Wounds inflicted upon generations past and present across the globe cannot be overlooked. They leave their scars and often remain unhealed, perpetuating conflict. More than ever, healing is needed to break cycles of violence and to build global change.  This was a central focus at the recent Just Governance for Human Security (JGHS) event of the Caux Forum.

Progress towards human security is often blocked by entrenched attitudes and relationships that lack dialogue and trust. ‘Healing memory is crucial to human security,’ said Jonathan Rudy, Senior Adviser to Alliance for Peacebuilding. ‘Transforming enemies into friends through love and forgiveness is a long and drawn-out process whereby we need community, we need each other. It is essential work to restore all of our relations.’ Central to healing memory is each person’s unique story and experience, their need for acknowledgement and to be heard, and reconnection to that which has been disconnected.

This need became apparent during a conversation with Laurent Munyandlikirwa, a Rwandan refugee based in France. Laurent, a member of the Hutu ethnic group who married a Tutsi woman, lost his daughter during the Rwandan genocide. He spoke of the pain of discrimination in healing memory. Hutus felt they had no mechanism through which to remember their friends or family killed in Tutsi reprisals during and after the genocide, nor even the right to do so. His story highlighted the need for healing of memory on all sides of the conflict. It is often all too easy to group people into categories of victim and perpetrator, without recognizing the multi-dimensional nature of conflict.

‘How can you heal memory when the present is still traumatizing?’ asked Rajendra Senchurey, a member of the Dalit Rights Delegation from Nepal and Bangladesh. Rajendra, a Dalit himself and a strong advocate for a casteless society, explained that Dalits, often regarded as ‘untouchables’, experience multiple forms of social exclusion, discrimination and poverty by mere fact of their birth. He stressed the need for redistribution, building trust in institutions, legal provision against discrimination and improved education and economic opportunities. Such acts of inclusion are precursors to healing memory at a systemic level.

Haydee Dijkstal, an international criminal and human rights lawyer, said that healing memory can allow for accountability and justice to be pursued, either in the form of traditional court processes or truth and reconciliation commissions. Both have benefits and limitations. The chosen route will often depend on what victims need from the process – to have their full story told, or for responsibility and accountability to be assumed by the perpetrators.

Pain and trauma not transformed is transferred. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. What is critical is for stories to be heard and acknowledged, for unjust and unequal systems to be challenged and for justice to be pursued in order to heal memory and, in turn, pursue human security.

Seven years ago, Shalisa Hayes’s son, Billy Ray, was shot in cross-fire while attending a party with his friends in Tacoma, a city south of Seattle, USA. Shalisa reacted to this tragedy by creating a community centre in her neighbourhood and an association called MOM (Mothers of Magnitude). She first came to Caux in 2017. This year she was back for the Just Governance conference. We met in the Tea Room, on a misty Caux morning.

So, Shalisa, how does it feel to be back in Caux?

It feels great! I was looking forward to this trip and meeting so many people.

You have got an incredible story, first with the tragic loss of your son, then your initiative to create the community centre and Mothers of Magnitude. In all this, how did you discover the Caux Forum?

I understand that someone here in Caux read my story in the newsletter of Giraffe Heroes. They came looking for me and asked me to come to Caux.

How did your visit to Caux in 2017 go?

It went very well. There were people from all parts of the world, a lot of information, a lot of stories and a lot of longterm connections were made. I really enjoyed myself here and enjoyed the opportunity to share my story.

And what made you come back to Caux?

There are two parts: it’s important for me to learn from others and also I feel it’s important for them to learn from me. As an African American I have learned that in my own country some people tend to erase our history.

How did your inspiration to serve the community begin?

I have always, in some way, advocated for the community. I always mentored young people. I did it in a smaller scale, but then the tragedy put me on a bigger platform. One day my older son asked me how do you open a community centre? So I gave him some ideas and tips. But I work in insurance, I don’t build buildings, so I didn’t know exactly how to do that. Nonetheless he was thinking about the importance of having a community centre, as there were no facilities in our neighbourhood for young people to congregate in  a safe space when they were not at school. Unfortunately, six months after we had that conversation, we lost him to gun violence.

What was the consequence of this tragedy?

A couple of days after my son’s death, for whatever reason, I thought in my mind ‘community centre’. At his funeral I gave a speech mentioning that project. And two days later, I had a group of my son’s friends organizing a fundraising carwash to create that community centre. That is what inspired me to create the Billy Ray foundation, named after my son.

