October 14, 2009 -  The Urban Land Institute suggests that 70 percent of future building will occur on greenfield sites. And, thus, we are faced with this increasingly critical issue. How can we accommodate our growing population while developing in the most responsible way, ensuring the health of our environment, our bodies and our wallets? At this Executive Breakfast Forum, Steve Nygren shared the story of Serenbe and the Chattahoochee Hill Country, along with their lessons of balanced growth that preserve land and protect air and water quality. An optional breakout session for further discussion of the issues raised by Steve Nygren took place immediately following the regular program.

May 20, 2009 - An Executive Breakfast Roundtable entitled "Big Sky, Small Place, Tiny Footprint: Constructing a Restorative Model for the 21st Century" featured Martin Melaver, CEO of Melaver Inc. and author of the newly published book Living Above the Store: Building a Business that Creates Value, Inspires Change, and Restores Land and Community. Speaking at The Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta at 7:30 a.m., the author shared management principles and practices for running an environmentally sustainable business. At the conclusion of the program, the author signed his latest book.

April 21, 2009 - "Managing Integrity Inside and Out" took place from 7:30-9:00 a.m. at the Capital City Club, downtown Atlanta. David Ratcliffe, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Company provided his view on the ethical role of senior management, both inside and outside the corporation. Mr. Ratcliffe explored how leaders can guard a corporation's integrity and protect its reputation, especially when thrust into issues where passions run deep. No stranger to such situations, Mr. Ratcliffe addressed the "C-Suite" challenges facing the Southern Company in balancing environmental concerns and the growing energy needs of its 4.4 million customers.

February 19, 2009 - The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility presented Fixing the Numbers: Lessons of Fraud and Failure at HealthSouth. The program, held at 7:30 a.m. at The Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta, featured Aaron Beam, a key player in one of the biggest corporate scandals in recent history. Convicted of bank fraud for his role in HealthSouth's fraudulent accounting practices, Aaron Beam served three months in federal prison. He provided a different perspective on the importance of ethics in business, as he spoke about his experiences with white-collar crime. Beam reflected on the environment and culture that led to "cooking the books," as well as the executive pressure that resulted in the reporting of exaggerated earnings. The program was made possible with support from Navigant Consulting.

March 7, 2008 - "High Performance Ethics with Wes Cantrell" took place at 7:30 a.m. at the Capital City Club. Event speaker Cantrell is the retired CEO of Lanier Worldwide and author of the book High-Performance Ethics: 10 Timeless Principles for Next Generation Leadership, in which he contends that principles reflective of the Ten Commandments make way for better morale, greater productivity and increased returns for shareholders.

September 20, 2007 - This event, entitled "From Compliance to Decency: The New Management Imperative," was held from 7:30-9:00 in the morning at the Capital City Club in downtown. Steve Harrison, author of The Manager's Book of Decencies, led the program, after which he conducted a book signing. In addition to having written a book that management expert Tom Peters calls "simple and profound,"  Mr. Harrison is a highly successful entrepreneur and chairman of Lee Hecht Harrison, a global career management firm with 240 offices in 36 countries.

July 26, 2006 - This Executive Breakfast Forum was led by Dr. David Vogel, author of The Market for Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility, a book that provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the realities of CSR.  Dr. Vogel is the Solomon Lee Professor of Business Ethics at the Haas School of Business and professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He also is editor of California Management Review. Dr. Vogel (pictured at right) signed his book for guests after the program.  The breakfast was hosted by BellSouth Corporation at its Campanile building in midtown Atlanta. It was followed by a Summer Seminar on the same topic in the same location.   This program was made possible with support from Assurant.

