Press Release
Sustainable Brands Releases Full Program for Annual New Metrics Conference

SAN FRANCISCO, October 7, 2016 – Sustainable Brands® recently announced the full program for New Metrics’16, scheduled for November 14-16 in Boston, MA. Drawing together over 400 global business leaders, the conference will focus on the emerging methods for identifying, measuring, and quantifying new forms of business risk and value, as well as include strategies for communicating the impact of that value to stakeholders.

Over 85 speakers from companies such as Nasdaq, Virgin Atlantic, 3M, Dell, and Johnson & Johnson will join executives from WWF, Rainforest Alliance, Nielsen, MIT Sloan, and others to share leading edge corporate initiatives that drive improved business and social value. This year, the conference will also feature an entirely new track of content dedicated to the sustainability of supply chain management.

Key discussion topics and featured speakers include:

• A conversation on how to derive both business and brand value by aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with James Sullivan, Vice President of Sustainability Management & Strategy at SAP.
• Lessons learned from a Virgin Atlantic initiative to leverage behavioral science and smart data communication to incentivize pilots to become more fuel efficient, with Claire Lambert, the Manager of the Fuel Efficiency Programme.
• An overview of business-wide water goal-setting and management with Judy Takats, the Water Stewardship Manager at WWF.
• The introduction of a new, comprehensive framework for managing natural capital, with Michelle Lapinski, a steering group member for the Natural Capital Coalition.
• A review of a pilot program to test a MultiCapital Scorecard™ aimed to measure and report a company’s social and environmental impacts in addition to traditional financial metrics, with Rob Michalak, Global Director of Social Mission at Ben and Jerry’s.
• A discussion on how the shift to sustainable products can bolster revenue, brand value and company management with Adam Elman, Head of Global Delivery: Sustainability/Plan A at leading retailer Marks & Spencer.

Workshop Sessions Eligible for CPA CPE Credit

In a new partnership with the Rhode Island Society of CPAs, New Metrics’16 will host workshops and other sessions that are eligible for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit for any US-registered CPA. Attendees with an upgraded All Event conference pass can earn a possible total of 22 CPEs over the 3 day period. All CPE-eligible sessions are marked with a symbol in the Full Program schedule.

“In this 5th year of New Metrics we hope to continue to encourage corporate leaders to seek and adopt new forms of metrics and measurement practices that help to redefine business value and lead to better business performance,” states KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, founder of Sustainable Brands. “This year’s partnership with RISCPA will encourage CPAs to gain the tools and knowledge necessary to assist with incorporating environmental and social metrics into the financial reporting of their clients/businesses.”

Proud supporters of this event include BASF as Platinum sponsor and Apex Clean Energy, EnerNOCand Altenex as Silver level sponsors. Nature Bank is the official carbon offset partner and South Pole Group is the official renewable energy partner. The Rhode Island Society of CPAs is the Continuing Education Partner. Additional sponsors and partners include cr360, RAPPORT, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Wharton/IGEL, Blue Practice, Ceres and others. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for companies with innovative ideas to share.

New Metrics’16 is scheduled for November 14-16, 2016 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel - Boston in Cambridge, MA. Registration is still open, but capacity is limited. Further information can be found at www.NewMetrics16.com or by calling 1.415.626.2212