To make the community centre happen, we lobbied our government, at the local level, at the state level and even at the federal level. Eventually we managed to raise a lot of support. We later found out that we needed to raise $30 million for the construction of that building!  I don’t know how many car washes those kids did, but we managed to raise it!

Did you also ask for private funding?

We made sure that while we were lobbying for government funding we were also lobbying for private funding. So here we are, seven years on, and our community centre will be opening in a couple of months. We managed to build it in record time, as according to what I had been advised it usually takes 10-15 years to raise the money and build this kind of community centre.

Tell us about your other project, Mothers of Magnitude?

Through my journey of civic engagement, I began to be contacted by other mothers who had lost children, whether it was that they wanted to support me or just wanted someone to talk to who could correlate to their situation. I decided, with the support of my team, to organize a dinner for mothers who had lost children. It was just going to be one dinner, but then the whole thing took off as more and more people started to ask about it and wanted me to do it again. More and more mothers were reaching out to me and as a result I became a peer-person or, as we could say, a ‘grief coach’, someone they can call at 2am if they are having a tough night thinking about their child. And now we have a nationwide network of mothers who can support each other.

By Félix Portier, 2018 Caux Forum Communications Intern

Our world is being transformed by such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing and blockchain, which impact the way we work, live and relate to each other. During Ethical Leadership in Business, an event of the Caux Forum, participants and speakers explored the question of how to lead in times of disruptive technological innovations. From 28 June to 1 July, leaders from various countries and sectors learnt how ethical leadership can drive innovation and build resilience, thus strengthening organizational performance while furthering the future of society.

Christophe Barman, ex CEO of Loyco, showed how, by introducing a flat hierarchy, his company increased employee engagement and responsibility and established an innovative and resilient corporate culture.

One of the greatest challenges brought by disruptive innovations is the likelihood of large-scale work displacement, as more jobs are automated than created. Ambassador Christian Dussey, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, pointed out that we constantly update our phones but need to ask ourselves how often we update our mindset. While our digital and other ‘hard’ skills need constant updating, it is equally crucial to work on our attitudes, so that we can seize opportunities in a constantly changing environment.

Japman Bajaj, a telecommunications executive from Calgary, Canada, maintained that ‘adaptability’ is the most important skill, and requires a sense of humour, integrity, and ‘looking at the world from 19 different perspectives’. Angelica Kiboro, Deputy Principle of the Strathmore Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, said that leaders must remember that not only technical skills matter but also ‘soft power’ skills such as attitudes, communication and being a team player. In summary, business leaders must ensure that employees have the skills and attitudes to remain relevant on the labour market.

Leading in times of disruptive innovations not only requires leaders to keep up with trends, but also to think ahead, about the impact of the technologies they are developing or applying. Eric Salobir, a Catholic priest who founded the OPTIC Network and is a consultant to the Holy See, pointed out that technology cannot be neutral: ‘It is always for a purpose.’ So it is crucial that various representatives of society, including business, build a shared vison of technology’s role. For example, society needs to define what role and responsibilities it wants to hand over to robots. The celebrated robot inventor Professor Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann said that social robots could mitigate the negative impact of ageing populations by taking care of the elderly, but that society must ensure that technology is used for the common good.

Ethical Leadership in Business explored many other aspects of ethics in business and new technologies, the role of being human in a machine age and how to strengthen personal and professional resilience. It was a starting point for conversations and joint actions. The Ethical Leadership in Business community on Linkedin aims to continue sharing practices that can support business leaders.

In 2013, Christophe Barman is 29 and CEO of a thriving business. Following an evening organised by his company, he learns that a merger has been engineered by one of its shareholders. Unable to identify with the shareholder’s values and vision which focus on profit and large scale development, he decides to leave his position and join Loyco, an outsourcing business.

“It was easy for me to get by as my values were very clear,” recounted the young entrepreneur Christophe Barman whilst talking at the Ethical Leadership in Business conference, during the Caux Forum 2018. He explained that Loyco “was created on the basis of people’s ability to come together around a set of group values,” namely pleasure, collective intelligence, flexibility and inspiration. Now roughly 100 people work for Loyco and it has a turnover of 13 million Swiss Francs. Even more importantly, 73% of its capital is held by its employees. Indeed, Loyco recently decided to implement Holacracy, or as it is known internally, Loycocracy. In other words, a horizontal governance system which removes hierarcy, and encourages profit-sharing and employee autonomy in decision-making.

