Meet John Wilson

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Hank Boerner – Chair & Chief Strategist

#Business & Society #Corporate Citizenship #Corporate Responsibility #Corporate Sustainability #Sustainability Professionals 

Joining Outstanding Faculty for Spring CSR Certificate Course
May 16th and 17th at Rutgers University Business School
On May 16th and 17th, the Rutgers Institute for Ethical Leadership and Governance & Accountability Institute present the Spring 2017 CSR Certificate Program for corporate managers, not-for-profit and foundation managers, and others interested in career opportunities and advancement in the fields of Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”), Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Sustainability, Philanthropy, Risk Management, Ethics, and related positions.
An outstanding faculty of professionals from leading CSR and sustainable investment organizations will lead the interactive discussions which are a feature of the course. For more information about the course and to register, visit: 
Meet one of your course leaders:
John Wilson
Head of Corporate Governance, Engagement & Research
Cornerstone Capital Group

John will be our keynote speaker at dinner on Tuesday, May 16th. He’ll share many insights and perspectives from his two decades of experience in the field of CSR and sustainable & responsible investing.

A conversation with John:
Q:  How is your day-to-day work related to the CSR Certificate Program?
[JW]  I have been involved in sustainable & responsible investing, and corporate governance and related activities for two decades.  What has been encouraging to me is the embrace of corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices and strategies by leading companies over that time, from modest beginning when I started in the field to robust, broad programs being adopted today by leading companies.  At Cornerstone, we work with Investors and corporations to fully integrate sustainability and good governance into capital markets activities.
Q:  What can attendees expect to learn from your session?
[JW]  The embrace of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability by leaders in the corporate sector is accelerating, and creating many new opportunities for professionals entering the field.  I will share lessons learned over the past two decades, and identify emerging opportunities for course participants.
Q:  What advice do you have or opportunity that you see for attendees who complete the CSR Certificate Program?
[JW]   This is still a relatively new field for a good number of companies.  If you look at the supply chain of major companies you can see the uptake of CSR programs by a growing number of suppliers within the large company’s network.  That creates new opportunities for professional with a keen understanding of what corporate recruiting and promotion needs are, and how they qualify for positions that are opening now with the embrace of CSR by many more companies.
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Career Background:  John Wilson – Cornerstone Capital Group
John is Head of Corporate Governance, Engagement & Research at Cornerstone Capital Group. A globally-recognized authority on corporate governance and related issues, he has almost two decades of experience in corporate governance and socially responsible investing.   He leads a team of people who produce thematic investment research into environmental, social and governance topics, and advise companies that wish to better tailor and communicate their sustainability strategies to the capital markets.
His firm was founded in 2013; Cornerstone applies the principles of sustainable finance across the capital markets, enhancing investment processes through greater transparency and collaboration. (Cornerstone, based in New York City, offers wealth management, investment research, and corporate advisory services .)
John was previously Director of Corporate Governance at TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest private pension system.  He supervised the corporate (shareholder) proxy voting of CREF, which had 8,000-plus public companies in the investment portfolio.  At T-C he engaged with corporate boards and senior management on many issues, helping to advance policies and best practices in corporate responsibility and sustainability.
John is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School, and Member of the Advisory Council of the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board. He holds a degree from Georgetown University (B.A., History), and an MBA and Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
For more information about the course and to register, visit: