Jonathan J. Halperin
Jonathan J. Halperin
Designing Our Future. Together.

jonathan.halperin's blog

Standing Firm for Freedom of the Press (A letter to Ann Telnaes)

Monday, January 6, 2025

I admire... you for standing firm for freedom of the press, despite being perched on the slippery slope of American descent into fascism and autocracy.

Connected Ecosystems: Climate and Agriculture

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

I have mixed feelings about #ClimateWeek, unfolding in NYC this week to coincide with proceedings at the United Nations General Assembly. It’s a little like the “patient safety” department in a hospital. A department? Isn’t patient safety the first responsibility of everyone?! A week? Isn’t preserving a stable climate everyone’s responsibility every day?

Newton Was More Right Than He Knew “…an object in motion remains in motion unless acted on….”

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

In Minneapolis for a convening to help build “an Intersectional Philanthropic Approach: Climate Change, Agriculture, and Healthy Rural Communities”, I am reflecting on a film we made in 2009. Hope in a Changing Climate premiered at Agriculture and Rural Development Day at COP 15, the goals of which are described below in the report from the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

On Flags and Fascism

Sunday, April 7, 2024

I cannot continue to fly the Israeli flag.

With apologies to The Grateful Dead, ‘what a long, strange trip’ it has been since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That is when I hoisted the Ukrainian flag in front of my house and put 200 little Ukrainian flags on my lawn with a note inviting neighbors to please take one if they wanted to show opposition to a ground war in Europe in the 21st century. Although they have faded now, they were all taken and planted around my neighborhood in Maryland.

Connections in a Fractured World: Vivek Murthy, Crimea, and Gaza

Sunday, November 12, 2023

In a world that seems increasingly fractured, what connects us – as people, as teams and as communities? How well we understand the complexity of connection may hold the key to unlocking success.

Brittle Systems: Staying Connected in the Post-Pandemic Era

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

My experience this week at Heathrow is a small but telling example of the global risk many businesses face: multiple systems failing simultaneously.

Putin and Trump: At War with History

Tuesday, February 22, 2022
I have never been to the Russian Air Base on the Eastern edge of Ukraine in Millerovo, where attack helicopters, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and ground forces have begun the Russian invasion. The last time I was in eastern Ukraine, in Luhansk (about 60 miles from Millerovo), I visited a military plant that was then converting to syringe manufacturing. I was with Yuri Shchekochikhin who represented the region as a member of Parliament.

The Black Swan of Trumpist Insurrection, Part I

Monday, January 11, 2021
Fear, collusion, and incompetence are a deadly combination. That we couldn't defend the Capitol from an insurrectionist mob was a failure not of intelligence but a failure to be intelligent.

Middlemen or Distributors?

Tuesday, May 12, 2020
We all now have personal experience with the collapse of supply chains: toilet paper, produce, meat, flour. They are more fragile than we knew, for many reasons.

A Vision From Farm to Fork: What A Strong Regional Supply Chain Looks Like

Friday, October 25, 2019
Following sessions with the Global Alliance for the Future of Food (NYC) and The Emerson Collective (CA), Jonathan J. Halperin addressed the audience at The Chesapeake Food Summit (DC), urging participants to let go of the myth of a “neat, clear, linear supply chain. It’s a web, a network, a system. We all need to think in systems. Systems connect silos.”

What They Talked About in Helsinki.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Helsinki was not an aberration. It is time we stopped being shocked. Trump and Putin share common goals and values: absolute need for loyalty, disdain for free and fair elections, willingness to use and discard people, and antipathy toward media.

Markers of Corporate Purpose, Part II

Saturday, July 7, 2018
Purpose seems to be catching fire. Empowered by yet another horrendous school massacre, students from Parkland have changed the American conversation in a momentous way.

Phones and Nuclear Power: The Network Effect Collides with the Tragedy of the Commons

Monday, June 11, 2018
The technologies we embrace reflect social and business values. But whether they embody our personal values is another question entirely.

