TMU CSR Institute zoom session: Now What? Democracy, Human Rights and the Role of Business as the Trump 2.0 Era begins - In Conversation with Bennett Freeman

About this talk

The Trump 2.0 era is now fully underway, complete with pardons to convicted Proud Boy/Oath Keeper January 6 seditionists, termination of government DEI programs, a military-enforced immigration crackdown, and an order to exit the Paris Climate Treaty, among many other moves. As Bennett Freeman recently stated (in his January 23, 2025 remarks (external link)  at the Business for America New Political Realities Forum), "Corporate America is in no mood now to take ....[pro-democracy] stands as in the first Trump Administration. But it may be forced to speak out as the foundations of our constitutional democracy—and in turn the stability and prosperity of our economy—come under severe strain." While the question of how all sectors of society can appropriately respond to Trump 2.0 is front and center at this particularly volatile and fast-evolving time, the focus here is on the business role. In this regard, we call once again on global corporate responsibility thought-leader Bennett Freeman for another TMU CSR Institute in-conversation session to explore possible forward paths for business.

About Bennett Freeman

An innovator and standard-setter for responsible business and investment, Bennett Freeman has co-founded multi-stakeholder initiatives and coalitions focused on the extractives, technology and apparel sectors. Bennett holds degrees in History from the University of California at Berkeley (1979) and Oxford (1981; English-Speaking Union Scholar, Balliol). He served as a Clinton presidential appointee in three positions at the US Department of State, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from 1999-2001. He was senior VP for Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments, 2006-15. As principal of Bennett Freeman Associates LLC, he advises multinational corporations, international institutions and NGOs on policy and strategy related to human rights and labour rights. He was the lead author of Shared Space Under Pressure: Business Support for Civic Freedoms and Human Rights Defenders (external link) (2018) and is an Associate Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance Programme at Chatham House. Bennett is a co-founder and Steering Committee member of Business for Ukraine (external link)  (B4Ukraine), a coalition that seeks to complete the exit of foreign companies from Russia and to set higher standards for human rights due on the part of companies and investors in conflict situations—and in turn to contribute to a new ethic of geopolitical corporate responsibility to support the international rules-based order.

The talk is co-sponsored by the TMU Corporate Social Responsibility Student Society, and the TMU Law and Business Student Society.

About the Moderator, Prof Kernaghan Webb

Dr. Kernaghan Webb is an Associate Professor in the Toronto Metropolitan University Department of Law and Business, and is the Director of the TMU Institute for the Study of Corporate Social Responsibility.

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