Profit, Purpose, and Impact: A Book Talk and Discussion with Author Christopher Marquis & Impact-Focused Companies

Wednesday, May 29, 2024, 5 – 7 PM @ SOMO Cowork
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Join us for a book talk featuring Christopher Marquis, author of “The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profit and Socializes Cost,” followed by a panel discussion with impact-focused companies Traditional Medicinals and World Centric. Christopher will discuss his new book and lead a conversation with the panelists on topics such as their social and environmental impact missions, overcoming challenges in maintaining these missions, and scaling impact-focused businesses. The event will include a Q&A session with the author, a chance to meet and network with like-minded professionals, and a book signing by Christopher Marquis. Copperfield’s Books will be selling the book on-site.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

As business leaders solemnly profess dedication to principles of environmental and social justice, their actions betray an enduring commitment to the neoliberal idea of maximizing profit. Hiding behind the mirage of ESG and corporate social responsibility, corporations continue to exploit the very resources and communities essential to their success.

In THE PROFITEERS, business professor Christopher Marquis exposes the strategies that corporations have developed to obscure the adverse consequences of the ways they do business and transfer these hidden costs onto society. Instead of rethinking supply chains rife with plastic, business leaders implore us to recycle. Rather than take responsibility for systemic discrimination, they tell us they believe in meritocracy.

But, as Marquis shows, it’s not enough to blame and shame—or even to reform the worst corporate actors. We must rethink and transform the entire system, leaving behind shareholder primacy to create a new, regenerative paradigm. To that end, THE PROFITEERS explores a group of pioneers changing the way business is conducted all over the world. By taking actions to minimize their negative impacts and create new ways to properly absorb their hidden costs, these leaders provide blueprints to move the needle on vexing social and environmental issues.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christopher Marquis is the Sinyi Professor at the University of Cambridge Judge School of Business. He writes a regular column for Forbes and his work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Fortune, TIME, Foreign Policy, and Harvard Business Review. His previous books, Better Business: How the B Corp is Remaking Capitalism and Mao and Markets, a Financial Times “Best Book of 2022,” were published by Yale University Press.

PANEL DISCUSSION WITH:

World Centric

Traditional Medicinals

LOCATION:

SOMO Cowork is a collaborative workspace designed to provide professionals, entrepreneurs, and freelancers with a comfortable and inspiring environment to work, network, and grow their businesses.

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