It’s the women, stupid. Details to come at the GreenBusiness Works EXPO.

 Green Business Works EXPO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           

For more info: Rachel Pomerance, Pomerance & Associates                               rachel@pomeranceassociates.com

What You Don’t Know About Sustainability:

The Role of Women in Making Business Thrive

Crafting a sustainable business means more than going green. In fact, sustainability rests on three pillars: Environment, Social Responsibility and Governance.

And when it comes to governance, women’s representation is paramount.

The best clue to a nation’s growth and development potential is the status and role of women,” says David S. Landes in “The Wealth and Power of Nations.”

That’s a quote often cited by Calvert Investments, a Bethesda, Md.-based firm dedicated to sustainable and responsible investing, that says women hold the key to prosperous growth.

Alya Z. Kayal, Calvert’s vice president of sustainability research will make that case at the closing lunch of the GreenBusiness Works EXPO on Oct. 28 at the Cobb Galleria.

“This year’s EXPO is entitled ‘Poised for Prosperity,’ and we are covering every angle of best practices to sustain our businesses for the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit,” said Stephanie Armistead, general manager of GreenBusiness Works, which educates companies about sustainability and produces the annual EXPO.

Calvert outlines seven principles companies must consider in the treatment of their female employees: employment and compensation; work-life balance and career development; health, safety, and freedom from violence; management and governance; business, supply chain, and marketing practices; civic and community engagement; and transparency and accountability.

One of the foremost human rights practitioners in the world of sustainable and responsible investment, Ms. Kayal has focused on human rights and labor rights in the global supply chains of key retail sectors such as footwear, apparel and toys, as well as on the corporate impact on the rights of Indigenous Peoples around the world.

She tracks companies’ environmental, social and governance impact with its performance. Before coming to Calvert in 1994, Ms. Kayal worked at the US Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau, the US Information Agency and the United Nations. She is a co-author of The Forty-Fourth Session of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and the Special Session of the Commission on Human Rights on the Situation in the Former Yugoslavia, 15 Human Rights Quarterly (1993) and authored the Human Rights chapter of the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators.

Calvert itself has won multiple awards for outstanding practices, including the Alliance for Workplace Excellence’s “Great Place to Work” Seal of Approval, Health and Wellness Trailblazer Award and Eco Leadership Award in 2009.

Ms. Kayal’s keynote address marks the culmination of three days of discussion on sustainable businesses, featuring a special track on energy efficiency, a Clean Tech Forum and exhibits by sustainable businesses across the Southeast.

The EXPO will also feature keynotes by: Rosalind Brewer, executive vice president of Walmart and president of Walmart Stores, Inc.’s South Business Unit; Edward Kerschner, CFA, chief investment officer for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney; Chris Deris, Global Head, CSR & Sustainability Practice of Edelman; and Auden Schendler, executive director of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company and author of “Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution.”

For more information about Calvert Investments, please visit www.calvert.com.

For EXPO details and to register, visit:www.greenbusinessworksexpo.net.

Please note that the closing luncheon is specially priced at $45.

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