Morning Mindfulness Session
8:00 AM- 8:20 AM
Morning Mindfulness Essentials
The power to focus the mind and calm the body is one of the most direct paths to inner sustainability. Join us for a pre-conference session of simple mindfulness practices that will help set a tone for your day to be one of clarity and flow. No prior experience needed. With Deb LeClair Psy.D. of Full Spectrum Wellness and re-Sourced
Room
Webster
Plenary Panel
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM
Empowering Futures: Strong Public Education, Business Growth, and Thriving Communities
Don’t miss the Prosperity Unleashed panel discussion on the pivotal role of public education and equitable funding in shaping the future of New Hampshire’s communities and businesses. We’ll explore the link between quality education, a skilled workforce, and economic growth, highlighting how equal access benefits both businesses and residents.
Room
Granite Ballroom
Morning Break-Out Sessions
10:45 AM- 12:00 PM
Building Momentum for Sustainable Policies
An educational session on the importance of and opportunities to engage on climate, clean energy, and transportation policies under consideration in New Hampshire. Presenters will discuss how strong support from the business community plays a critical role in advancing policies with the legislature, administration, and regulatory offices. They will also offer suggestions for effective messaging while addressing policymakers and candidates.
Room
Pierce
Do Something! From Awareness to Climate Action
How can we fight climate change as businesses or individuals? We always have more impact when we work with others. Come learn about efforts underway in NH schools, municipalities and at the statehouse, and figure out where YOU can have a positive impact. We’ll consider how best to move people from understanding to caring to making a change, learn about tools we can use for communicating the importance of climate action, and find out about concrete actions already happening all over the state.
Room
Webster
DEI from the Bottom Up: Peer-to-Peer Strategies
There are two parts to defining and implementing DEI strategies within an organization. The first is companywide implementation and ongoing training from the leadership level. In this session, participants will learn about the second and equally important component, forming an employee peer group to advance learning opportunities and deepen engagement and conversations to help you better understand and embrace the nuances within your community and power your overall DEI efforts. Badger’s DEI journey began in late 2021, with its leadership team committing to finding ways to support meaningful change and action while working with consultants to develop more equitable practices in every business area. As part of that work, the Social Justice Peer Group was founded to serve as a peer-to-peer resource for cross-cultural connection and engagement. Examples of successful DEI initiatives, such as study groups (podcasts, books, and films) and guest speakers, will be shared
Speaker
Room
Capital
Leveraging ESG for Sustainable Value Creation
This session helps companies understand how sustainability issues can be integrated into strategic planning and budgeting cycles to create long-term value. This creates a roadmap for action, provides key insights to operationalize and execute on a concrete sustainability strategy, and prepares companies for upcoming disclosure requests. Attendees will participate in a working session to identify industry-specific sustainability issues as defined by leading global ESG reporting frameworks.
Room
Concord
Pathways to Affordable Housing: Business-Supported Supply-Side Solutions
New Hampshire is facing a housing shortage leading to record low vacancy rates and skyrocketing prices. This housing shortage directly impacts businesses’ ability to hire and retain employees. What can businesses do about it? This session will explore business-supported supply-side housing solutions. Attendees will review case studies, the pros and cons of different housing solutions, and leave with a specific list of solutions they can pursue. Drawing from the experience of Kennebunk Savings’ partnerships, attendees will learn about collaborative approaches to tackle affordable housing. The session will highlight the evolution of partnerships between financial institutions and housing organizations, shedding light on challenges faced and strategies employed. Demonstrating the need for businesses to collaborate with local organizations to solve problems; how a business can evaluate and use its resources; anticipate pushback to ideas; and how to navigate local government and advocate for state-level solutions.
Room
Merrimack
Unconscious Bias: How It Impacts Your Business and What You Can Do About It
Join us for an interactive session to explore how unconscious bias impacts us all and impedes our ability to serve our employees, partners, consumers, and the long-term wellbeing of our organizations. This panel will explore one woman’s experience of unconscious bias, one company’s approach to address it systemically, and why this matters in NH. We will then broaden the discussion to explore how all organizations, regardless of size or type, can mitigate unconscious bias to be more inclusive and welcoming to all.