For his part, Jonathan Normand has worked for several international organisations in the field of risk assessment. In 2006, at the height of the subprime crisis, he too decided to quit his management position in pursuit of “giving meaning” to his work. He joined B Lab, the global B Corp (B Corporation) certification programme for “responsible” businesses. To date, more than 60,000 companies across the globe, including 900 in Switzerland, have carried out a social and environmental impact assessment thanks to this programme. Jonathan Normand’s role within the company is to find entrepreneurs who identify with B Lab’s values. For B Lab the notion of ethical leadership is important and means “making a profit for the greater good”.

Nowadays, for these two entrepreneurs reconciling ethics and the quest for profit is essential: “We can no longer afford to do business like we did 20, 30 or 40 years ago. The world has changed, things move quickly, the world is in an environmental and societal crisis” explains Christophe Barman. It is time to redefine the notion of business performance and respond to the important social and environmental challenges of our times. For this reason, Initiatives of Change (IofC) encourages entrepreneurs to make decisions based on the values of integrity and honesty, and to contribute to a fairer and more sustainable world. It is in this context that we have heard Christophe and Jonathan’s stories; two entrepreneurs who have become actors of change.

The success of companies such as Loyco, or certifying businesses such as B Corp, prove that it is possible to make a profit whilst remaining true to one’s values. Demand is also changing: consumers are choosing products and services which fulfil their search for meaning. Ethics and profits are no longer polar opposites. Making allies of these two aspects is not just for the philanthropists and a handful of organisations but rather a reality and an economic necessity.

Lucie Wirz, Communications Intern 2018

In 2013, Christophe Barman is 29 and CEO of a thriving business. Following an evening organised by his company, he learns that a merger has been engineered by one of its shareholders. Unable to identify with the shareholder’s values and vision which focus on profit and large scale development, he decides to leave his position and join Loyco, an outsourcing business.

“It was easy for me to get by as my values were very clear,” recounted the young entrepreneur Christophe Barman whilst talking at the Ethical Leadership in Business conference, during the Caux Forum 2018. He explained that Loyco “was created on the basis of people’s ability to come together around a set of group values,” namely pleasure, collective intelligence, flexibility and inspiration. Now roughly 100 people work for Loyco and it has a turnover of 13 million Swiss Francs. Even more importantly, 73% of its capital is held by its employees. Indeed, Loyco recently decided to implement Holacracy, or as it is known internally, Loycocracy. In other words, a horizontal governance system which removes hierarcy, and encourages profit-sharing and employee autonomy in decision-making.

For his part, Jonathan Normand has worked for several international organisations in the field of risk assessment. In 2006, at the height of the subprime crisis, he too decided to quit his management position in pursuit of “giving meaning” to his work. He joined B Lab, the global B Corp (B Corporation) certification programme for “responsible” businesses. To date, more than 60,000 companies across the globe, including 900 in Switzerland, have carried out a social and environmental impact assessment thanks to this programme. Jonathan Normand’s role within the company is to find entrepreneurs who identify with B Lab’s values. For B Lab the notion of ethical leadership is important and means “making a profit for the greater good”.

Nowadays, for these two entrepreneurs reconciling ethics and the quest for profit is essential: “We can no longer afford to do business like we did 20, 30 or 40 years ago. The world has changed, things move quickly, the world is in an environmental and societal crisis” explains Christophe Barman. It is time to redefine the notion of business performance and respond to the important social and environmental challenges of our times. For this reason, Initiatives of Change (IofC) encourages entrepreneurs to make decisions based on the values of integrity and honesty, and to contribute to a fairer and more sustainable world. It is in this context that we have heard Christophe and Jonathan’s stories; two entrepreneurs who have become actors of change.

The success of companies such as Loyco, or certifying businesses such as B Corp, prove that it is possible to make a profit whilst remaining true to one’s values. Demand is also changing: consumers are choosing products and services which fulfil their search for meaning. Ethics and profits are no longer polar opposites. Making allies of these two aspects is not just for the philanthropists and a handful of organisations but rather a reality and an economic necessity.

