BY RINALDO S. BRUTOCO, Founding President and CEO of the World Business Academy. Reprinted with permission by Ethical Markets Media, LLC
IN MAY, the world lost one of the truly great humans of the last century, my dear friend Hazel Henderson, founder of Ethical Markets, author of nine books, “mother” of the field of sustainable investing, and a 37-year fellow of the World Business Academy.
She and I were close friends for more than 40 years, really like sister and brother—which is what we frequently called each other. Hazel called me the night before she started morphine treatments to help ease her incredible pain. She recounted the four decades of our work together, relished what we’d accomplished, expressed her satisfaction that we did as much as we did, and ended by expressing her complete satisfaction with what she had accomplished in her 90 years. Dr. Hazel Henderson, the acknowledged “mother” of ESG investing, dedicated her life to improving the very underlying principles of economics when put in practice for “the many” rather than for “the few.” Dr. Henderson has created an amazing body of scholarship through her innumerable scholarly articles and her books “Building a Win-Win World,” “Beyond Globalization,” “Planetary Citizenship,” and “Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy.” Her work will stand the test of time for its selflessness, insightful integrity and unique approach to human-centered economic values. Look her up. Read even a fraction of what she has published, and you’ll come to understand what a planetary treasure she is. A final observation: the industry she gave birth to, socially responsible investing based on ESG factors, is now a global industry of more than 18 trillion dollars. What a magnificent soul! Thank you, Hazel.
