The importance of good conversation

Wednesday I finished up with a book discussion group here at Regis. We met four times and had an online forum that ran throughout the two months. We discussed the book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits by C.K. Prahalad. This was a group comprised of some very cool people. Nancy Fell ran the group. She is a teacher in our MNM program and does a lot of consulting work for businesses and non profits. Other members included Damon McCleese, the ED of a non profit arts organization and a teacher in the MNM program; Beth Parrish, a former marketing exec at Proctor and Gamble as well as a teacher in the UG Business program; Meg Thames, an teacher in the MBA program, among other great people. The focus of our discussion revolved around can business, non profits and government collaborate together in ways to help the poor (or "bottom of the pyramid") create sustainable solutions to bring themselves out of poverty. The book itself gave remarkable examples of how different companies and visionaries changed their business processes to help the "BOP" become more self sufficient. As a group, we came to the consensus that collaboration is key to help the poor create systems in their communities to become self sufficient. We tied in sustainability because as climate changes, the poor will most likely be the most adversely affected. Thus, we concentrated on the notion that collaboration must occur to combat climate change as well as help the BOP market become sustainable. It was a great group and I will miss our meetings for sure.