ESG Design Challenge Showcases Pro-market Approach to Political Influence Decisions
The February 2026 Alliance for Responsible Capitalism ESG Design Challenge spotlighted the next generation of leaders advancing principled, nonpartisan solutions to today’s ESG and political risk dilemmas. The competition, co-sponsored and hosted by the Erb Institute and Business+Impact at the University of Michigan, challenged ten finalist teams to advise a bank CEO on the responsible use of its political influence -- recognizing the material risks of climate change to their business, as well as the political realities of today’s polarized environments.
The winning teams analyzed and recommended policies to correct externalities and create a level playing field for competition, and processes for responding to the concerns of various groups. CPR Hub Advisory Board Member and Managing Director of the Erb Institute Melissa Zaksek (and new Advisor, Jerry Davis of Business+Impact), ensured this forward-looking convening was hosted successfully. Joe Pigg, CPR Hub Advisory Board Member and Panelist, (and new Advisor Matt Elliott) lent his expertise to the judging process, while Tom Lyon, CPR Hub Advisory Board Member and Steering Committee Member, helped guide the strategic vision of the Challenge.
Learn more about this year's Competition here: https://businessimpact.umich.edu/story/businessimpact-co-hosts-2nd-annual-esg-dilemma-challenge/
Third Side Strategies Executive Director Elizabeth Doty featured in The Guardian: The Underlying Choice Facing Corporate America
In a recent feature in The Guardian, Elizabeth Doty, Executive Director of Third Side Strategies, urged business leaders to look beyond reactive crisis management and confront the deeper governance choice unfolding in today’s volatile political environment.
As she noted, “The larger issue isn’t just how companies respond to a single controversy, but what precedents they help establish.” Every decision sets a new baseline of expectations for the next interaction for their company and business overall. “Due process, rule of law, civic spaces and adherence to the constitution – all of those are essential to the environment [corporations] need,” Doty said. “The bigger choice right now is, are we going to be an economy based on loyalties and allegiances, or [one] based on institutions?”
Doty’s perspective underscores a central CPR theme: leaders must surface the underlying principles at stake and act with clarity about the long-term civic and institutional conditions markets depend upon. In an era of intensifying scrutiny and intervention, principled public affairs governance is not optional—it is foundational to legitimacy, trust and long-term value.
Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/31/trump-corporate-america-ice-minneapolis
CPR Hub Advisory Board expands with two additional Members
We are pleased to welcome Jerry Davis, Gilbert and Ruth Whitaker Professor of Business Administration at the Michigan Ross School of Business, and Matt Elliott, Founder of Blue Lake Ideas, to the CPR Hub Board of Advisors.
Jerry Davis, Faculty Director of Business+Impact and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, is a leading scholar on the evolution of the corporation as a social and economic institution. His research spans shareholder capitalism, supply-chain transparency, platform governance, worker voice, and the institutional foundations of democratic markets. Jerry brings deep insight into how corporate structures shape inequality, accountability, and long-term economic resilience—perspectives that are vital to advancing thoughtful Corporate Political Responsibility governance.
Matt Elliott, Founder of Blue Lake Ideas and creator of the Power of &™ framework, brings three decades of executive leadership experience. Formerly President of Bank of America Michigan and Commercial Banking Sustainability Executive, Matt led engagement with more than 25,000 middle-market companies on the business case for sustainability. His work focuses on helping leaders move beyond false trade-offs—connecting growth, resilience, and responsible strategy in ways that drive durable value creation.
Together with our growing Board, Jerry and Matt deepen the breadth of expertise supporting the CPR Hub—spanning scholarship, executive leadership, governance design, and sustainability strategy. This diversity of voices strengthens our capacity to equip organizations with the frameworks, tools, and community needed to build principled, nonpartisan CPR governance.
Learn more about the CPR Hub Advisory Board Members and see the full list here: https://thecprhub.org/about