Passionate Players in World Change highlight SVN Spring Conference

This past May 1-4th I participated in my third Social Venture Network Conference at the Crystal Lodge in NJ. Once again, I was profoundly inspired by the brilliant speakers and the dialogue between the dynamic members of SVN. I am a relatively new member of this outstanding and very special business community that since 1987 has united 420 of the world’s most socially responsible businesses leaders– company founders, private investors, social entrepreneurs and key influencers– together under the common and powerful commitment of building a just and sustainable world through business.

After reading Anita Roddick’s Book Body and Soul several years ago, I became very interested in the idea of Socially responsible businesses and began wondering how Ciclismo Classico could become a better social platform for improving our world. For several years I attended Babson College’s Business and Spirituality conference and was profoundly inspired by speakers such as Tom and Kate Chappell, of Tom’s of Maine, Aaron Feuerstein, former President and CEO of Malden Mills Industries, Inc, Gary Hirshberg from Stoneyfield Farm and Frances Moore Lappé, noted author and activist.

I drove with to NJ with Laury Hammel, the amazingly energetic founder of The Longfellow Club and icon in the SVN community. Laury, who is committed to have the “greenest” health club in America, was my original connection to SVN world and has not only welcomed me into my new band of friends but has been a great mentor and advisor. I am always jazzed and amazed at the openness, camaraderie and fun loving enthusiasm of the SVN members, like walking into a reunion of friends who you have known for years. Salt of the earth business folks like Jerry Gorde or Joe Sibilia who not only connects to my business mind but helps uplift, recharge and propel my business soul. The SVN weekends, held twice a year, are like a collision of Woodstock and MIT Business School, a wonderfully blend of innovative educational sessionsm, yoga, long walks, bike rides, delicious meals, stimulating conversation and late night jam sessions that have even gotten me playing Kumbaya, Leavin on a Jet Plan and Annie’s Song on the guitar again.

This year’s spring conference had an amazing line up of speakers including the key note speaker Carol Petrini, Founder and President of the Slow Food Movement. His lively and intense talk ( in Italian with translated in Italian) mesmerized the audience. He began his talk by making reference to Small is Beautiful, by E.F. Schumacher, one of my favorite all time books that transformed my way of thinking and then begin to passionately about what he believes is the world’s number one crisis: our consumptive, wasteful and disrespectful relationship with food. Through SLOW FOOD he is dedicated to change this dangerous trend, one local food producer at a time. He recounted many tales of how disconnected we are from the food we eat and as a result our health, culture and ultimately our planet is suffering. One anecdote that illustrates our insane wasteful attitude towards food was from his own region of Piedmont where he discovered that they import (pastic tasting but huge ) green peppers from Holland and use the land once used to grow pepper to grow tulips that will be exported to….Holland!

Blessed with a knack of anticipating events in the fields of food, agriculture and eco-gastronomy (a term he coined himself), Petrini has played a decisive role in the development of Slow Food, inventing and promoting its projects, which have now acquired great international visibility. Among his many achievements is the creation of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and Colorno, the first academic institution to offer an interdisciplinary approach to food studies; he is also the mastermind behind Terra Madre, a groundbreaking meeting of 5,000 food producers from all over the world, held every two years in Turin to discuss common problems and find possible solutions. At our last guide meeting we discussed trying to support SLOW FOOD and integrate Terra Madre food producers in each itinerary. In 2008 we will actively connect and expand our network of Terra Madre Food Producers so that our guests can have an authentic and more delicious food experience.

( If you are interested in seeing a great short film about this topic, watch Mark Bittman’s film on TED. )

At Friday night’s planary session, the SVN audience was mesmerized by Van Jones an amazingly passionate action, orientated human rights champion who is working to combine solutions to America’s two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. In his talk, he shared stories about he is trying to bring green jobs to the inner city through his many focused initiatives

Over the past five years, Van has also emerged as a national environmental leader. In recent years, he has served on the boards of the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers and Julia Butterfly Hill’s “Circle of Life” organization. In 2005, Van produced the “Social Equity Track” for the United Nations’ World Environment Day celebration. UNWED 2005 drew dozens of mayors from around the world to San Francisco, where they developed policies promoting the concept of “Green Cities.” Van’s dual roles have given him a unique perspective on the country’s problems and its potential solutions. Under the slogan “green jobs, not jails,” Van Jones today is calling for green economic development in urban America.

At the national level, Van and the Ella Baker Center worked in 2007 with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-MASS) to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007. That path-breaking, historic legislation will provide $120 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in “green-collar jobs

In the summer of 2007, Van helped launch two new initiatives. He is a founding board member of One Sky, a national coalition working to avert catastrophic climate change. And he is also the founding president of Green For All, a national campaign for green-collar jobs and opportunities.

By the end of the weekend I not only had made many more new friends and learned new business practices and ideas, I was reunited with a tight-knit heartwarming community, a tribe of like minded spirits whose passions and missions are about being a positive force for societal and environmental changes. After the ongoing soul searching about what’s next for Ciclismo, I came away, once again, deeply touched, reenergized, renewed and bubbling with new ideas. Most importantly I feel a part of a greater good, that I can be part of an ongoing collaboration and exchange of ideas that can really change the world one step or pedal stroke at time

Joe Sibilia put it best “ Once you’ve been exposed to the impact that business has on society, on the environment and on the human condition, for you to go back and to operate under a different set of guidelines would be very hard. You’d have to have very little self-esteem or self- consciousness for that to happen. So as a result of the flow of people in and out of the organization there creates a critical mass within the business community and at some point we gather together and create an impression that it’s not an underground or an alternative economy. It becomes mainstream. It reminds me of a quote about the definite truth, the evolution of truth traveling through three stages. First it’s ridiculed. Then it’s violently opposed. Then it becomes universally accepted as being self-evident. So right now people ridicule the notion that companies should be measured on their financial performance and their social impact, and many people violently oppose that notion. But we believe that ultimately that will become universally accepted as being self-evident and that’ll be the next evolution in capitalism. “

What does this all mean for Ciclismo Classico? As we grow and continually run the most authentic active and transformational bike tours on the planet, Ciclismo Classico will be a platform for our CC team, guides and guests to promote and advance cycling culture as a crucial strategy in making the world better, happier and more sustainable. Welcome aboard!

In 2008 / 2009 we will be donating a percentage of our profits and operational support to the following organizations: Cycle Kids http://www.cyclekids.org/ Massbike http://www.massbike.org/ , Bikes Belong http://bikesbelong.org/ http://www.righttoplay.com, The Pan Mass Challenge www.pmc.org, Best Buddies http://www.kintera.org Spannochia Foundation http://www.spannocchia.org/ and Slow Food http://www.slowfood.com/

If you know of any organizations that might be a great fit in our Social Responsible Portfolio, let me know

Happy Pedaling!

Lauren@ciclismoclassico.com

I look forward to your support

One Response to “Passionate Players in World Change highlight SVN Spring Conference”

1. Tommaso says:

   May 22, 2008 at 9:06 pm

   thanks to share with us your experience in ecological development.
   Since my year at the university i follow the SlowFood activities, i’m in contact with some people of Italian staff, i wrote my thesis with the ex-assistant president of Italian SlowFood (Antonio Attorre) about typical products and sustainable tourism, like travelling by bike.
   I’m working now to increase attention to eco-sustainable tourism, starting from travel with and by bike.
   I’ll be very pleased to include SlowFood and TerraMadre in CC trips.
   Let’s improve the Earth!!

   Reply