MSAE to Set Social Responsibility Agenda for Association Professionals

United by an enthusiasm for planning our future and effecting positive change, hundreds of association industry stakeholders have committed to participating in ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership’s first-ever Global Summit on Social Responsibility – Leveraging the Power of Associations for a New Magnitude of Leadership, April 30-May 2, 2008. St. Paul, MN is one of the more than 20 connected sites for the Summit.

Less than three weeks out, nearly 400 association professionals and industry partners are expected to attend the Global Summit host site at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center just outside Washington, DC. Hundreds more will join from connected sites located in the United States and in cities around the world. The Midwest Society of Association Executives will serve as a connected site on Wednesday, April 30th. The session will be hosted at the MSAE offices, 1970 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 100, Roseville, MN, 55113.

Working together, participants in the Summit will identify the unique competencies that associations bring to the table and how those competencies can be effectively leveraged to help society. The Summit will also advance the case for social responsibility as a business and strategic imperative, and generate guiding principles for associations looking to integrate social responsibility into their everyday operations.

“More than a buzz word, social responsibility is really evolving into smart business,” said ASAE President and CEO John H. Graham IV, CAE. “There are obvious benefits to associations consciously practicing social responsibility in a consistent, organized fashion. The Summit will help us identify what’s already working and what’s feasible in our community, so that we are setting both a short- and a long-term agenda for our profession.”

World-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs, Ph.D., and longtime business leadership icon Frances Hesselbein will be among the international leaders exploring the profound role that associations can play as positive world change agents during the Summit.

“We are viewing this Global Summit as a tremendous opportunity for associations to take a leadership role in planning their future,” said Susan Sarfati, CAE, president and CEO of The Center for Association Leadership and executive vice president of ASAE. “We feel very good already about the passion this topic evokes from our members, who have the power, expertise and collective resources to transform the world in a positive way.”

ASAE & The Center’s Social Responsibility Initiative is supported by The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation and The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau, which have pledged grants for this long-term goal to identify and develop tools, guidelines and best practices that can be used by associations and their members to integrate social responsibility platforms at all levels of their operations.

Other connected sites include Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Tallahassee, FL; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Madrid, Spain; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Dubai, UAE; Duluth,GA; Lakewood, OH; Sacramento, CA; New York, NY; Dublin, OH; Charlotte, NC; Seattle, WA; Brussels, Belgium; Shanghai, China; Singapore, Singapore; and Milwaukee, WI. Conversations are under way regarding other locations in Phoenix, AZ; New Orleans, LA; Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, Australia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Bogota, Columbia; London, England; Paris, France; Jakarta, Indonesia; Dublin, Ireland; Manila, Philippines; and Barcelona, Spain.

For more information about the Global Summit in St. Paul, MN, contact Kathy Johnson at 651-647-6388 or associations@msae.com. To register online or to learn more about ASAE & The Center’s Global Summit on Social Responsibility and their larger Social Responsibility Initiative, visit www.asaecenter.org/globalsummits.  MSAE Media Contact: Kathy Johnson, (651) 647-6388 or associations@msae.com. ASAE Media Contact: Jakub M. Konysz, (202) 626-2831 or jkonysz@asaecenter.org