Press Release

Brands Sharing in the Success of Purpose-Driven Leadership

Published 8 years ago | About a 5 minute read

Sustainable Brands® business and brand leaders will gather at SB’16 San Diego, June 6-9 at the Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, CA. As the premier global gathering of change-makers focused on driving value through sustainability, this year’s event theme, “Activating Purpose”, will focus on how companies are developing real tools, techniques and models for activating brand purpose and finding success.

Nearly 240 influential brand leaders and cutting-edge practitioners of environmental and social innovation will contribute to the program by leading interactive discussions, deep-dive workshops, plenary presentations and networking activities designed to cultivate learning, conversation and debate. Business leaders from over 25 countries and representing companies such as Ford, Sony Pictures, Google, Ben & Jerry’s, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Kimberly-Clark, CVS Health, Tesla, Dell, EY, Procter & Gamble, Timberland, BASF, JetBlue and hundreds more are among those already confirmed to attend this year. Program highlights include:

EY, GlobeScan and SustainAbility in partnership with Sustainable Brands will release new data and research on consumer attitudes and behavior around purpose, perceptions of key influencers and the business case for purpose-driven brand strategy.
Freya Williams, author of Green Giants: How Smart Companies Turn Sustainability into Billion-Dollar Businesses will walk through the six types of success factors that led to the first set of nine billion-dollar ‘sustainable brands’ and announce a new set of companies added to the list.
Alaska Airlines, Thread International, Looptworks and Timberland will share new and evolving case studies of partnerships devoted to circularity and upcycling.
Kevin Cleary, CEO of Clif Bar, and Guillaume Le Cunff, President of Nespresso USA, will demonstrate purpose-drive leadership in action, from building a thriving workplace to setting and pursuing a transformative business strategy.
NASDAQ, MIT Sloan Management Review, EY and HIP Investor will share a breakout panel discussion on the disconnect between corporate and investor perceptions as well as explore the landscape of investor attitudes and actions around purpose and sustainability.
Pure Strategies, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente and Beautycounter will share the Chemical Footprint Project and how it is used as a benchmarking tool to advance the use of safer chemicals in the manufacturing process.
Janine Benyus, Founder at Biomimicry 3.8, will share decades’ worth of pioneering biomimicry research to unpack what nature can teach executives about effective, purpose-driven leadership and design.
Vaseline, REI, JetBlue, **Ben & Jerry’s **and Campbell Soup will provide the inside scoop on new consumer engagement campaigns that are shaping the landscape of purpose-driven brand positioning, messaging and actions.
The Future-Fit Foundation, The ThriveAbility Foundation, Evonomics, We First and Forum for the Future will unleash powerful new frameworks and tools helping brands think about activating purpose in an integrated and interdisciplinary fashion compatible with a flourishing future for all.

Collaboration and networking will spill into the Activation Hub, hosted by BASF, where companies will lead discussions around complex business challenges and share innovative solutions. Highlights of activities in the Activation Hub and other networking events include:

YK Center will host a series of GameChangers MiniLabs™ devoted to embedding purpose into the core of an organization.
WhiteWave Foods Company will hold separate discussions on maintaining an impactful NGO partnership and activating purpose around advancing water conservation and restoration.
Nestlé will host conversations on what it means to move beyond compliance in the supply chain toward creating long-term positive value for society.
Target, and co-host RF|Binder, will feature the SB Innovation Open where eleven semi-finalist social and environmental entrepreneurs will pitch their business plans to an esteemed panel of judges.
Toyota, this year’s Ride-n-Drive partner, will offer test drive opportunities of their hydrogen fuel cell Mirai and Prius Hybrid vehicles. They will also host demonstrations of the new i-ROAD.
United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney will showcase the PurePower® PW1000G Engine with Geared Turbofan™ technology, designed to reduce fuel burn and regulate emissions and noise footprint by double-digits.
Organizations featured in the Causeway will showcase high-impact partnerships with purpose-driven brands. Participants include: Harvest Time International, Arbor Day Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, The Sustainability Consortium, BARD MBA, Project WET, Association of Climate Change Officers, Green Trees, and International Institute of Learning.
BASF will invite attendees to collaborate and reimagine human mobility, rethink the city and urban development, innovate for sustainable homes and offices of the future and work to meet the food and nutrition needs of growing populations.
ASU will host a workshop on how to accelerate success through higher education partnerships.
NatureBank will discuss initiatives to fund and develop sustainable cocoa production in new and emerging regions of the world, the challenges and opportunities with smallholders and a $12m production project in Dominican Republic.
Additional participating organizations include: Braskem, MBDC, BillerudKorsnäs, Rapport, AM Conservation Group, Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, Solar City, and others.
Co-sponsored by Goodwill and Give Back Box, this year’s Beachside BBQ will feature entertainment by MarchFourth!

“Building a successful, purpose-led business in today’s world presents a complex set of challenges,” states KoAnn Skrzyniarz, Founder of Sustainable Brands. “The good news is that many forward-thinking brands have recognized that it takes a new set of tools, partners, techniques and business models to successfully respond to these challenges in the 21st century business landscape. SB’16 San Diego will showcase the brands and solutions that are enhancing their profitability through purpose-driven business innovation.”

This global gathering of prominent business leaders is led by Platinum sponsors Target, Nestlé, BASF, Toyota and Citizen Group. JetBlue, United Technologies and Waste Management are Gold level sponsor. Silver level sponsors include: Cone Communications, EY, Savers, Deloitte, Kohler, Shaw Industries, ThinkPARALLAX, thinkstep, International Paper, WhiteWave Foods Company, Thailand Sustainable Development Fund, Knotty Pine, PwC, BLEND and YK Center. The Huffington Post is Platinum level media partner. Premium media partners include: Guardian Sustainable Business, Upworthy and News Deeply.

For further information on the conference program, a complete list of confirmed speakers and sponsors, plus Activation Hub activities, please visit the conference website at www.SB16sd.com. Online registration is still open and a limited number of tickets are still available including. Pass types range from an All Event ticket with access to all programming and networking activities to Activation Hub only tickets.