Lucie Wirz, Communications Intern 2018

• Find out more about Ethical Leadership in Business 2018
• Discover the 2018 reports and highlights
• Meet the 2 entrepreneurs

Our world is being transformed by such technologies as artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing and blockchain, which impact the way we work, live and relate to each other. During Ethical Leadership in Business, an event of the Caux Forum, participants and speakers explored the question of how to lead in times of disruptive technological innovations. From 28 June to 1 July, leaders from various countries and sectors learnt how ethical leadership can drive innovation and build resilience, thus strengthening organizational performance while furthering the future of society.

Christophe Barman, ex CEO of Loyco, showed how, by introducing a flat hierarchy, his company increased employee engagement and responsibility and established an innovative and resilient corporate culture.

One of the greatest challenges brought by disruptive innovations is the likelihood of large-scale work displacement, as more jobs are automated than created. Ambassador Christian Dussey, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, pointed out that we constantly update our phones but need to ask ourselves how often we update our mindset. While our digital and other ‘hard’ skills need constant updating, it is equally crucial to work on our attitudes, so that we can seize opportunities in a constantly changing environment.

Japman Bajaj, a telecommunications executive from Calgary, Canada, maintained that ‘adaptability’ is the most important skill, and requires a sense of humour, integrity, and ‘looking at the world from 19 different perspectives’. Angelica Kiboro, Deputy Principle of the Strathmore Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, said that leaders must remember that not only technical skills matter but also ‘soft power’ skills such as attitudes, communication and being a team player. In summary, business leaders must ensure that employees have the skills and attitudes to remain relevant on the labour market.

Leading in times of disruptive innovations not only requires leaders to keep up with trends, but also to think ahead, about the impact of the technologies they are developing or applying. Eric Salobir, a Catholic priest who founded the OPTIC Network and is a consultant to the Holy See, pointed out that technology cannot be neutral: ‘It is always for a purpose.’ So it is crucial that various representatives of society, including business, build a shared vison of technology’s role. For example, society needs to define what role and responsibilities it wants to hand over to robots. The celebrated robot inventor Professor Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann said that social robots could mitigate the negative impact of ageing populations by taking care of the elderly, but that society must ensure that technology is used for the common good.

Ethical Leadership in Business explored many other aspects of ethics in business and new technologies, the role of being human in a machine age and how to strengthen personal and professional resilience. It was a starting point for conversations and joint actions. The Ethical Leadership in Business community on Linkedin aims to continue sharing practices that can support business leaders.

Join it to keep informed about upcoming webinars, meet-ups and other events.

Ethical Leadership in Business will take place from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30 June 2019.

With contributions from Mike Smith, Anna Luliza Behrens and Annika Hartmann

• Find all the pictures of the event on Flickr
• Watch the interview with Christophe Barman and Jonathan Norman
• Find out more about Ethical Leadership in Business 2018
• Discover the 2018 reports and highlights

‘Trust needs to exist for society to function at all,’ said Christine Beerli, Council Member of Initiatives of Change Switzerland and panel moderator, as she kicked off the Caux Forum 2018. Emerging technological advances and innovations are impacting society and reshaping the world as we know it today. Recent crises, such as the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Uber’s data breach and Facebook’s data abuse, are examples of increasing mistrust linked to disruptive technology.

Over 200 people gathered in the Main Hall of the historic Caux Palace Conference and Seminar Centre for the opening ceremony of the 72nd series of conferences in Caux. A panel of speakers representing business, information technology and the humanitarian sector discussed the challenges and opportunities new technologies bring and what trust means in times of disruptive technology.

Technological advances, such as drones or surveillance, affect the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the field, according to the organization’s Director-General, Yves Daccord. There is a new type of vulnerability, he explained, ‘a digital vulnerability’ linked to protecting the personal data of victims of conflict and war. In the humanitarian context, human connection remains key to building trust with people in conflict.

‘Decreasing trust is hurting companies,’ said the former CEO of Edelman.ergo Germany, Susanne Marell. This may not have a short-term impact on a company’s reputation, –‘Volkswagen reported its best results ever in the midst of a big scandal’ –  but in the long term it can cause ‘significant economic damage’. As an expert in trust and reputation, she believes that business can lead the way in building trust, even though the path may be long and difficult. ‘Data is the new oil,’ she said. ‘Oil is much traded and misused. An ethical discussion about data abuse is something I would always support.’  In 2018, for the first time, the Edelman Trust Barometer rated the media as the least trusted institution. Marell explained that seven out of every 10 respondents were concerned about fake news and that trust in search engines and social media is also declining. The increasing use of social media also affects the work of the ICRC. In the past six months, the organization has received between 80,000 and 90,000 videos of people being tortured or raped in Syria. Verifying such information slows down the humanitarian effort and makes it more difficult to intervene.

