Paul Polman, Former CEO of Unilever & Founder, Imagine
Rachel Gerrol, Co-Founder & CEO, NEXUS
Join us for a fireside chat with Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, to discuss why sustainable business is a priority, how business has responded to COVID, and how we can recover post-COVID. At Unilever, Paul proved that a more responsible approach to business can go hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. He turned around Unilever while also pursuing an ambitious sustainability agenda and became widely regarded as an enlightened corporate leader. More recently, Paul founded Imagine, a benefit corporation that works with CEOs to leverage their collective power to drive change on tipping points in their industry - from greenhouse gas emissions to labor standards to biodiversity. Together, we will re-imagine a world in which business serves humanity.
Paul Polman is co-founder of IMAGINE, which mobilizes business leaders around tackling climate change and global inequality. He is also Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, The B Team, Saïd Business School and The Valuable 500, and Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact. A leading proponent that business can and should be a force for good, he has been described by the Financial Times as "a standout CEO of the past decade”. As CEO of Unilever (2009-2018), he demonstrated that a long-term, multi-stakeholder model goes hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. Paul was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel that developed the Sustainable Development Goals, and he remains an active SDG Advocate in working with global organizations and across industry to deliver the 2030 development agenda.
