Oliver St. Clair Franklin, OBE, is Honorary Consul of the United Kingdom in Philadelphia, Senior Advisor at FIS Group, an asset management and financial advisory firm, and both a Board member and Executive Liaison for the Satell Institute. Oliver has vast knowledge and experience in the free market system, on a local, national and truly global basis. But perhaps he also has absorbed the principles of free enterprise in a fashion few have. You see, Oliver studied in what had once been Adam Smith’s room at Oxford University.
INsight asked Oliver what has drawn him to active involvement in the Satell Institute?
Key Success Factors for Satell Institute
Oliver immediately listed several key success factors – first, the organization’s CEO focus. Second, its unique affiliations, for the conduct of groundbreaking research in CSR, with the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Connecticut. Third, its goal of creating a CSR certification for companies wanting to follow best practices in this crucial area and be known for it. Fourth, most of all, the Institute’s passionate mission to support the CSR movement within the American free enterprise system. This includes an expansion of understanding the role of the corporation in society from an exclusive focus on shareholders to a broader focus on all stakeholders.
Liaison to the Corporate Community
We asked Oliver about his work as a liaison of the Institute in the corporate community — what has he learned about why CEOs decide to have their companies enthusiastically participate in SI by supporting mission-driven nonprofits of their choice?
Oliver said many corporate leaders at first find it unbelievable that there is no cost of membership in the Satell Institute. He lauded “Ed’s brilliance is giving up the power to the members” and that companies learning about the Satell Institute come to understand how membership in the Institute will help them attract and keep the best talent in their increasingly millennial workforce. Oliver also points out that these business leaders ultimately come to understand that the Institute’s key requirement for sustainable funding for nonprofits will make the companies’ investments in the community generate far greater and more measurable impact for their companies.
A Positive New Kind of Capitalism
Oliver believes that the expansion of the focus of corporate leaders from a sole focus on shareholders to a broader focus on stakeholders represents a new kind of capitalism. This is being driven by a healthy combination of forces – from the bottom, by the expectations and aspirations of young workers, from support for community involvement from the middle, and newly increased support from the top down decisions of enlightened corporate leaders. The Satell Institute both reflects and is catalyzing these important developments which benefit companies, the community and those who live there.
Priceless Business Intelligence
When asked his vision of the Institute’s future, even with respect to the inevitable ultimate transition someday from its founding leadership, Oliver is extremely optimistic, arguing that the structure of Institute activities, including the enormously successful peer-to-peer CEO conferences, and high-quality research products which he called “priceless business intelligence” for CEOs, will not only sustain the Institute, but serve as a model for many other cities across the country to follow on, and join in.
All in all, Oliver is quite certain that his spiritual roommate, Adam Smith, would be delighted by the work of the Satell Institute.
The Satell Institute’s Inaugural Nonprofit-Business Leadership Summit on Thursday, November 14th Announces the Business Leader Panel
This will be an impactful morning focused on the Why, Who and How of creating and keeping new successful corporate-nonprofit funding partnerships.
The all-star business leader panel features national, regional and local companies deeply invested in community building from a number of business perspectives. These distinguished leaders will answer a series of questions posed by moderator Bobby Keyes on their corporate nonprofit initiatives and the factors that helped these initiatives come about. The attendees will then have the opportunity for Q&A.