The Corporate Conference is an annual two-day gathering that explores the global issues impacting the business landscape. Open exclusively to CFR corporate members, the conference is a unique forum comprised of intimate breakout sessions and off-the-record conversations with leaders in business and foreign policy. In a community of their peers, executives participate in dialogues on, and gain new understanding of, the political, economic, and social forces shaping markets, competitiveness, and the regulatory environment.
The 2011 Corporate Conference featured an opening plenary session with Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE, moderated by CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo. Plenary sessions included former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinksi and CFR president Richard N. Haass on geopolitical risk; energy analyst Edward L. Morse, CFR adjunct senior fellow Meghan L. O'Sullivan, and Foreign Affairs editor Gideon Rose on the future of energy; and Nobel Laureate Michael Spence and economist Carmen M. Reinhart with former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin on the economic outlook.
The conference also featured morning breakout sessions on the BRICs, global growth, and new emerging market economies, as well as afternoon small group dialogues that explored an intellectual theme for CFR's 90th anniversary, "Renewing America," which examines how policies at home directly influence the economic and military strength of the United States and its ability to act in the world.
Conference Video Interviews: Spence and Rubin on the Emerging Market Investment Boom Morse and Rose on the impact of turmoil in the Middle East on energy production
The 2010 conference featured keynote speakers Kenneth R. Feinberg, special master for TARP executive compensation, and David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director, The Carlyle Group. Plenary sessions included Alan S. Blinder, Nouriel Roubini, and Robert E. Rubin on the U.S. economy with Chrystia Freeland moderating; and Richard N. Haass and Fareed Zakaria on geopolitical risk. Regional and topical breakout sessions featured CFR scholars and industry experts discussing major emerging market economies and their roles in the global post-recession economic landscape, global labor trends, trade policy, the U.S.-China economic relationship, and more.
The 2009 Corporate Conference featured keynote speakers Robert Greifeld, president and chief executive officer of the Nasdaq OMX Group, and Neville Isdell, chairman of the board, The Coca-Cola Company. Panels of experts spoke on timely topics such as geopolitical risk, the financial markets, global trade, and corporate citizenship, while smaller breakout sessions examined the long-term outlook of emerging markets and pressing issues in today's business landscape.
The 2008 Corporate Conference "New Exposures, New Approaches: Considering the Geopolitical Portfolio," featured keynote speakers Timothy F. Geithner, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank. Panels of experts spoke on timely topics such as global corporate citizenship, geopolitical risks, the economic view from abroad, and the shifting political landscape of America in 2008, while smaller breakout sessions examined variables for growth in the BRICs and "frontier economies."
Keynote Session with Timothy Geithner (Public) : Video | Transcript
The Council’s Corporate Conference 2007, Beyond the Next Quarter: Forces Shaping the Future, featured global leaders and scenario-based approaches to consider the current forces that may affect the future of international business and policy. Speakers at the conference included Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex W. Tillerson, a panel featuring NYSE Group CEO John Thain and Chicago Mercantile Exchange CEO Craig Donohue, and an opening lunch panel that looked at “The Economic View from Abroad,” which featured Fred Hu, managing director and co-head of China investment banking at Goldman Sachs (Asia), and Tulio Vera, managing director, head of emerging market macro and debt strategy at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and Andrew Crockett, president, J.P. Morgan Chase International. Leading thinkers on climate change were also featured in a panel, including Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense, Elizabeth Economy, the Council's C.V. Starr senior fellow and director for Asia studies, and Meg McDonald, president, Alcoa Foundation.
CFR’s Corporate Program provides a unique forum for business leaders to interact with noted thinkers and practitioners in government, policy, academia, and business through invitations to exclusive events, direct engagement with CFR experts, and virtual access to our members-only website.
To learn more about what CFR can bring to your organization, please visit the About Corporate page, or contact the Corporate Program at 212.434.9684 or corporate@cfr.org.
Not a Corporate Member?
To learn more about what CFR can bring to your organization, please visit the About Corporate page, or contact the Corporate Program at 212.434.9684 or corporate@cfr.org.
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CFR Experts Guide
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
