Lauder Global Impact Summit 2025
Saturday, October 18 | 8:00AM - 3:30PM
60 Chelsea Piers, New York, NY, 10011
We are living in an age of historic acceleration—where change is no longer episodic, but exponential. Technological transformation, geopolitical fragmentation, and climate disruption are rewriting the rules of global business and leadership in real time. As AI, big data, and automation reshape industries, the rise of anti-globalism and climate volatility are redrawing borders, straining systems, and challenging long-held assumptions about progress, prosperity, and purpose.
In this moment of upheaval, we ask: What happens when everything familiar starts to shift—our industries, our identities, our sense of what comes next?.
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Saturday Conference
Morning Schedule
08:00 – 09:00 AM Alumni Arrivals, Breakfast
8:00-9:00 Breakfast | Olympic
09:00 – 10:00 AM Welcome Session | Majestic Stage 1
9:00 - 9:40 Welcome Session: Learn what the day has in store for you as you hear from the LGAW Co-Chairs, LIAA President Jill LeGrand, and the 2025 Conference Committee members as they take you through the day’s program & themes, with a special welcome from the University of Pennsylvania | Majestic
9:40 to 10:00 Welcome Address by Jules van Binsbergen, Director of the Lauder Institute: Join Jules van Binsbergen as outlines the exciting new directions and initiatives of the Lauder Institute and how he is building the Lauder Institute of the Future. | Majestic
10:00 to 11:00 Keynote Address by Mohamed El Erian, Senior Global Fellow: Mohamed will take us through the keynote - details to follow | Majestic
Both events will conclude with an interactive Alumni Q&A session, giving alumni the opportunity to ask questions about current macroeconomic policy, the future direction of the Lauder Institute, and what it means to be a Lauder alum in today’s world..
11:00 - 11:15 AM Transition to Concurrent AM Panels, Coffee and Pastries
11:15 to 12:15 PM Concurrent AM Panels
Beyond The Hype: AI Panel | Majestic Stage 1
Trust Crisis Panel | Oceanic
Power Plays: Strategic Decision Making Panel | Aquitania
Saturday Conference
Afternoon schedule
12:15 – 2:00 PM Luncheon and Honorary Program
Join us for a dynamic luncheon celebration of the Lauder Institute, starting with inspiring video messages from Erika James and William Lauder that reflect on Lauder’s role within Wharton and its lasting impact. Experience heartfelt remarks from our LGAW Co-Chairs and the University President as we honor the Institute’s 40th anniversary and remember RSL’s extraordinary contributions. The program culminates with a candid fireside chat with RSL and Jules, exploring the origins and future of the Institute. | Majestic, Stage 2
02:00 – 02:15 PM Transition to Concurrent PM Panels
02:15 – 03:15 PM Concurrent PM Panels
Interactive Session: Needs and Leads | Majestic Stage 1
Resilient Career/Storytellers Panel | Oceanic
Energy Empires Panel | Aquitania West
03:15 – 03:30 PM Transition to Pitch-It Competition / Career Advising 1:1s by Colleen and Kim
03:30 – 05:30 PM Pitch-It Competition | Aquitania West
Pitch-It: Additional details and presentation order here
03:30 – 05:30 PM Career Advising 1:1 (By appointment only; registration closed)
Beyond the Hype: AI, Data, and the Business Transformation Imperative
AI | Large Models | Digital Economies | Access & Equity
This session moves beyond the hype to examine how AI and data are transforming industries from media and finance to healthcare and beyond. We will explore both the opportunities and the dilemmas — from digital access and equity to the real return on machine intelligence. Designed as a pragmatic field guide, this discussion equips executives to lead innovation with confidence rather than react to disruption.
Panel Descriptions
Trust Crisis: The Art and Science of Knowing What’s Real
Our world is built on trust, but in the new age of AI, how do we separate fact from fiction in boardrooms, newsrooms, and living rooms? How do you separate signal from noise and truth from fiction? Whether you are investing in a startup or scrolling the news, these perspectives will help you navigate the world’s new fog of war.
Power Plays: Strategic Decision-Making in a Fragmented World
Geopolitics | Emerging Markets | Multipolar Risk
Explore how realignment across China, BRICS, the Global South, and the West is reshaping capital flows, supply chains, and business strategy. With expert framing and alumni voices on the ground, this panel offers practical insight into operating in a world that no longer revolves around a single axis of power.
Resilience, Reinvention, and Responsibilities: How Lauder Leaders Live the Change
Some of the most powerful insights come not from keynote stages—but from the lived experiences of our peers.
In this dynamic session, Lauder alumni step into the spotlight to share real, raw, and relevant stories—5-minute TED-style reflections on moments of reinvention, revelation, identity, and human connection.
Needs and Leads - Where Challenges Meet Solutions
This fast-paced, collaborative session is designed to deliver tangible value to everyone in the room. Participants will have 90 seconds to share a real need, from a business challenge, a strategic opportunity, a family crisis or personal conundrum. Immediately following, each person in the room will be asked if they have a relevant lead or strong contact that could help.
There will be an opportunity for every response to be tracked in real time, and by the end of the session, you’ll leave with a personalized list of actionable leads and contacts that have the potential to move your issue forward.
Energy Empires: The Race for Strategic Abundance
Energy Security | Industrial Strategy | Capital Markets | International Order Making
The race for energy abundance is no longer just about powering economies - it’s about securing national advantage and redefining the global order. Reliable, affordable energy now underpins leadership in emerging domains, from advanced manufacturing to the intensifying race in artificial intelligence. Around the world, governments and markets are balancing resilience, industrial policy, and private capital against geopolitical pressures and shifting supply chains. With perspectives spanning the United States and Southeast Asia, this panel will explore how energy security is reshaping technological leadership, investment flows, and international competition.