UN Global Compact Leader Speaks at BYU

PROVO, Utah – Apr 19, 2013 – The top executive of the United Nations Global Compact visited Brigham Young University to speak about the worldwide organization’s mission to benefit societies across the globe.

Georg Kell, a resident of New York and native of Germany, has been with the United Nations since 1987 and was a key figure in the creation and implementation of the Global Compact. The compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative and includes more than 7,000 businesses across the world.

“Georg’s experience working in international business is unrivaled,” says Brad Agle, professor of ethics and leadership at the Romney Institute of Public Management. “We’re fortunate to have him speak here at BYU.”

Kell has been executive director of the compact since its founding in 2000 — helping it become globally recognized for a continued effort to guide and support socially responsible businesses. The compact gives companies a framework to develop and implement sustainable policies that positively impact economies and societies everywhere.

“Business is the force behind development,” Kell said. “Most of the poverty reduction we have witnessed in the past 20 years has come from private sector investment. I would say there can’t be successful development without business growth.”

In order to achieve continued growth and development, Kell and the compact have implemented 10 principles to guide companies, no matter their location. The principles are focused on advancing human rights, eliminating child and forced labor, being environmentally conscious and combatting corruption.

“These ten principles are a unifying framework that everyone can relate to and understand,” Kell said. “The deeper companies engage in these principles the stronger their resolution is to be socially responsible.

Kell hopes that companies will implement these principles and become more socially responsible creating a better future — the compact’s ultimate goal.

“I consider willingness to commitment and engagement in these principles along with openness and nondiscrimination to be fundamentally important for creating a sustainable global marketplace,” Kell says. “We cannot take it for granted; we need to invest in it and cultivate it.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems, and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.