March 30, 2006 - An Atlanta presentation and discussion entitled, "How Much is Enough? CEO Pay and Responsible Corporate Governance." The forum was led by Mr. Ric Marshall, chief analyst with The Corporate Library, an organization that rates corporations on governance practices.  Mr. Marshall is responsible for guiding the firm's research and company rating activities, oversees the work of The Corporate Library's senior research analysts and associates, and is a founding principal of the organization and chief architect of its Board Analyst database.  He addressed questions including: Is there an objective basis for compensation, regardless of how much the individual might be "worth" in the larger marketplace? How do analysts take into account all facets of the compensation equation -- salary, bonuses, stock options, severance packages, etc.? What are the best examples -- and the worst -- regarding CEO pay? What might be the results of the Securities and Exchange Commission's newly proposed rules mandating full disclosure of executive compensation? To learn more about the ethical debate over CEO pay, see the latest issue of GoodBusiness, our online journal, which features a series of thought-provoking articles on this topic.  The  program was made possible with support from Navigant Consulting.

March 22, 2006 - A Charleston, SC, forum on "Ethics, Leadership & the CEO," featured a panel discussion with highlights from The Southern Institute's 2005 Southeast Survey of CEOs on Business Ethics. Our panelists were D. Maybank Hagood, president & CEO, William M. Bird and Company; Charles Van Rysselberge, president & CEO, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce; and Bill Settlemyer, executive publisher, Charleston Business Journal. It was sponsored by Lee Hecht Harrison.

February 1, 2006 - An Atlanta election-year forum, "Winning at All Costs: The Loss of Civility in Political Campaigns," featured the Hon. Robert Benham, justice of the Georgia Supreme Court (pictured, left);  Mr. Tom Baxter, political editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Dr. Kerwin Swint, political scientist and author of the new book, Mudslingers: The Top 25 Negative Political Campaigns of All Time.  A breakout session including a book signing by Dr. Swint followed the program.

October 21, 2005 - Executive Breakfast Forum in Atlanta,  in conjunction with the national conference of Character Education Partnership, featured a panel of CEOs on the topic of preparing today's youths to meet the ethical challenges of tomorrow.  Panelists were Ms. Tammy Driggers, Georgia President of First Horizon Bank; Mr. Jeff Haidet, chairman of McKenna, Long & Aldridge; and Dr. Beheruz Sethna, president of the University of West Georgia.

September 20, 2005 - Executive Breakfast Forum in Atlanta featured Mr. James Copeland (pictured, below left), former chairman of Deloitte & Touche, on the future of public accounting firms in the aftermath of corporate scandals and the demise of Arthur  Andersen.  Sponsored by the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University.

August 31, 2005 - Executive Breakfast Forum in Birmingham, Alabama.  "Ethics, Leadership & The CEO," featured a panel of business leaders: Mr. Jay Grinney, President & CEO, HealthSouth Corporation; Mr. Dudley C. Reynolds, President & COO, Alagasco; and Mr. Van L. Richey, President CEO, ACIPCO.  They discussed issues raised by The Southern Institute's inaugural Southeast Survey of CEOs on Business Ethics.  The Institute's founder and president Dr. John C. Knapp led the program, which was broadcast by Alabama@Work, a two-part program on Alabama Public Television, in December 2005: View streaming video of Part One. View streaming video of Part Two.

May 25, 2005 -Executive Breakfast Forum in Greenville, South Carolina.  Conducted in collaboration with the Greenville Chamber of Commerce and Clemson University, "Ethics, Leadership & The CEO" featured a panel of CEOs and highlights of our new Southeast Survey of CEOs on Business Ethics.  April 18, 2005 - Executive Breakfast Forum in Atlanta featured Mr. Gerald Grinstein (pictured below), CEO of Delta Air Lines.  He spoke about the challenge of maintaining trust in the challenging situation faced by his company and industry.  Articles about his presentation appeared in the business press.