Room
Constitution
Afternoon Break-Out Sessions
2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Smarter Advocacy – A basic crash-course workshop
“Advocacy” can be a scary word for a lot of folks in the business community – rife with concerns of perceptions, legal implications, and political land mines. This workshop/panel will work to “demystify” advocacy and, by laying out the pillars of advocacy and direct actions in pursuit of creating an environment where business and community thrive together, how they as individuals and a collective can move the needle. The goal will be to equip attendees with tangible next steps to work on.
Room
Webster
AI Ethics: Shaping Tomorrow’s World
Explore the transformative power of AI ethics in our session, we’ll tackle how ethical AI is crucial not just for risk mitigation but for fostering a future where technology champions equity and societal progress. Discuss key questions around integrating ethics into AI development and learn strategies to ensure technology acts as a force for good.
Speaker
Room
Merrimack
Measuring DEI: Beyond Simple Counts to Impactful Engagement & ROI
You have made the decision to embark on a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) initiative. Good. Now how do you know whether or not your effort is successful? Management guru Peter Drucker has been credited with saying that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” That applies to DEI. If you can’t measure DEI in your organization, you can’t improve it.
Join us for a discussion of how to measure a DEI initiative that is based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. Edward Hubbard and Curt J. Howes. We will discuss the 3 types of DEI goals, the 20 DEI goal areas, how DEI goals should be aligned to overall organizational goals, and methods for tracking your chosen goals that include Return on Investment (ROI). Learning Objectives By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- identify DEI ROI
- identify the goals and metrics that are important in your DEI initiative
- determine methods to gather data about your DEI initiative
- understand how to analyze your data and draw conclusions from the analysis
Room
Capital
Climate and Health
Hear directly from New Hampshire healthcare professionals on how our changing climate is affecting human health, and potential solutions to protect the health of NH residents. a grassroots group of interdisciplinary healthcare workers who are concerned about the climate crisis and its impact on our patients. Part of our mission is to educate the public about these very serious health effects of climate change, hoping to mobilize them to advocate for climate solutions. Our presentation will address the effects of climate on the health of NH families and how we can support climate solutions that are also health solutions.
Room
Concord
Imagining Futures for Shared Prosperity
Ever wonder what New Hampshire could look like in 5, 10, even 20 years? Join us for a hands-on exploration of futures thinking to imagine equitable, shared prosperity.
Learn to: Scan the Horizon for emerging trends and forces; Imagine potential futures through storytelling; and Shape stories into strategies. This session is for anyone seeking to build resilience and adapt to changing landscapes. Leave with a fresh perspective on collective imagination to build a future that works for everyone.
Room
Pierce
Birds of a Feather Sessions
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Listening that Enables New Possibilities
Grow a work culture that brings out the best thinking of people and groups by learning specific ways to listen so people feel seen, heard, and understood and facilitation approaches that support inclusive collaboration.
Moderator
Room
Capital
Defining Your “Why”: A Blueprint to Brand Success
Some brands can articulate what they do, few brands can articulate why. Not why we believe in ourselves, but why our target audience believes in us. Moreover, how can we plan authentic marketing strategies that support our mission, vision and values?
Moderator
Room
Webster
Building Healthy Communities: Addressing Factors for Health Equity
Many factors have a major impact on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life. Examples include:
- Safe housing, transportation, and neighborhoods
- Racism, discrimination, and violence
- Education, job opportunities, and income
- Access to nutritious foods and physical activity opportunities
- Polluted air and water
- Language and literacy skills
These factors also contribute to wide health disparities and inequities.
Room
Concord
Unlocking Sustainable Transformation Through Effective Employee Engagement
Effective employee engagement is the key to implementing any strategy within organizations, driving long-term success and positive impact. By fostering a culture of involvement, communication, and empowerment, businesses can harness the collective energy and creativity of their workforce to drive meaningful change towards strategic goals.
Room
Merrimack
Moderator
Trauma Informed Approach to Inclusive Workplaces
Psychologically safe workplaces allow people to take risks and fail without reprisal. It means prioritizing environments that promote inquisitive learning and belonging.
The focus is on promoting cultural humility, an inclusive workplace and respecting all employees’ backgrounds and experiences. There should be a clear and comprehensive training plan that includes providing ongoing support and resources for employees.
Room
Constitution
Moderator
Leveraging Community Engagement for Success
Learn practical strategies to integrate community involvement seamlessly into your business model, ultimately reaping significant benefits for both your company and the communities you serve.
Room
Pierce