2023 Ethics and Water Symposium

About the Event

The MSU’s Ethics Initiative and the Broad College of Business Center for Ethical and Socially Responsible Leadership, with support from the Office of Research and Innovation and the Office of International Studies and Programs, partnered with True Elements to host The Ethics and Water Symposium on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Together, they explored how C-Suite and Government leaders can tackle water management challenges while creating new opportunities.

The symposium was dynamic and multi-faceted, much like water itself. It opened with keynote speaker Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha, Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice (GP), who discussed the human aspect of water from an ethical lens. Following Mr. Jha, scholars from the MSU community delivered flash talks to provide an overview of their research and work in water. After lunch, the symposium explored the role of water in sustainability, featuring a panel of experts. Then, True Elements shared how their organization utilizes state-of-the-art scientific and AI capabilities to translate water’s complex, multi-dimensional and interrelationships into clearly understandable patterns and scores for reliable analysis, forecasting, and informed decision-making. Lastly, the event closed with a panel of MSU experts highlighting how people with vastly different backgrounds can work together to address water challenges.

 

Keynote

Saroj Kumar Jha - Global Director, Water Global Practice

World Bank

Mr. Saroj Kumar Jha is the Global Director for the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice (GP). In his current assignment, Mr. Jha is a core member of the GP’s senior management team, which drives the policy direction of the GP, oversees a portfolio of $24 billion in water-related investments, analytical work, multi-donor trust funds and global partnerships. Mr. Jha supports an integrated approach to water security and inclusive service delivery, accelerated climate action and food security through Bank’s Global Water Strategy, and providing policy advice and operational support in response to specific country needs.

Before this appointment, Mr. Jha was World Bank’s Regional Director of the Middle East Department, Senior Director for the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Global Practice at the World Bank Group, the World Bank’s Regional Director for Central Asia based in Almaty. In addition, Mr. Jha served as the Bank’s Global Manager for the Disaster Risk Management Practice and as Head of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), which he founded in 2006.

Mr. Jha, an Indian national, joined the World Bank in 2005 as a Senior Infrastructure Specialist in the Sustainable Development Network, after working for the Government of India (1990-2005) and United Nations agencies (1999-2004) as a senior executive in the field of public sector management, infrastructure financing, natural resources management, natural disaster prevention, and environmental sustainability.

Saroj Kumar Jha

Panelists

Eunice Heath

CRH Corporation

Eric Homberger

True Elements

Jerry Johnston

Deloitte

Janice Beecher

Panel Moderator - MSU Political Science

MSU Speakers

Provost Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D.

Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko, Ph.D.

Interim Dean Judith Whipple, Ph.D.

Broad College of Business

Faculty Director Sriram Narayanan

Broad College of Business, Center for Ethical and Socially Responsible Leadership

2023 Ethics and Water Symposium Committee

Douglas Buhler, Associate Vice President for Food, Environment, and International Programs, Office of Research and Innovation

Jenny Carter-Johnson, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Law

Elizabeth Hammond, Managing Director for the Center for Ethical and Responsible Leadership, Broad Business College

Melanie Kauffman, Senior Communications Manager, Office of Research and Innovation

Bree Holtz, 2022 ComArtSci Brandt Fellowship for Faculty Excellence, Associate Professor, Department. of Advertising & PR, Strategic Organization Structure Project Director for Ethics Initiative, College of Communication Arts & Sciences and Office of the Provost

Anastasia Lesage, Project Manager for the Ethics Initiative, Office of the Provost

Sriram Narayanan, Faculty Director of the Center for Ethical and Responsible Leadership, Kesseler Family Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Supply Chain Management, Broad College of Business