Mark Albion

Mark Albion
Born	April 3, 1951 (1951-04-03) (age 60)
Spouse	Joy Albion

Mark Albion (April 3, 1951) is an American author of values-based business literature, professor, and social entrepreneur. He received his post-secondary degrees from Harvard University, including a BA in Economics, a joint MA/MBA and a joint PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University and Harvard Business School. During his graduate studies, Dr. Albion was mentored by Professor John V. Lintner (whose work was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1990). From 1982 to 1988, Dr. Albion served as an Assistant Professor and then as an Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, where he taught retail management and marketing classes. Dr. Albion was featured by 60 Minutes as one of the top young (under 40) business-school professors in the country.

In 1986, his mother's battle against cancer prompted Dr. Albion to reflect upon his goals and the role of business in alleviating our world’s suffering. That year, he connected with responsible business leaders who in 1987 formed the Social Venture Network (SVN). In the summer of 1988, Dr. Albion left Harvard Business School to develop a community of service-minded MBAs.

Dr. Albion became a pioneer in inspiring MBAs to leverage business principles to build a better world. In 1993, Dr. Albion and a few other SVN members co-founded with 13 MBA students Students for Responsible Business (SRB). SRB was renamed Net Impact in 1999. With Liz Maw as its Executive Director since 2004, Net Impact currently supports over 260 autonomous volunteer-run chapters and a membership base of over 20,000^[1], with programs and networking events centered on topics such as corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise management, nonprofit management, social intrapreneurship, international development, and environmental sustainability.

Since 1986, Dr. Albion has given over 600 speeches at business schools and universities on 5 continents. Dr. Albion's work in helping successful leaders achieve positive social and environmental change through business principles was featured in numerous publications, including BusinessWeek (where in 1997 he was dubbed ‘the savior of business school souls)^[2], Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS)^[3], and Fast Company. Between 1995 and 1996, Dr. Albion was tasked by the United Nations to lead a research team to uncover key success factors to develop young socially responsible global leaders. He presented the results of this research in an official speech to the United Nations in 1996. Based on his 1997 published story and similar work by others, in 2008, Mark's created the 3-minute animated movie "The Good Life Parable" produced with Free Range Studios. Winner of four sustainability awards in 2009 (Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival^[4], Hot Springs Environmental Film Festival^[5], American Conservation Film Festival, Appalachian Summer Festival), the "Good Life Parable" was selected to be distributed to 61M potential viewers through the Outside TV Outside Film Festival Program on Sunday nights between November 2010 and November 2011. From 2009 to 2010, Dr. Albion served in the Office of the President to help integrate social values and sustainability into the college, and founded the inaugural AshokaU Changemaker Campus Team at Babson College. In 2010, Dr. Albion received the Indiana University Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ in recognition for his contributions to social entrepreneurship, social innovation and sustainable business. In 2011, he was named one of the top 100 most trustworthy business leaders by Trust Across America.^[6]

Dr. Albion is the author of 7 books, including Making a Life, Making a Living (New York Times Best Seller), True to Yourself, and More Than Money: Questions Every MBA Should Answer. In addition, Dr. Albion published a variety of columns in publications such as Aish.com and Fast Company, as well as over 160 newsletters. Published from 1996 to 2008, Dr. Albion's newsletters have reached millions of readers across 87 countries. Dr. Albion lives in Dover, MA with his wife, Joy. They have two daughters, Amanda, and Nicolette.^[7]

Several themes run through Dr. Albion’s writings:

• Don’t become good at something you don’t want to do – Many times, we are told that we are good at something, and that’s that, we keep doing it even though we might be passionate by something completely different.
• Don’t live a deferred life plan – When considering career changes, we always find reasons to delay. But after making a change, most professionals wish they had done it sooner.
• Choose a community, not a job - Professionals that are happiest at work often say it is because of their relationships with colleagues and clients. At business schools, We primarily practice analytical skills, not relationship building skills. However, don’t forget the importance of a community of respect and friendship for personal and professional fulfillment and success.
• Plant trees under whose shade you will never sit – Including unreachable goals to our lives add meaning to our life and energy to our work as they connect us with something bigger than ourselves.
• Values-based business leaders need to balance approaches from monks, architects, and diplomats in order to grow and expand businesses that maximize social, environmental and economic value.

Professional Recognition & Press Acknowledgments

• Trust Across America – 2011 Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior ^[6]
• Indiana University Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Award ^[8]
• Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival - 2009 Official short-film selection, The Good Life Parable ^[4]. "The Good Life" takes you to a chance meeting between an MBA and a fisherman on a small island. As the MBA tries to teach the fisherman about business, the fisherman teaches him about life.

Board Service & Volunteer Work

• Bainbridge Graduate Institute – Board Member
• Experience Corps - Board Member
• Jay Chiat International Awards for Strategic Excellence in Social Strategy - Judge
• MIT $100K Business Plan Competition – Judge
• Net Impact – Co-Founder and Board Member
• Presidio Graduate School – Board Member
• Social Venture Network – Innovation Award Judge
• William James Foundation – Socially Responsible Business Plan Reviewer and Judge

Books & Articles (selected)