‘The internet and social media is the new fire,’ said visionary, entrepreneur and inventor of the touch screen, Béla Hatvany. ‘It is a magnificent slave but it is a very bad master’. But technology also offers opportunities, he maintained. For instance, the internet has accelerated knowledge acquisition in a way which makes it possible to move from a growth economy based on profit to a care economy based on care for the earth and people. Technology can also help foster trust.  ‘We are informed across national boundaries and this will gradually eliminate the imaginary lines that separate our nations,’ he explained, looking forward to a generation who will experience the world ‘as humankind and not as separate people’.

The ICRC, too, is looking into ‘turning digital vulnerability into digital opportunity’. It is exploring ways of harnessing technological expertise to deal with victims of armed conflict, such as using facial recognition software to reunite families separated by war.

In his opening speech earlier that day, Antoine Jaulmes, President of Initiatives of Change (IofC) Switzerland reminded the audience that IofC’s approach always puts the human being and personal responsibility first. This approach was echoed by all the panelists as fundamental to building trust in times of disruptive technology.

‘Even with all the technologies, it is always people who have to create the basis of trust, be it professionalism, honesty (...) or transparency,’ concluded Christine Beerli. ‘If we really live these values ​​well in the use of these technologies, then we should be able to build trust.’

The opening ceremony provided the perfect transition to the first event of the Caux Forum 2018, Ethical Leadership in Business, which went on to examine how to lead in times of disruptive innovation. 

The 5th and 6th editions of Enriching Encounters took place in May 2018. They shone a light on local residents' stories as a tool for building trust amongst the locals by using a version of the Human Library.

For this version the audience had a choice of two story-tellers each of whom spoke for 10 minutes followed by 10 minutes of questions. Each story was given a coloured label. At the end of the story-telling period, the audience was invited to get together with other people who had a different colour and to share what they had heard. The technique allows for an integration of stories, creates empathy and leads to sharing between people of all different backgrounds in Geneva.

The 5th edition on 18 May was a collaboration between the City of Geneva and the Antenne Sociale de Proximité Eaux-Vives/Cité Champel (The Eaux-Vives/Cité Champel Local Social Outpost). Three women, Munna Bunna, Eva Jacques-Kolbig and Giannina Chaffo, spoke during the human library as part of the “Ô Vives les Vollandes” project. This project was launched in 2017 following tension in the neighbourhood, notably as a result of noise and antisocial behaviour in the Vollandes public area. Through a variety of activities, the project has given locals a social reason to meet at the Vollandes public area. At the human libraries event, there were roughly thirty people of all ages attended the event.

Then, on 31 May, we organised the 6^th edition in partnership with the Centre de la Roseraie, which hosts, trains and runs migrant groups in Geneva. It took place in the evening and 5 speakers shared their life stories. These were Akam Majid, Jacques Guido-Stern, Anne Divorne, Natacha Spedaletti and Mirzet Cirak. Mirzet, a trainee at the Roseraie, shared his experience of the centre as well as how he left Bosnia and arrived in Switzerland with his family. About 50 people attended and the event was rounded off with a Syrian meal.

Participants in these two events had the chance to listen to several personal stories which perhaps made them think about their own prejudices or personal experiences.

We are now planning the next Enriching Encounters which will take place in the Autumn in German-speaking Switzerland. Don’t forget to come back to our website to see the exact dates!

On 31 May 2018, Initiatives of Change Switzerland facilitated the plenary sessions of the informal dialogue,  “Migrants and Refugees in the Compact Era: Ensuring that no one falls through the cracks”, organized by the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) in partnership with the Action Committee in Geneva.

Civil society, governments, international organizations and other stakeholders gathered together to discuss four main gaps emerging in the processes leading up to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and  Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) : mixed migration flows; refugees beyond the 1951 Geneva Convention; victims of (sudden-onset) natural disasters; (slow-onset) environmental degradation and climate change; and migrants in vulnerable situations, in particular when they find themselves in an irregular situation.

IofC Switzerland’s facilitation supported open and honest conversations enabling representatives from civil society, governments and international organisations to exchange views and practical expertise on the four themes. From those discussions, an outcome document was produced proposing new language and good practices for both Global Compacts which participants can use for forthcoming negotiations and advocacy.