7.24.2007 - 06:30pm ET

(CSRwire) NEW YORK- July 24, 2007 - Two of the major trends facing Corporate Responsibility Officers (CROs) in the $32 billion CR industry today are; the expansion from merely defense in the face of regulatory challenges to offensive functions; and the active altering of operations, or "operationalization" of sustainability efforts.

The Fall CRO Conference in Chicago on September 12, 2007 will hit on both themes ripped from today's headlines in a conference line-up that confirms the broadening impact of corporate responsibility on business today.

"The 'operationalization' of sustainability in order to lower carbon emissions and conserve resources, and the move from defense to offense which includes using responsibility gains to better sell products, raise capital and recruit talent are two significant corporate responsibility trends today" said Jay Whitehead, CRO Conference Chair. "Corporate Responsibility Officers have critical input to their companies' innovation strategies, and with stakeholder awareness of global warming and sustainability at an all-time high, and governance, risk and compliance an evolving business reality, these will be two front-and-center issues in the CRO Conference line-up" Whitehead added.

The Fall CRO Conference will address 'operationalizing sustainability' head-on. A panel featuring Susan Graff, Principal of ERS along with the CEOs of Baxter Healthcare and Interface Group will deliver learning from champions in setting and surpassing sustainable practice benchmarks. The 'Sustainability 360' panel moderated by Will Sarni, CEO of Domani, will feature the President of BASF, Jack Armstrong, and BASF's VPs of Manufacturing and Marketing sharing how BASF are operationalizing their global sustainability efforts-from boardroom to execution. A 'Sustainable Communication' panel led by Don Carli of the Institute for Sustainable Communication, and a 'CO2 Debate' featuring proponents and opponents of carbon offsets and trading will round out sustainability 'how-tos'.

GRC trends will be addressed by Scott Mitchell, CEO of the Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG), SAP SVP Amit Chatterjee will get 'hands-on' with an 'Enterprise-Eye View of GRC', and Grant Thornton will present their latest survey of over 500 nation-wide business leaders focusing specifically on corporate responsibility.

Addressing the bridge between GRC and Sustainability will be Jonathan Fink, Chair, Global Sustainability, Arizona State University.

Now in its second year, the CRO Conference will also feature 17 world-class speakers on topics from stakeholder engagement to supply chain to 'CSR and the Bottom Line'.

The one-day Fall CRO Conference will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at the Union League Club located in downtown Chicago.

The entire CRO Conference agenda can be found at www.TheCRO.com/conferences.
About The CRO

The CRO is a membership media platform for corporate practitioners, professional service providers and non-profit influencers in Corporate Responsibility. The CRO publishes the 20,000-subscriber 'CRO' Magazine, produces the twice-annual CRO Conferences, www.theCRO.com, bi-weekly e-newsletters, webinars and video events. The CRO has well over 100 members including leading companies IBM, Mattel, Intel, Dell, Pepsi, Home Depot, Starbucks, Avon, Gap, State Street, Hersheys, Chubb, PG&E, Sierra Health, Lexmark, Darden Restaurants, leading providers including Deloitte, Baker & McKenzie, Hogan & Hartson, Grant Thornton, Golin Harris, Domani, ERS, Cone, LRN, Integrity Interactive, Ketchum and not-for-profit 'influencers' including Stanford University, OCEG, and Harvard.

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