SRI Leader Krumsiek Peers Into Her Crystal Ball
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 / KW
Check out this article by Barbara Krumsiek, CEO of the Calvert Group, writing about the future of socially responsible investing. Titled "In the Year 2022" (wasn't that the name of a chart-topping tune by the one-hit wonders Zager and Evans? Oh, not exactly . . .), Krumsiek's article takes an interesting generational perspective. By 2022, she notes, the average Baby Boomer will be 70 years old. (Hard to believe, since most of us still think we are around nineteen.) That means that the torch of business leadership will have been passed to a new set of managers with a fresh perspective:In 2022 leadership of what used to be called SRI firms will have fully transitioned to the generation of professionals raised on Net Impact, social networking and Internet communications. People in my generation learned SRI on the job. Now, people are coming out of college with joint degrees in business and environmental studies. They went through business school when Net Impact made a difference and they learned from each other and social networking groups focused on social and environmental subjects.As a result, Krumsiek says, "The next 15 years will be all about outcomes." The rising generation will take as its mandate the task of completing the work the Boomers have started but which is less than half finished. Emerging markets, she says, will "have emerged"--and hopefully will be making a dent in global poverty, climate change, and the other seemingly intractable problems the current leadership generation has been wrestling with.
Here's hoping that Krumsiek is right, and that we'll all be around to see her optimistic forecast come true.
Labels: Barbara Krumsiek, Calvert Group, Finance and Investment
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By 
, on
August 22, 2007 1:02 PM
Ah, yes. As someone who 1) participated in Net Impact during school, 2) has a graduate degree with a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility, and 3) helped with the development of a social-networking website for social entrepreneurs, I am glad to know that Andy and Karl are thinking ahead to the day when my generation takes over the world. ;)
By 
Melissa Tritter, on
August 22, 2007 1:31 PM
Not so fast there, Melissa--according to Krumsiek, Andy and I still have another 15 years to wield our formidable power . . .
By KW, on
August 22, 2007 1:37 PM
What Krumsiek says about the SRI Industry is true today in many corporations. As younger CEO's take the helm, they are more likely to have grown up with environmental and social sensibilities that enable them to see the sweet spots where business and social or environmental interests overlap. The best example of this today might be General Electric, where Jeff Immelt is 21 years younger than Jack Welch. Welch had a blind spot on environmental issues, whereas Immelt's signature business initiative is Ecomagination.
My 6 year old daughter is very concerned about the Amazon rainforests and my 8 year old son watches Animal Planet all the time. When they take leadership positions, as their grandmother is already certain quite certain they will, environmental issues will be part of the way they think about their jobs.
Sustainability is here to stay and the constant changing of the CEO guard is one reason why.
Andy