close window 
“There is not one of my clients for whom I would not work for free,” said Kevin Conlon, former district counsel for the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, and Illinois state chairman of Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. “If I wouldn’t volunteer to teach a class here, then I wouldn’t represent the University of Chicago.”
Conlon, founder and president of the political consulting group, Conlon Public Strategies, spoke to students at the Hyde Park Center on February 21. The event was sponsored by the University Community Service Center and student-led Net Impact group.
In two venture capital funds founded by Conlon, the company not only aims to reach underserved entrepreneurs and promote economic development in underserved areas, but also to guarantee market-rate returns for investors. “Altruism only goes so far,” he said. “You also have to be competitive in the marketplace.”
In order to “win with a purpose,” Conlon has assembled a balanced clientele of not-for-profit and for-profit companies. “Typically, I’ve been able to represent 16 or 17 nonprofits and three for-profits, such as Sallie Mae. I’m pleased with everything I’ve learned about them.”
Students can find socially responsible companies by being upfront during the interview process, Conlon said. “If you say it’s important to you, the right companies will tell you that you can get X percent of your time to do pro bono work,” he said. “For example, a law firm will say, ‘We expect you to do 2,000 billable hours, but we’ll give you 100 hours you can do pro bono.’ You can say, ‘I want to meet your goals, but I also want 10 to 15 percent of my time to do social service. Not only will I be a happier employee, but I think we’ll get some good will and create some work from that.’”
Michelle Olson, director of external and government affairs for the Office of Community and Government Affairs at the University of Chicago, said every company she’s worked for has had some interest in doing good in the community. “Leo Burnett had a whole division created to let employees do pro bono work,” Olson said. “In almost every industry, there is some department or division or person who cares about this and makes things happen, although they’re sometimes hard to find.”
Net Impact co-chairwoman Micki O’Neil, a third-year student also pursuing a master’s degree in public policy, said the group co-sponsored the talk to encourage business students to think more broadly of how business can impact society. “It ranges from social entrepreneurship to corporate roles,” O’Neil said. “This is the community relations and politics side of corporations.”
—Phil Rockrohr