• Monk, Architect, Diplomat: Three Types of Leadership are Needed to Build an Organization ^[9](Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2010).
• More Than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer ^[10](Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2009). Hardcover, BBC unabridged CD set in 3 languages.
• Turn Your Values into Value (Journal of Values-Based Leadership, Summer 2008).
• True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2006). Paperback, Library CD set; 3 Languages; BusinessWeek video on book, titled "Profit and Purpose" ^[11]
• Leading a Values-Based Business (Kellogg School of Management, Summer 2006).
• Foreword in Lawler Kang, Passion at Work (Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006, pp. xvii-xxiv).
• Finding Work That Matters (Sounds True, 2002) 3-CD audio series ^[12]
• Making a Life, Making a Living: Reclaiming Your Purpose and Passion in Business and in Life (Warner Books, 2000). Hardcover, Paperback, Abridged CD set "In Search of True North" ( Prince of Wales Publications, 1996).
• Business Decision Making (co-author, Edward Hoff; Prentice Hall, 1986)
• Manufacturer Advertising and Retail Gross Margins (co-author, Paul Farris), in P. Bloom, ed., Advances in Marketing and Public Policy (JAI Press, 1987, pp. 107-136).
• Advertising's Hidden Effects (Auburn House, 1983)
• The Advertising Controversy (co-author, Paul Farris; Auburn House, 1981)
• The Effect of Manufacturer Advertising on Retail Pricing (Marketing Science Institute, December 1981).
• Determinants of the Advertising-to-Sales Ratio (co-author, Paul Farris; Journal of Advertising Research, No. 21, February 1981, pp. 19-27).
• The Impact of Advertising on the Price of Consumer Products (co-author, Paul Farris; Journal of Marketing, No. 44 Summer 1980, pp. 17-35). Award-winning "seminal" article remains required reading in many university's marketing courses.
• Appraising Research on Advertising's Economic Impacts (co-author, Paul Farris; Marketing Science Institute, 1979)
• The Structure of Retail Chain Incidence (Harvard University, December 1979).
• The Determinants of the Level of Advertising and Media Mix Expenditures in Consumer Goods Industries (Harvard University, January 1976).

Columns (selected)

• Making a Life, Making a Living (ML2) Newsletter, 1996-2008.^[13]
• Net Impact: "Generation AND" Column, 2003-2004 - Monthly column addressing priorities and tradeoffs facing MBAs who are trying to build a transformational career, make a living and have a fulfilling personal life.
• Fast Company: "Build Brand U" Column, February 2000 - May 2001.^[14]
• MyPrimetime: "Career Callings" Column, 2000-2001.
• Aish.com: Business Ethics Columns, 2000-2001. Articles included The Workplace Covenant ^[15], Just Like Me ^[16], and Work That Matters ^[17].
• Career Central for MBAs: March 1998 – October 2000.

Speaking Engagements (selected since 2009)

• Annual BALLE Conference: Lighting the Way to a New Economy "Key Opportunities and Challenges of Local Living Economy Businesses" (May 2010).
• Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year "More Than Money: Creating a Career that Reflects Your Values" (April 2010). Keynote for the students, staff and faculty of the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, as the first social entrepreneur accepting this award (followed Jack Stack (2009) and Herb Kelleher (2008)]. Presented at the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, ranked as the #1 U.S. public university in entrepreneurship.
• The Greater Than Conference "The Importance of Community Engagement in Corporate Strategy" (July 2009). Keynote in Portland, ME to 300 businesspeople on the strategic corporate value of community service.
• National Conference on Volunteering and Service "Responding to the New World: Role of Service as Solution to Today's Challenges" (June 2009). Opening keynote for business track of San Francisco conference of 4500, followed by moderating two business panels on the role of volunteer service in difficult times.
• MBA Career Services Council Annual Conference "Business Schools Under Fire: Developing Meaningful Careers in Turbulent Times" (June 2009). Closing keynote to 400 MBA career officers in Phoenix, AZ, based on the MBA CSC's 2009 book club selection, More Than Money.
• Conceptualizing Conscious Capitalism "Reforming Business Education" (May 2009). Keynote for conference of 250 held at Bentley College for the Conscious Capitalism Institute.
• Investor's Circle "Designing Successful Mission-Aligned Exits from Our Companies" (April 2009). Involved with Investor's Circle since inception, this closing keynote (with Judy Wicks) to the 300 investors gathered in San Francisco was based on his research for 'True to Yourself', and personal experience at Kinko's.
• Doing Good and Doing Well Conference "More Than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer" (February 2009). Keynote to 750 MBAs at IESE, Barcelona, Spain where he also moderated two panels, one on sustainability and non-profits, the other on how to make the business case for community investing. Dr. Albion also had been the keynote speaker for the first "DGDW" conference in 2004. ^[18].

References

1. ^ About Net Impact
2. ^ The MBA Gospel According to Dr. Mark | BusinessWeek
3. ^ The Green MBA | LOHAS
4. ^ ^{a b} 2010 Short-Film Official Selection | Wild and Scenic Film Festival
5. ^ 2009 Short-Film Official Selection | Hot Springs Environmental Film Festival
6. ^ ^{a b} Trust Across America - 2010 TOP 100 THOUGHT LEADERS
7. ^ Making a Life
8. ^ IU Entrepreneurial Connection - 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year Award
9. ^ Fall 2010 | Stanford Social Innovation Review
10. ^ Fall 2008 | Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
11. ^ BusinessWeek
12. ^ Civic Reflection
13. ^ Making a Life, Making a Living
14. ^ Fast Company
15. ^ Aish.com
16. ^ Aish.com
17. ^ Aish.com
18. ^ Doing Well While Doing Good | 2004 Conference

External links

• More Than Money League
• Making a Life, Making a Living

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Name	Albion, Mark
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Date of birth	April 3, 1951
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