March 1, 2005 - Executive Breakfast Forum in Atlanta featured a panel of CEOs responded to the findings as they were presented.  They included Mr. Jack Ward of Russell Corporation (a large public company), Mr. John Bekkers of Gold Kist (a newly public company) and Mr. Earl Shell of Hardin Construction Company (a large private company).  Their personal perspectives sparked a  lively discussion of the topics covered by the Survey of Southeast CEOs on Business Ethics.  After the program, a break-out session was held for those who wished to talk further about the issues raised.

In fall 2004, our forum was led by Mr. Derek Smith, chairman and CEO of ChoicePoint , who spoke about the ethical tension inherent in protecting individual privacy while also protecting  national security.  He is author of the new book, "The Risk Revolution: Threats Facing  America & Technology's Promise for a Safer Tomorrow."  ChoicePoint is the nation's leading provider of identification and credit verification services.

A forum on May 14, 2004, featured Dr. John Knapp, president of The Southern Institute, moderating a discussion with the CEOs of two Atlanta-based public companies: Mr. Jack Ward, Chairman and CEO of Russell Corporation (and a member of The Southern Institute Board of Governors) and Mr. Ian McCarthy, President and CEO of Beazer Homes.  Topics included:  How can CEOs lead their companies to achieve long-term shareholder value and restore investor confidence? How does today's CEO, in the face of a slowly recovering economy and continuing corporate scandals, ensure that multiple stakeholder audiences remain confident about the company and its future? What roles do consistent messaging and a solid brand play in building trust among investors, as well as customers, partners and employees?  The event was held in conjunction with the National Investor Relations Institute.

On April 20, 2004, our Executive Breakfast Forum examined the legal and moral questions confronting doctors and patients when medical errors occur.  Our speaker was Dr. John Banja, medical ethicist at Emory University and one of the nation's leading authorities on the problem of medical error -- how frequently it occurs, the consequences for patients, and the issues facing physicians regarding disclosure of errors.  This meeting was conducted in cooperation with Emory's Center for Ethics.

On February 17, 2004, we featured Mr. John Wieland (pictured), founder and chairman of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, the Southeast's leading builder of semi-custom homes.  Having recently stepped away from the position of CEO after 34 years, his presentation was entitled, "Looking Back on  Lessons Learned: The Leadership Challenges of Building a Company in Today's Environment."     Other Programs for Leaders Since 1993, the topics addressed by our forums for leaders have included global trade, environmental performance, corporate ethics management, responsible investing, truth in advertising, product safety, values-based management and other timely issues. The programs have also featured such speakers as Mr. Jack Ward, CEO of Russell Corporation; Dr. David Batstone, author of Saving the Corporate Soul and executive editor of Sojourners magazine; James P. Kelly, Chairman of the Board and CEO of UPS; Arthur M. Blank, President and CEO of The Home Depot; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin; Robert J. Rutland, Chairman of the Board, Allied Holdings Inc;  James R. Lientz Jr., recently retired president of Bank of America's  MidSouth region; Leo F. Mullin, chairman and CEO of Delta Air Lines; Dr. Edward Zinbarg, author of Faith, Morals & Money: What the Major World Religions Say About Ethics in the Marketplace; Neil Williams, general counsel of AMVESCAP, plc; and James S. Balloun, chairman, president and CEO of Acuity Brands; Robert Kuttner, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and Business Week; Edward Petry, Executive Director of the Ethics Officer Association; Ray Anderson, chairman and CEO of Interface Inc.; Stephen L. Carter, best selling author and Yale law professor; John Swanson, creator of the well-known ethics program at Dow-Corning Corp.; Robert Benham, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court; Dan Cathy, President and CEO of Chick-Fil-A; Dr. Robert Holland, former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and senior fellow at The Wharton School; Tom Chappel, CEO of Tom's of Maine; Peter Kinder, author of Investing  for Good; Charles Brewer, CEO of Green  Street  Properties and founder and former CEO of MindSpring Enterprises; James Blanchard, Chairman and CEO of Synovus; and Fritz Heimann, U.S. Chairman of Transparency International. Return to Upcoming Programs page