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ESG & CSR Practitioner Summit

September 2-3, 2026 | Philadelphia, PA

Agenda

Wednesday, September 2

9:45 AM

Registration, Networking, and Refreshments

10:30 AM

Welcome and Introduction

10:45 AM

Peer-Led Vendor* Clinic

ESG and CSR vendors: What are we using, what works, and what doesn’t?

*We are a vendor-free community, so these “vendor clinics” are a special opportunity to dig-in, ask tough questions, and get candid feedback — not a sales pitch.

Open, peer-led discussions where you can find workarounds and share successes (and frustrations) with the ESG & CSR tool integral to your program’s success. If you aren’t a customer but are considering an investment in a particular vendor, you can get an honest assessment from other brands who use the tool. In this clinic, we’ll focus on:

  • Workiva
  • Persefoni
  • Watershed
  • Metrio
  • Benevity
  • YourCause
  • Bonterra/CyberGrants
  • WizeHive/Bright Funds
  • CSR without a giving/volunteering platform

11:15 AM

Break

11:20 AM

Panel

Demonstrating the ROI: What can sustainability and social impact learn from each other?

11:50 AM

Lunch Discussion

1:00 PM

Break

1:10 PM

Case Study

Grant Application Review: Putting Employees in the Driver’s Seat


Wesley Touhy & Jenna Gregory, Motorola Solutions

Engaging employees in grant decisions can transform how your workforce connects to your company’s impact mission, but getting there requires the right balance of structure and autonomy. Join Wesley Touhy and Jenna Gregory of Motorola Solutions as they break down how they run a successful 300+ participant grant review program and share scalable steps any company can implement to expand employee influence in grantmaking.

Case Study

Sustainability Strategies that Engage and Serve the Business


Rachel Grunberg & Casey Velazquez, The Hershey Company

Designing and implementing an enterprise sustainability strategy requires cross‑functional engagement, disciplined execution, and a clear link to business resilience. Hear from Rachel Grunberg, Director of Environmental Sustainability and Casey Velazquez, Manager, Sustainability Reporting & Planning at The Hershey Company on how they worked across the organization to build a commitment framework that supports long‑term performance and value creation.

1:40 PM

Break

1:55 PM

Case Study

From Disruption to Engagement: Building a Global Volunteer Movement


Val Collado at Avantor Sciences

Amid a period of significant organizational change—including leadership transitions, restructuring, and evolving ways of working—Avantor launched a global Community Impact program as an opportunity to engage employees and strengthen its culture. Since September 2022, the program has driven consistent double-digit growth in participation year over year. Join Valerie Collado, Director of Community Impact and Communications at Avantor Sciences, for an inside look at what it takes to design, launch, and scale a volunteer strategy that resonates—and endures—through change.

Case Study

Embedding Your Sustainability Mission Across the Enterprise

2:25 PM

Break

2:40 PM

Case Study

Building a New Signature CSR Program with Environmental Impact


Julie Lata from Everpure

The process of assessing and overhauling your existing giving strategies stresses out every CSR leader, especially when it comes to selling leaders and colleagues on a new signature vision. Come hear how Julie Lata, Director of Social Impact at Everpure and her team designed, built, and launched a new signature program to drive new impacts around environmental sustainability, and the lessons they learned along the way.

Case Study

Scope 3: Trial and Opportunities Moving to More First Party Data

3:10 PM

Networking Break

3:40 PM

Case Study

Volunteer Ambassadors: Creating Global Networks of Engaged Advocates

Case Study

ESG Governance That Drives Progress, Not Delays

4:10 PM

Break

4:25 PM

Case Study

Making the Case: CSR Storytelling that Shows the ROI

Case Study

Navigating the ESG Regulatory Landscape without Losing your Mind

4:55 PM

Adjourn

5:00 PM

Drinks Reception and Members-Only Dinner

Following our afternoon of conversations and case studies, we’ll all go out for a fantastic dinner together. It’s a perfect opportunity to connect with your fellow members before a big day of brainstorming, discussion, and collaboration.

Thursday, September 3

8:00 AM

Breakfast Discussions

The conversations over coffee and eggs at this event are often more lively than any other conference’s happy hour. You’ll want to be here bright and early (and on time). 

8:50 AM

Break

9:00 AM

Workshop

Building a rater/ranker strategy that doesn’t waste your time

Workshop

Engaging employees in environmental impact

Workshop

Days/weeks/months of service: What makes them really deliver?

9:30 AM

Break

9:45 AM

Workshop

ESG + AI: What use-cases are moving the needle?

Workshop

CSR + AI: What’s helping? What’s just more headache?

Workshop

Protecting purpose-driven teams from burnout

10:15 AM

Break

10:30 AM

Workshop

Embedding ESG strategies into your finance functions

Workshop

Trusting and empowering community partners

Workshop

Integrating enterprise risk into ESG & CSR decision-making

11:00 AM

Break

11:15 AM

Workshop

Supply chain and environmental sustainability: Driving change together

Workshop

Impact models and theories of change: How do we help our nonprofits evolve?

Workshop

Environmental justice: Bringing sustainability and social impact to the table

11:45 AM

Themed Lunch Discussions

During lunch, the tables will be divided into industries so leaders can pick where they want to sit and connect with others who are leading ESG and CSR in the same space:

  • Financial Services
  • Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices
  • Utilities & Energy
  • Retail
  • Hospitality
  • Consumer Goods
  • B2B
  • Food & Agriculture
  • Manufacturing
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • Tech & Software

12:45 PM

Break

12:55 PM

Peer Advisory Roundtables

Example topics:

  • ESG executive education
  • Environmental sustainability reporting trends
  • Enterprise risk management for ESG
  • EPR strategies
  • Logic models and theories of change
  • Engaging hourly employees in volunteerism
  • Support ERG/BRG giving and volunteer efforts
  • Signature partnerships
  • Building executive advocates for CSR

1:30 PM

Peer Advisory Roundtables

Example topics:

  • ESG team structures
  • Climate goal road mapping
  • Supplier engagement strategies
  • ESG regulatory readiness
  • CSR team structures
  • Grantmaking governance
  • Global volunteer engagement strategies
  • Skills-based volunteering programs

2:00 PM

Break

2:15 PM

Peer Advisory Roundtables

Example topics:

  • Maintaining buy-in and momentum for social impact during economic uncertainty
  • Innovating your social impact measurement
  • Navigating a changing regulatory landscape as a global company
  • Volunteer ambassador programs

2:45 PM

Adjourn

Please note: This agenda is subject to change based on speaker availability and scheduling.