Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA and Advisory Board member for The CPR Hub, highlights a rising counterculture on college campuses—one defined not by outrage, but by dialogue, pluralism, and civic trust. In response to deepening polarization, students are modeling what it looks like to engage across differences with curiosity and respect, building the foundations of a healthier democratic culture.
As Meel notes, “This isn’t a naive attempt at compromise... but they do emerge seeing each other as human beings worthy of respect, even in profound disagreement.”
For practitioners of Corporate Political Responsibility (CPR), this emerging group of student leaders offers a model for transforming how disagreement is handled within organizations and beyond:: by fostering constructive dialogue that establishes the foundations for solutions. This is the pathway to reinforcing commitments to transparency, long-term value, and credible influence. How might companies apply this same logic to their stakeholder engagement and governance decisions? Might your new employees help?
📖 Read more in The Counterculture That Could Stop Political Violence
Erik Wohlgemuth, Fortune 500 CEO and CPR Hub Advisory Board Member, examines the evolution of corporate engagement from risk management to shared-value strategy, encouraging leaders to recalibrate influence around principled factors such as transparency and integrity.
In “The Funding Arms Race: Looking Back, Looking Ahead” Wohlgemuth revisits Future 500’s origins as a conflict resolution organization—founded to proactively build bridges between companies and civil society. Future 500’s mission—to nurture the constructive conditions that make common ground possible—mirrors the CPR framework for responsible engagement, emphasizing integrity, mutual respect, and the search for the third side amid polarized goals. In particular, he spotlights the risks of an “arms race” where parties acting alone undermine the public trust they all depend on.
Wohlgemuth identifies five key themes shaping the future of influence, including the urgency of trust-building, and the redefinition of leadership around transparency and accountability. As he writes, “Companies and civil society can only work at the speed of trust.” His message invites leaders to slow down the race for influence—and rebuild the foundations for responsible collaboration.
Read more at Future500.org.