This November, the Graduate School of Business will be hosting the 2005 Net Impact Conference, the largest annual gathering in the world for business students and young professionals. The event will focus on corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, community development and environmental management.

Net Impact, a career network that offers membership for a small annual fee to business school students and professionals, teaches members to drive social change through business. The Business School was selected from among Net Impact’s 103 chapters to host the conference, which will take place from Nov. 10 to 13.

“The GSB is very pleased to be the host site for this important conference,” said Robert Joss, dean of the Business School. “As a leading school of management, we know effective social innovation requires good management, and good management requires social awareness and accountability. This conference presents a great opportunity to showcase Stanford’s leadership in promoting work at this intersection of management education and social innovation.”

First-year business student Patrick Crosetto, an event organizer, said that about 1,350 people are expected to attend.

The conference will feature three keynote speakers, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. There will also be five smaller lectures and 70 breakout session panels which will address the event’s prominent themes — business and the environment, business in the nonprofit sector, corporate social responsibility, international development, leadership development, social entrepreneurship and socially responsible investing.

None of the speakers are being paid for their appearances, organizers said.

“There is no financial incentive for speaking at the conference,” said Lisa Macholan, a representative from Net Impact who is working with the GSB to plan the conference. “Their incentive is to address young business leaders that are looking to be catalysts of change in this growing area. They want to encourage people to go off and make change.”

Macholan said the conference will also focus on exploring the ways in which different organizations can collaborate to make socially and environmentally sound decisions.

“This conference is about being able to bring together the various sectors of society, including the government, non profit business and corporations,” she said. “The conference will address the questions of how we can work together to make sure that we are making a positive change in society.”

Kirsten Olsen, a first year-student at the Business School and a former Net Impact employee, is in charge of the conference curriculum.

“The main mission of this conference is to equip the attendees with the knowledge and tools to go forth and practice responsible business,” she said. “This idea of corporate social responsibility that is at the heart of Net Impact is something that a lot of business schools are trying to address in their curriculum. It’s about having businesses look beyond the bottom line and incorporate things other than just profit into decisions.”

Christian Edvardsen, a first-year Business School student who is helping to plan the event, said that the event is aimed primarily at Net Impact members, Stanford business students and professionals, but everyone is welcome to attend. Those who come to the conference must register and pay a fee, which is significantly lower for Net Impact members.