SILS: How Strengthening Communities Can Solve the World’s Pressing Problems

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, communities around the globe struggled to combat the pressing issues of our time—growing inequality, automation of jobs, the growth of the state, and dependence on global markets. The key to addressing these challenges, according to Chicago Booth Professor Raghuram Rajan? Place decision-making power back with local communities.

On May 25, Professor Rajan will discuss his research during a virtual event with The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation. In his book, Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave Communities Behind, Rajan argues that many of today’s challenges reflect changes in technology that create an imbalance in the three pillars that hold up society: government, the markets, and the community.

Leong Cheung, Executive Director, Charities and Community at The Hong Kong Jockey Club, will then join Rajan to discuss how strengthening communities can help improve people’s quality of life in Hong Kong and how this ties into the work of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Randy Kroszner, Deputy Dean for Executive Programs and Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth will moderate.

Interested in pursuing a Booth MBA? Following the event, join Chicago Booth’s admissions team for a 30-minute information session to learn more about Booth’s Executive MBA program.

Event Schedule

8:30 p.m. HKT: Opening remarks

8:35 p.m. HKT: Presentation by Chicago Booth Professor Raghuram Rajan on The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind

8:55 p.m. HKT: Fireside Chat between Mr. Leong Cheung and Professor Raghuram Rajan, moderated by Professor Randall Kroszner

9:15 p.m. HKT: Q&A session

9:27p.m. HKT: Closing remarks

9:30p.m. HKT: Chicago Booth EMBA Info Session (Optional)

10:00p.m. HKT: Close of Event

After Professor Rajan’s event, join us for a 30-minute Executive MBA Information Session webinar and meet with Booth’s admissions representatives.

As a senior executive in an NGO ready to take that next step in your career, you may need access to the latest thinking and tools to successfully face challenges unique to the NGO sector. At the same time, you need to focus on daily operations. How can you gain the critical insights to run a successful NGO where you can study and work at the same time?

During the Executive MBA Information Session webinar, you will:

• Find out what differentiates Booth’s Executive MBA program from other programs
• Learn about how the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation can help you leverage your Booth MBA for social good
• Hear from a current Executive MBA student who works in the NGO sector and find out how the program has impacted her career and personal growth

About the Speakers

Leong Cheung, Executive Director, Charities and Community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Mr. Leong Cheung is the Executive Director of Charities & Community at The Hong Kong Jockey Club. In this capacity, he is also the co-chair of the Hong Kong Chapter of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Prior to joining the Club, Cheung was the Operating Partner with Bain Capital. Before that he was the Managing Director of Global Sourcing & Supply Chain at Esquel Group, the founder and CEO of an education focused Internet venture, and a senior consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Cheung is also the co-founder of an innovative social enterprise, RunOurCity.

In addition to his present roles, Cheung is active in the community. He currently serves as the chairperson of the Committee on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food and a member on the Elderly Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. He is a director of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited and is an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Cheung has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Randall S. Kroszner, Deputy Dean for Executive Programs and Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Randall S. Kroszner is Deputy Dean for Executive Programs and Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics. Dr. Kroszner served as a Governor of the Federal Reserve System from 2006 until 2009. He chaired the committee on Supervision and Regulation of Banking Institutions and the committee on Consumer and Community Affairs. In these capacities, he took a leading role in developing responses to the financial crisis and in undertaking new initiatives to improve consumer protection and disclosure, including rules related to home mortgages and credit cards. He represented the Federal Reserve Board on the Financial Stability Forum (now called the Financial Stability Board), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and the Central Bank Governors of the American Continent and was a director of NeighborWorks America. Dr. Kroszner chaired the working party of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), composed of deputy central bank governors and finance ministers, on Policies for the Promotion of Better International Payments Equilibrium. As a member of the Fed Board, he was also a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Since 1990, Dr. Kroszner has taught at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Dr. Kroszner was Director of the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State. He served as editor of the Journal of Law & Economics and has been associate editor of a number of other academic and policy journals. He was a member of the board of directors at the National Association for Business Economics and the Financial Management Association.

Dr. Kroszner serves as the Chair of the Financial Research Advisory Committee of the Office of Financial Research of the U.S. Treasury. He is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Academic Advisory Council and of the board of advisors of the Paulson Institute. In addition, he is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is member of the board of trustees of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a member of the board of directors of the Renaissance Society.

Raghuram Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2013 and September 2016. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. The books he has written include The Third Pillar: How the State and Markets are leaving Communities Behind 2019, I do What I do: On Reform, Rhetoric, and Resolve, 2017, and Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.

Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics in 2013, Euromoney Central Banker Governor of the Year 2014, and Banker Magazine (FT Group) Central Bank Governor of the Year 2016.

About the Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Programme on Social Innovation provides resources and programs to help the city’s NGOs, nonprofit leaders, and social entrepreneurs do their best work. Operated by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Programme offers a range of opportunities, including scholarships, social entrepreneurship workshops, and trainings for NGO boards of directors and board members.