A Fair Chance at Work: Employment Pathways for Excluded Individuals

Sunday, January 28, 2018
Jonathan Halperin (Head of External Affairs) and Mike Brady (CEO) discuss Greyston's Open Hiring model and their plans to support other companies in its adoption. (Transform Finance Investor Network Webinar, January 24, 2018)

On Purpose and Profit

Friday, December 8, 2017
Many corporate leaders still wonder both what purpose looks like operationally and whether it really generates value.

Our Work with Greyston...

Wednesday, November 22, 2017
When we first started working with Greyston--New York's first registered benefit corporation, a hybrid social enterprise, and a world-class bakery--its history was rich and its story powerful.

"Bottom line, fair chance hiring is about the dignity of work."

Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Jonathan J. Halperin at the Smart on Crime Innovations Conference at John Jay College (October 10, 2017, New York, NY)

Plenary Presentation: Greyston Bakery and Open Hiring

Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Jonathan J. Halperin gives Plenary Presentation at PRME Regional Meeting Agenda, College of Business and Economics, University of Guelph (October 19, 2017, Guelph, Ontario)

Businesses Doing Good (Online Registration)

Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Jonathan Halperin "Open Hiring at Greyston Bakery and Beyond" (October 19, 2017)

The Capitol Pressroom: A WCNY Radio Production

Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Jonathan J. Halperin discusses Greyston's Open Hiring (August 1, 2017)

Brownie-Makers Wanted, No Application Needed

Tuesday, July 18, 2017
“We don’t hire people to make brownies. We make brownies to hire people. As businesspeople, that means that we are people doing business, but the people part does have to come first.” Jonathan J. Halperin quoted in beyond (June 21, 2017)

Jonathan J. Halperin keynotes at the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit

Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Leaders, change agents and entrepreneurs from the business, academic, nonprofit and government sectors gather June 14-16 at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Greyston Social Enterprise — Using Inclusion to Generate Profits and Social Justice

Saturday, May 13, 2017
Today is the day we each need to decide: Do we want a society that is more inclusive or more exclusive? That is the question asked and answered by this small bakery with a great, big mission. (By Mike Brady, Chief Executive Officer & Jonathan J. Halperin, Head of External Affairs)

The Impact of Diversity, Inclusion & Equity in the Workplace

Saturday, May 13, 2017
Jonathan J. Halperin joins a panel to offer insights on what being an inclusive company means, why it matters and what you can do to bring diversity to your organization. (May 15; Washington, DC; Free, Registration Required)

Teach Food!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016
From an idea in a living room six years ago, Mundo Verde PCS has grown into a nurturing environment for 538 students in Washington, DC, with two buildings, cisterns, raised vegetable beds, and nearly 100 full-time staff. It is a school, yet so much more. Serving students from PreK – 4th grade, Mundo Verde is an Ashoka Changemaker School and recipient of the Secretary of Education’s Green Ribbon School award. I am honored to have been involved as a founding board member and now as designer and champion of the TeachFood! program.

Trust and Risk: A Key Challenge for Today’s Leaders

Thursday, March 31, 2016
Five years ago today, as the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown were still emerging, The New York Times published my letter observing that “trust comes not from repeated and paternalistic proclamations of success, but rather from the humble admission of mistakes followed by demonstrable changes in behavior and attitude.”

What Does Change Look Like?

Thursday, March 10, 2016
Across the American presidential campaign landscape, change might look like a neo-fascist with a toupee, a scrappy septuagenarian democratic socialist, or the familiar face of a woman who might become our first female president. Quite a spectacle we present to the world.

A Tough Year Is Ahead For Chipotle

Wednesday, January 6, 2016
"If Chipotle is going to continue to provide an alternative model to processed, industrial food, it needs to also be at the forefront of creating systems to support that new approach, such as offering its employees paid sick days. Chipotle and its customers are now paying the price for leadership not having made that connection for 20-years before offering paid sick-leave in 2015.” - Jonathan J. Halperin quoted in Forbes (January 6, 2016)

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Jerusalem

Jonathan reflects the best of social entrepreneurship. He leads with his heart but has connected with the great mass of political power and will in society.

Joseph McIntyre
Executive Director, Ag Innovations Network
more testimonials >

Jonathan J. Halperin's Vimeo Channel

 Jonathan J. Halperin Vimeo Channel