On Tuesday night Raymond Offenheiser, the president of Oxfam America, a non-profit organization that works to end global poverty, fosters fair trade, and provides disaster relief, among other humanitarian efforts, spoke with Boston College students and faculty. Offenheiser's lecture was one in a series presented by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics through the Chambers Lecture Series program. The series is designed to bring speakers to campus for the purpose of offering their experiences and views on ethical leadership to the undergraduate student body. The series is also open to the public.
Richard Keeley, associate dean of the Carroll School of Management, gave a brief overview of some of the interdisciplinary programs at BC that are founded on the study of leadership and ethics. He commented on the rapidity with which these programs have grown, saying, "So much good is going on, one might think there is a conspiracy afoot."
Keeley introduced Offenheiser, commenting that Oxfam is an organization that works for "just relations amongst men and women, and an end to exploitation."
Offenheiser said that he was pleased to have the opportunity to speak before the BC undergraduate population, and said that Oxfam places great importance upon "leadership, youth leadership, and ethics." Offenheiser spoke of the mission of Oxfam, and elaborated upon his personal experiences in the world of nonprofit enterprise and the importance of enthusiasm among concerned youth.
British citizens concerned with the plight of Greek refugees founded the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in 1942. Their scope has expanded somewhat over the years, but the mission has remained fundamentally the same: to uncover and remedy the root causes of poverty.
Speaking of this mission, Offenheiser said, "Poverty is a human invention caused by social structures and cultural norms." Oxfam is involved in a wide variety of programs and initiatives worldwide designed to combat poverty. The organization favors working on a local level, but incorporates dialogue on all levels in their efforts to eradicate poverty.
2008 Woodie Awards
