Yale CEO Caucus Launches in Washington, D.C.

New Haven, Conn., November 14, 2011 - The Chief Executive Leadership Institute at the Yale School of Management will host its inaugural Yale CEO Caucus in Washington, D.C., on November 15. The quarterly roundtable will convene business leaders, political leaders, and scholars to discuss the business implications of urgent national and global events that span economics, diplomacy, security, energy, environment, regulation, and politics.

"Business leaders have gotten involved in a useful way to help work on collective social problems," said organizer Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for executive programs and Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management. "The goal is to come up with constructive leadership models in increasingly complex, hybrid economies."

The theme of the first event is "Putting America Back to Work." It will showcase what corporate leaders are doing through their enterprises to successfully address the nation's economic and employment challenges, rebuild American competitiveness in a volatile and uncertain global marketplace, and what can be learned from these efforts.

"Instead of just wringing hands and complaining about the polemics and paralysis of Washington politics or pointing fingers in street demonstrations that throw all CEOs in as villains, let's take a look at people who are actually doing the right thing," said Sonnenfeld. "There are great examples of inspired captains of industry who are building businesses that are creating jobs and bringing jobs back to the U.S. Let's learn how they're doing it, despite the global economic malaise."

Among the participants are Fortune 500 CEOs from across sectors, federal legislators and officials, and scholars, including Joshua Bekenstein, managing director, Bain Capital; The Honorable Ashton Carter, U.S. deputy secretary of defense; Steve Case, chairman and CEO, Revolution; Roger Crandall, chairman and CEO, MassMutual; John Engler, CEO, the Business Roundtable; Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO, Alcoa; John Lundgren, president and CEO, Stanley Black & Decker; Stuart Miller, CEO, Lennar Corporation; Sir Martin Sorrell, group chief executive, WPP; Jim Hagedorn, chairman and CEO, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company; Lynn Tilton, CEO, Patriarch Partners; Mike Ullman, chairman and CEO, JCPenney Company; and Yale School of Management economist Lisa Kahn. U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company, will deliver opening remarks.

The Yale CEO Caucus will be held at the Chief Executive Leadership Institute's new office located at 101 Constitution Avenue, across from the U.S. Capitol. It is the first Yale School of Management program to be based in Washington, D.C.

Corporate sponsors include UPS, CNBC, Korn/Ferry, Burson-Marsteller, and NYSE Euronext, with generous support from Lynn Tilton, CEO of Patriarch Partners, the Miller Foundation, and Leslie and Steven Saiontz.

The Chief Executive Leadership Institute was founded in 1989 to provide original research on top leadership and lively, current educational forums through peer-driven learning for accomplished leaders across all sectors. Its programs include the Yale CEO Summit, an off-the-record, invitation-only forum for approximately 100 global leaders held twice a year in New York City and in business centers around the world, and the Yale CEO College, a one-day customized program designed for small groups of executives who report to the CEO or top management team. For more information, visit http://celi.som.yale.edu.

The mission of the Yale School of Management is to educate leaders for business and society. Through its integrated curriculum, close engagement with the intellectual life of Yale University, and top-caliber faculty research, Yale SOM advances understanding of the complex global context in which today's organizations compete. The school offers a two-year full-time MBA degree, an MBA for Executives program tailored for healthcare professionals, a PhD program, and executive education programs. For more information, visit mba.yale.edu.