Winning campaign representatives from left to right, Stacy Malkan of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Will Craven of ForestEthics, Shana Ortman of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, Individual Achievement Award Winner Randy Hayes, Mark Westerberg of UNITE-HERE, Mike Schade of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, and Mitch Anderson of Amazon Watch, and, in separate photo, Peter Gleick of Pacific Environment with the Human Right to Water Campaign

The Annual Business Ethics Network (BEN) Conference is where we bring together leading corporate campaign activists to improve skills, network, explore collaborations, celebrate victories, discuss the future of our movement, and consider best strategies for success.

The 2008 BEN Conference, our fourth annual, brought 160 corporate campaigners and supporters for four intensive days of trainings, panels, discussions, and the annual BENNY Awards. (Please see complete list of sessions and participating groups later in this report.)

The two keynoters for the Conference, Omar Freilla of Green Worker Cooperatives and Annie Leonard of the Story of Stuff, inspired us with successful stories about approaching our goals from new angles. How do we get the public to care about where the products we buy come from? How do we get them to realize the solution isn’t just about buying responsibly, but about engaging as citizens to demand better environmental and labor regulations? Having worked for so long targeting corporations, how do we examine when a business approach is a good way to meet our goals? How do we create businesses that are environmentally responsible and also create good new jobs in our communities? How do we adjust to that strategy?

Democracy School Training Lecturers, Attendees, and BEN Staff

Key Ideas Discussed at the 2008 Conference:

• We have key legislative options in front of us where we can expect traction we haven’t had in decades. These include opportunities for activists to collaborate on groundbreaking legislation benefiting groups from diverse issues areas. However, working with coalitions on legislation is different from working together on traditional corporate campaigns, and activists need to be ready for different rules.

• Some of the destructive corporations we target can be turned into advocates over time, but it’s easier to foster this relationship if we demonstrate to them how our long-term goals can fit into theirs.

• In order to build and develop our relationships with funders and donors, we need to keep open the lines of communication year-round, not just when reports are due. Funders will always appreciate receiving a short email about a new accomplish- ment. And in tough economic times we need to be talking with large and small donors about what we need and what they’re able to do.

• Community-rights legislation can provide protection against many kinds of corpor- ate threats for the longterm, saving activists from having to wage numerous site fights against corporations with deep pockets.

• Even during this economic downturn there are progressive investors looking for socially and environmentally responsible businesses. NGOs interested in starting them should also be very conservative in their business planning around expectations for costs and time to reach goals.

Requested New Roles for BEN:

The Conference provides opportunities, through the full-Conference Stakeholders and the Senior Campaigners Discussions, for activists to say what they would like BEN to provide or explore in the coming year. Here are some of the ideas from the 2008 Conference.

• Help coordinate work between environmental, labor, and other groups around key legislative opportunities in 2009 and beyond.
• Assist campaigners from different organizations in finding common targets through augmented use of existing wikis.
• Dedicate some resources to prepping activists for the shareholder season, with opportunities to talk about critical developments and to find out which groups might be planning similar resolutions.
• Consider how to include activists who can’t afford to attend the conference, especially in 2009 which we can expect to be a lean year, and involve BEN Members and conference-goers in the discussions of how best to involve them.

Report prepared by Anne Pernick, BEN Director. For more information, please contact Anne at (503) 459-6673 or apernick@corpethics.org

Please take a moment and read the rest of this report for more details on the BEN 2008 Conference.

2008 Awards

BEN Individual Achievement Award: Randy Hayes

BENNY Awards:

Recognizing significant victories in the past year of corporate campaign, selected by the BEN Membership:

• 1st Prize, $15,000: Clean Up Ecuador

• 2nd Prize, 10,000: Hotel Workers Rising: Strategic Organizing at the Glendale Hilton

• 3rd Prize, $5,000 two-way tie:

• Human Right to Water: South African legal fight to provide poor people with sufficient water – Mazibuko & Others v. City of Johannesburg & Others

• PVC Consumer Campaign

2008 Path to Victory Awards

Recognizing significant achievements on the way to victory in the past year of corporate campaigning:

1st Prize, three-way tie:

•The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

• ForestEthics Do Not Mail Campaign

• International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal