Ethics & Responsible Business Forum

Reclaiming Our Values: Personal Responsibility and Ethics in America's Corporate Landscape

The 23rd Annual Event brought together students, faculty, thought leaders, experts, and concerned citizens for a public discussion on the evolving role of ethics in shaping our personal lives, our communities, and corporate culture.

Watch the video recording of the event on YouTube.

Welcome Message & Introduction

• Vanya Quiñones, President, Cal State Monterey Bay
• Andrew Lawson, Interim Provost & VP Academic Affairs

Moderator

Jeff Froshman, Distinguished Lecturer at Cal State Monterey Bay, is back as our Master of Ceremonies and Moderator. An Accounting and Finance faculty member in the College of Business, Jeff teaches Risk Management & Tax Planning (BUS 351) and Strategic Management - Senior Capstone (BUS 499). He will celebrate his 28th year teaching at CSUMB this year!

Panelists

Steven Kull, founder and president of Voice of the People (VOP) is a political psychologist and director of the Program for Public Consultation, School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. For two decades, he has conducted in-depth studies of public opinion on public policy issues, in the United States and worldwide. He directs the international polling project WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaboration of research centers from around the world, and has played a central role in the BBC World Service Poll of global opinion.

Dr. Shyam Kamath is the founding Dean (Emeritus) of CSUMB's College of Business. He is an internationally recognized scholar, educator, and global innovator in international economics, business management, and program development. With over 35 years of experience in international education, economic development, and sustainable enterprise, he has built programs that expand economic opportunity and serve underrepresented communities. Dr. Kamath has held academic and administrative positions worldwide, earning numerous awards for teaching and research. 

Kelly O'Brien is a lecturer and Executive-In-Residence at CSUMB's College of Business. An entrepreneur, software developer, and former radio host, she is the Executive Champion of the Responsible Business Innovation Lab (RBIL) and a longstanding member of the Dean's Business Advisory Council.

Closing Remarks

Dr. Marylou Shockley is the Interim Dean of the College of Business. Dr. Shockley joined the College of Business in 2006 and has served in a variety of roles, including Business Department Chair, Strategic Planning & Accreditation Committee Co-chair, Committee on Curriculum & Assurance of Learning Co-chair, and teaching in the MBA program. She also serves on the organizing committee for the Ethics & Responsible Business Forum. 

Organizing Committee

• Chair: Caleb Bernacchio, Assistant Professor, College of Business  
• Jennifer Andrew, Marketing Specialist, College of Business
• Amir Attia, Associate Professor, Graphic Design Director, College of Science 
• Leslie Boni, Professor & Department Chair, College of Business
• Jeff Froshman, Professor, College of Business 
• Linda MacDonald Glenn, Lecturer, School of Natural Sciences, College of Science and College of Business
• Angeline Nariswari, Associate Professor, College of Business
• Marylou Shockley, Interim Dean, College of Business
• Morgan Steele, Administrative Support Coordinator, College of Business
• Paige P. Viren, Executive Director of Sustainable Hospitality Management Program, College of Business

Event Sponsors

The Ethics & Responsible Business Forum is produced in collaboration with the College of Business, the School of Computing and Design, the Institute for Innovation and Economic Development, and the Responsible Business Innovation Lab at Cal State Monterey Bay.

Media Partner

90.3 Kazu NPR for the Monterey Bay Area

Life and Work after ChatGPT: New Opportunities and Ethical Challenges from Generative AI

The 22nd Annual Event held on Thursday, April 18, 2024, focused on how AI will impact higher education for better or worse. Questions explored: How will artificial intelligence impact students and educators? What are the potential dangers? Can AI be used responsibly? 

View the webinar recording on Youtube!

Read More. 

Welcome Message & Introduction

• Vanya Quiñones, President, Cal State Monterey Bay
• Andrew Lawson, Interim Provost & VP Academic Affairs

Keynote Speaker

Alejo José G. Sison teaches Business Ethics at the University of Navarre in Spain. He served as President of the European Business Ethics Network and the Society for Business Ethics. He focuses on AI issues in business and works mainly from the perspective of the virtues and the common good. 

Moderator

Jeff Froshman, CSUMB Distinguished Lecturer and Accounting and Finance faculty member in the College of Business, Jeff teaches Risk Management & Tax Planning (BUS 351) and Strategic Management - Senior Capstone (BUS 499).

Panelists

Laura Otero, CSUMB Lecturer, School of Computing and Design. She has over a decade of experience in the field of instructional technology and online education. She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology Leadership. Her research interests include Artificial Intelligence and higher education, relational leadership, institutional effectiveness, and online teaching and learning.

Jill Hosmer-Jolley, CSUMB Lecturer, College of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration - Management from Northcentral University. Jill held management and executive positions at Charles Schwab for 12 years before becoming a consultant and eventually entering academia. She started teaching at CSUMB in 2008 and has participated in curriculum and course development. Jill is Vice-Chair of the Academic Senate Executive Committee for AY 2024 - AY 2025.

Sofie Santucci, CSUMB Online MBA graduate (2024). Sofie was a delegate to the 2024 CSU Student Research Competition at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, April 26-27. Her research project, titled "Exploring factors influencing viewers' perception of AI-generated educational videos: Trust, attitude, mindset, and ethics," explores factors influencing perceptions of AI-generated educational videos.

Luke Moore, Web Developer and CSUMB student. Luke is majoring in Communication Design, with a minor in Computer Science, in the School of Computing Design, College of Science. 

Closing Remarks

Dr. Marylou Shockley is the Interim Dean of the College of Business. Dr. Shockley joined the College of Business in 2006 and has served in a variety of roles, including Business Department Chair, Strategic Planning & Accreditation Committee Co-chair, Committee on Curriculum & Assurance of Learning Co-chair, and teaching in the MBA program. She also serves on the organizing committee for the Ethic & Responsible Business Forum. 

Organizing Committee

• Chair: Caleb Bernacchio, Assistant Professor, College of Business  
• Jennifer Andrew, Marketing Specialist, College of Business
• Amir Attia, Associate Professor, Graphic Design Director, College of Science 
• Leslie Boni, Professor & Department Chair, College of Business
• Jeff Froshman, Professor, College of Business 
• Linda MacDonald Glenn, Lecturer, School of Natural Sciences, College of Science and College of
• Business
• Angeline Nariswari, Associate Professor, College of Business
• Marylou Shockley, Interim Dean, College of Business
• Morgan Steele Administrative Support Coordinator, College of Business
• Paige P. Viren, Executive Director of Sustainable Hospitality Management Program, College of Business
• Event Sponsors
• The 22nd Ethics & Responsible Business Forum is produced in collaboration between the College of
• Business, College of Science, College of Health and Human Services, and College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Services.

Media Partner

90.3 Kazu NPR for the Monterey Bay Area

Life and Work after ChatGPT: New Opportunities and Ethical Challenges from Generative AI

April 5, 2023 – The live webinar event drew over 300 people from around the Monterey Bay Area and beyond. The topic of Generative AI is trending heavily in the news and for good reason. The implications are becoming more evident and questions of how AI will impact education, work, and society are becoming more urgent.

Watch the recorded video series on Youtube to learn about the practical and ethical implications of this new technology from nationally recognized experts and our own CSUMB administration, faculty, and students on this important topic.

2023 ERBF VIDEO SERIES

Segment 1: Introduction

Segment 2: Keynote Speakers

Segment 3: Panelist Discussion

Segment 4: Q&A

Keynote Speakers

• Irina Raicu, J.D. – Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University (link to bio)
• Shira Eisenberg – Artificial intelligence engineer, specializing in natural language processing (link to bio)
• Alka Roy – Founder, RI Labs and The Responsible Innovation Project (link to bio)

Panelists

• Linda MacDonald Glenn, J.D. – CSUMB Business Ethics Lecturer, College of Business
• Sam Ogden, Ph.D. – CSUMB Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Design

Media

Press Release
21st Ethics and Responsible Business Forum 2023 press release.pdf

Interviews:

• KAZU: John Sepulvado interview with Alka Roy  
• KSCO: Dave Michaels interview with Alka Roy (mp3 audio file)

Event Sponsors

The 21st Ethics & Responsible Business Forum is produced in collaboration between the College of Business, College of Science, College of Health and Human Services, and College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Services.

Media Partner

KAZU 90.3 - NPR for the Monterey Bay Area

Black Lives Matter: Is the U.S. Social Contract Broken?

March 24, 2021 – The topic of the 19th Ethics Forum was the issue of racial equity through a debate and critical discussion on the social contract between the US and Black Americans.

The 8-minute, 46-second video of the excruciating death of George Floyd at the knee of a police officer sparked fresh public outrage against police brutality, and generated a wave of reckoning with racial injustice, across the globe. In the United States, this reckoning has coalesced under the mantle of Black Lives Matter. However, in the current state of American politics and social relations, justice for black Americans is no longer a uniting call. Instead, it has provoked criticism, backlash, and launched a growing list of social issues that carry a polarizing charge, capable of breaking down the structures and processes integral to the civic health of our country. Our Ethics and Responsible Business Forum is dedicated to understanding why the project of racial justice has become divisive instead of unifying, and to identifying our pressing obligations, as a country, in this area of concern.

Does the US have an unfulfilled social contract toward black Americans? If not, how do we understand and rectify the inequities faced by black Americans? Why does the issue of racial justice tend to break down on partisan lines? Are there bridges to cross these divides? What are we being currently called to do to advance racial healing?

In this shared context of deep division, we invite our distinguished speakers and panelists, who are powerful public voices, to help our community understand the complexities of the racial wound that cuts deep into the heart of this country’s past, present, and future. Under the encompassing question of “Is the US social contract with Black Americans broken?” we look forward to enlightening debate and discussion on the following points: Keynote speakers and panelists will enrich the discussion by sharing insights from their respective areas of expertise.

This annual event is sponsored The Ethics and Responsibility Forum is an annual event sponsored by the College of Business, College of Science, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Health Sciences and Human Services, with the Associated Students.

Watch on YouTube. 

Keynote Speakers

Ralph Richard Banks is Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law, Stanford Law School and Faculty Director, Stanford Center for Racial Justice. Professor Banks teaches and writes about family law, employment discrimination law and race and the law. He is the author of Is Marriage for White People? How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone.

Jason Riley is Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal columnist, and commentator at Fox News. He is the author of Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders (2008), Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed (2014), and False Black Power (2017)

Panelists

• John Berteaux, Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Monterey Bay
• Darchelle Burnett, CSU Monterey Bay Student, President of Black Students United
• Vanessa Lopez-Littleton, Chair, Health, Human Services, and Public Policy Department.; Associate Professor, Public Administration, and Nonprofit Management

Moderator

Jeff Froshman, Distinguished Lecturer, California State University, Monterey Bay

Will You Survive the Gig Economy – Does Gig Work Empower or Exploit?

March 4th, 2020 – The 18th Ethics Forum focused on the growing gig economy, along with the recently passed California AB5 bill, which places regulations on independent contractors. In a debate-style presentation, two renowned keynote speakers discussed the benefits and perils of the gig economy. Panelists with ethical, business, and labor rights expertise offered their viewpoints and addressed pressing questions on the issue.

Some of the critical questions up for consideration in the forum included:

• What does a growing gig economy say about the fundamentals of the US economy? Is it a sustainable model?
• What can be done to safeguard contract workers in the gig economy? Should governments regulate? What are the intended and unintended consequences of California’s AB5 Bill?
• What are employers’ and workers’ obligations toward each other?
• How should workers prepare to succeed in the gig economy?

Keynote Speakers

Marion McGovern

Ms. McGovern is an expert in the dynamics of the independent talent market. A gig economy participant herself, Ms. McGovern is the author of Thriving in the Gig Economy and is a regular speaker on the future of work at conferences and on webcasts and the radio.

McGovern was the founder and CEO of M Squared Consulting, a gig economy firm before the term was even coined, and Collabrus, an employment compliance firm. She sold both to an international conglomerate in 2005, and remained a board member through 2014. She is the author of Thriving in the Gig Economy and A New Brand of Expertise and is a regular speaker at conferences on webcasts and the radio on the future of work. A gig economy participant herself, Marion’s primary gigs are her roles as a Corporate Director. She is the Chair of The Myers-Briggs Company, the foremost provider of organizational solutions and psychometric assessments in the world. She is also a member of the board of The Front Porch, a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) with facilities in 3 states that provide a spectrum of services including elderly housing, skilled nursing and dementia care. She is an Advisory Board member of LifeSciHub, a digital talent platform specializing in providing talent for drug development and clinical trials. She consults with the Alliance of CEOs, where she facilitates peer development for Bay Area CEOs.

Cesar Lara

Mr. Lara is the executive director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (MBCLC), the local body of the AFL-CIO. A Monterey County native and the son of immigrant farmworkers, Mr. Lara is focused on immigrant rights and the needs of his community.

Cesar Lara was raised on the Central Coast of Monterey County. He is the Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (MBCLC), the local body of the AFL-CIO. MBCLC serves as a coalition of the Labor Community in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties; 80 unions are affiliated, representing more than 37,000 union members and their families. The mission of MBCLC is to improve the lives of workers, their families, and our community – to help bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to the Monterey Bay Area.

Lara is very active on a number of state and local boards. In addition to his role at the Labor Council, Cesar is the policy adviser for Building Healthy Communities East Salinas and former Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 890 and director of the Central Coast Citizenship Project in East Salinas California. Prior to his tenure at the Labor Council, Cesar was the State Director for the United Farm Workers nonprofit La Union Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) and a Congressional Aid to Congressman Sam Farr.

Moderator

Jeff Froshman is the "original" faculty member with CSUMB's College of Business since January 1996. He founded the accounting program, taught the initial classes and assisted with the expansion of the accounting concentration to its current level. A retired CPA, Jeff is currently working a financial consultant.

Penalists

John Berteaux is a Professor of Philosophy at California State University Monterey Bay in the School of Humanities and Communication. He did his undergraduate work at San Diego State University and completed his Ph.D. at the University of California at San Diego. Professor Berteaux's research interests are ethics, and political philosophy with a focus on race and the Liberal Tradition. His most recent publication Spring 2020 is, Humanistic Inquiry: Reconciling Reality, Knowledge, and Imagination. The article appears in Academic Questions a publication of the National Association of Scholars.

Lauren Casey is a lead organizer for Working Partnerships USA, where she co-leads Gig Workers Rising. Before joining Working Partnerships, Lauren worked as an organizer with the Committee of Interns and Residents CIR/SEIU where she represented members across public hospitals in New York City and organized with residents at UCSF who successfully won a union contract with their employer. As co-lead of Gig Workers Rising, Lauren has organized alongside rideshare drivers who have made history this past year - from protesting unfair deactivations and Uber and Lyft’s IPOs, to organizing for the successful passage of California Assembly Bill 5.

Jeremy Neuner has spent the last decade exploring the future of work and the workplace. Jeremy was the co-founder and CEO of NextSpace, one of the world's first coworking companies. He is the co-author of The Rise of the Naked Economy: How to Benefit From the Changing Workplace (U.S. edition published 2013; Chinese edition published 2016). Jeremy was honored to give the TEDx Talk “The Office is Obsolete” in 2016. He now runs a startup accelerator at Google.

Fane Opperman
Financial advisor; Lecturer, California State University Monterey Bay