Harvard Club of Washington, DC

Join the HBS Club of Washington, D.C., Communities in Schools of the Nation’s Capital and Harvard Business School’s U.S. Competitiveness Project as we unveil the latest research on PK through 12 education and pathways for improvement.

This exclusive event will be hosted at the Embassy of France and will provide an unrivalled opportunity for networking, a challenging discussion on education and a great opportunity for business, non-profit and educational leaders to collaborate.

A special exhibit from French photographer and fashion designer, Mr. Bruno Victoria will be specially displayed for this event.  Mr. Victoria’s work includes modernizing trends in some of the world’s most renowned high fashion houses, including Yves St. Laurent, among others.

Guest speakers include:

Dr. Jan Rivkin, Jan W. Rivkin is the Bruce V. Rauner Professor and chair of the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. His research, course development, and teaching efforts examine the interactions across functional and product boundaries within a firm – that is, the connections that link marketing, production, logistics, finance, human resource management, and other parts of a firm. His work analyzes, first, how such interactions constrain managerial behavior and, second, how managers use cognitive devices and organizational design to cope with decisions whose ramifications span boundaries.

Rivkin's scholarly work has appeared in journals such as Management Science, Organization Science, the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, and Research Policy. Much of this work uses simulations of complex adaptive systems to examine the theoretical implications of cross-cutting interactions. His empirical work on the topic employs a mix of large-scale statistical studies, field research, and case studies.

Rivkin also co-chairs HBS's project on the competitiveness of the United States.  In that role, he has worked with a faculty team to explore steps that leaders--especially business leaders--can take to improve the ability of firms in the U.S. to win in the global marketplace and support American living standards. His work in this domain focuses on (a) how managers choose to locate business activities in the United States or elsewhere and (b) how business leaders can best work with educators to improve America's schools.

Rivkin currently teaches the core business strategy course in the first year of the MBA Program.  Until recently, he taught strategy in HBS's Advanced Management Program as well as an MBA elective that he developed, Advanced Competitive Strategy: Integrating the Enterprise. The elective course aims to improve students’ ability to integrate across the parts of the companies they will manage. It gives students a body of concepts for thinking about cross-cutting interactions, a set of tools for making decisions with boundary-spanning implications, and in-class practice with such decisions. A comprehensive description of Advanced Competitive Strategy is available to fellow educators via Harvard Business School Publishing.

In support of his teaching and research, Rivkin has completed case studies on Airborne Express, BMG Entertainment, Dell, Delta Air Lines, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Husky Injection Molding Systems, LEGO, Lycos, Microsoft, Ryanair, Whirlpool Corporation, and Yahoo, among others.

Rivkin received his Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard. Earlier, he studied chemical engineering and public policy at Princeton and obtained a M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics on a Marshall Scholarship. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, Rivkin led case teams and managed client relationships at Monitor Company, a strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Rivkin and his wife live in Newton, Massachusetts with their two sons.

Dan Cardinali is president of Communities In Schools, Inc., the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, with operations in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Established in 1977, Communities In Schools serves more than 1.25 million of America’s most disenfranchised students each year.  Under Cardinali’s leadership, the organization has developed and embraced an evidence-based model of integrated student service provision and has launched a national growth strategy to increase the organization’s impact on improving public education.  Cardinali is a 2007 Annie E. Casey Children and Families Fellow.  He also currently serves as a trustee for America’s Promise, and as chairman of the board of directors of Peace First.  Cardinali is a board member of The Harwood Institute of Public Innovation and Child Trends.  In May 2011 Dan Cardinali was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

Trained as a community organizer in Guadalajara, Mexico, Cardinali served on a team organizing a “squatter” community of 120,000 to secure land rights, running water and public education.  He returned to Washington, D.C., to receive a one-year research fellowship at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.  Cardinali holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University.  

Guests will receive printed materials from Harvard Business School’s research on PK-12 education, as well as material from Communities in Schools.

EVENT DETAILS 

The event begins with a reception, hors d’oeuvres, wine and refreshments hosted in the elegant reception hall of the Embassy of France. 

As this is a charitable event, a portion of event proceeds will be donated to Communities in Schools to support their work.

Venue: Embassy of France – Cultural Service, 4101 Reservoir Rd NW, Washington, DC 

Date: June, 12, 2014

Time: 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM.

Guests: 200+

Fee: $50.00 (Non-profit Professionals) $70.00 (Club Members) $95.00 (General Admission).

Parking: Limited onsite parking for VIPs, event sponsors and speakers.  Free street parking for guests.