About Jonathan Levine

Why Uri Matters

One of my most vivid memories as a reporter for Business Week was an interview with Jozsef Nagy in 1993. His village of Uri, Hungary, had virtually collapsed after its main employer, a truck parts manufacturer for the Soviet army, disintegrated with the fall of the regime. Nagy had converted the old factory into a struggling maker of electrical lamps. But the town and business were on their last legs when U.S. West, the old Baby Bell, began installing a national wireless phone network. Suddenly, phone orders poured into the factory, reviving the future of Uri and its residents. Not incidentally, U.S. West's profits soared unexpectedly from its forays in Hungary. Indeed, solutions to many of the most pressing social, economic and environmental issues of our time are inextricably linked to the role of business. And business, as U.S. West learned, stands to prosper handsomely by thoughtfully applying its resources and know-how to them. Uri, in a nutshell, is why today the mission of my consulting practice is to help major corporations apply their powerful resources to solutions for international development. Not just because it's a good thing to do. It's also good business. Enlightened corporate self-interest is not the embarrassment some make it out to be, but a powerful tool to be harnessed – often alongside government and the civil sector – for mutual benefit. My commitment to clients is to apply every skill from 25 years in international research, analysis and business strategy to that effort, in the hope of creating many more successes like Uri.

Jonathan Levine (Abridged) Independent Consultant, Boston (2001-present) International CSR field research, program assessment and strategy development Senior Associate, Center for Corporate Citizenship, Boston College Conference speaker: BC, U.N. Global Compact and other fora Writing on CSR, international management: New York Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Ethical Corporation, etc. Communications and market development strategy (2001-2002) Operating Executive, Boston (1995-2001) New media property development and management Director and Executive Producer, Lycos Inc. Executive Editor, AT&T New Media Vice President/Editorial Director, Delphi Internet Business Journalist (1979-1994) Business Week (1983-1994) European Technology Editor, Paris Bureau Chief and Staff Reporter, San Francisco Venture Magazine (1981-1983) West Coast Bureau Chief, San Francisco Today's Business Magazine (1979-1981) Managing Editor, Phoenix Professional Awards National Computer Press Awards, 1989 and 1991 National Press Award, 1991 PC Computing Magazine, best business service, 1995

A Brief History

To all my work with corporations and non-profits, I bring a journalist's eye – from 15 years as an international business reporter – as well as the discipline from 10 years of business management. During the first half of the 1990s I served as Paris-based European Technology Editor for Business Week Magazine, covering industrial policy and technology industries such as telecommunications, semiconductors and biotechnology. As San Francisco Bureau Chief for most of the 1980s, I reported on large computer manufacturers, banking and finance, venture capital and management trends.

My reporting and analysis won individual or team awards from the National Press Awards and the National Computer Press Association. I later started up or ran new-media properties for AT&T, Lycos and Delphi Internet over six years, successfully recruiting partners such as Dow Jones and Knight-Ridder and achieving monthly audience growth in the double-digits.

My consulting engagements since 2001 span a range of industries, social issues and markets around the world. For Starbucks, I assessed the impact of CSR programs on coffee growers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. In the Middle East, I provided Merck with evidence of the business case for a landmark anti-corruption initiative, and advised Pfizer on opportunities to increase the impact of its global volunteer program in HIV-AIDS. For Fidelity Investments' entry into the Indian market, I provided benchmarking on competitors' social programs and advised it on prospective NGO partners. I also previously worked with Ericsson, UPS, News Corporation, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Nobel economics laureate William Sharpe and others on communications and market development strategy and implementation.

As a senior associate at the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, I frequently present casework to its corporate members, as well as to the U.N. Global Compact and other fora. My writings on corporate social responsibility, international management, business ethics and other topics have appeared in the New York Times, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Ethical Corporation, FastCompany and elsewhere.