Events

Like much in our society, the gospel of shareholder capitalism – the belief that the sole purpose of a corporation is to make money for its shareholders – is currently experiencing a long-overdue reexamination and upheaval. It is becoming increasingly clear that the seemingly intractable issues of our time, ever-growing income inequality, persistent gender and racial inequity, and alarming environmental degradation will only be addressed if our corporations consider and are judged by the value they provide to all stakeholders.

Over the course of 2021 the Business for a Better World Center, a Center of Excellence in the George Mason University School of Business, will host a number of dynamic conversations amongst CEOs, tri-sector leaders, faculty, and students, to explore stakeholder capitalism and how it can be applied to businesses in a world rife with persistent inequality, social injustice, racial bias, and environmental degradation.

As part of this series, B4BW welcomes Franz Paasche on Thursday, June 17 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Paasche is responsible for leading PayPal’s Social Innovation efforts to drive positive social impact and make a difference for consumers, businesses and communities around the world. In this role, he brings over 25 years of extensive expertise in corporate, communications, government, legal and public affairs domains to PayPal’s expanding global network.

Franz graduated from Swarthmore College with High Honors in Political Science, English Literature and American Economic History. He received his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. He is a member of the Bar in New York State and in New York City.

He was named to the Holmes Report’s Influence 100 list of the industry’s most influential corporate communications executives each year since 2016-2020, and was recognized as The Holmes Report’s Innovation Excellence, Brand Professional SABRE Award recipient in 2018. Franz was named PR Professional of the Year in the Corporate and Nonprofit category by PRNews in 2017. He is also a member of the Arthur Page Society.