 10 minutes of conversation, then continue to switch partners every 10 minutes, allowing everyone to meet at least 5-6 new people in these mini-meetings. That’s in addition to the contacts you’ll make over refreshments before and after the structured speed networking program. In each partnering, you’ll have the opportunity to describe what you do, offer to provide helpful contacts, share information and resources and give feedback. Your partner will do the same for you.

Register here

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Catalyst Award Winner: Gibbons PC

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“The law firm is a service business. We don’t sell product: our greatest resource is human capital. So, we started our Women’s Initiative—we were one of the first law firms to begin such an endeavor—because we recognized that the face of the legal practice was changing. 50 % of law school graduates are women now; we wanted to attract the best of the best talent,” said Patrick C. Dunican, Jr., Chairman and Managing Director of Gibbons PC, a top law firm in the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Delaware metropolitan regions.

Named one the nation’s top 200 firms by The American Lawyer, Gibbons recently won the Catalyst award for its Women’s Initiative. Christine Amalfe, Chair of Employment Law at Gibbons and co-founder of the Women’s Initiative 12 years ago, spoke of the importance of maintaining the firm’s commitment to the advancement of women, even in these difficult economic times. “In the law firm world, management changes a little more regularly than it does in the corporate world. Changes on the executive committee, rainmakers…lawyers come and go, especially women lawyers. Women have learned that they can walk away from firms that are not supportive and go to those that are supportive. We wanted to be on the receiving end.”

The Women’s Initiative at Gibbons provides professional opportunities for women including new and experienced Gibbons attorneys and Gibbons clients, to network, mentor and support the advancement of women in all professions. Amalfe justified the program’s expense, saying, “we have committed financial resources, hard work and sweat equity over many years to make things work. You can’t depend on what you said in 1997. In this economic environment, when firms are looking to cut costs and people are losing their jobs, you need to justify the existence of an initiative [which costs] a good amount of money every year. You justify it with the business case. There is no doubt that there is a business case for promoting, retaining and advancing women in law firms and in every company. And if the senior management gets that, even in difficult economic times, they will find a way to continue.” And, there is a business case for it, with Dunican crediting $6 million dollars of business to the Women’s Initiative. “Women [in our client organizations] are making the legal decisions. It is not the old boys’ club anymore.”

The Gibbons approach to the advancement and retention of women has several components, including education, internal and external communication, and organization of the firm around the business case and training and development. “First you have to educate…You have to tell your colleagues about how important it is,” adds Dunican, “and then you have to communicate…and for law firms like ours, this is ‘American flag and warm chocolate chip cookie’ stuff because our clients are asking us to identify our numbers; they are asking us how many women we have and then they look at us 5 years later to see how we are doing. This is really important to our business and we need to have a relentless focus on it.”

Read more

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