Entrepreneur Jay Coen Gilbert to Deliver Keynote at Annual Institute for Honor Symposium This year’s symposium will take place March 20-21 and address the intersection of corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs
March 13, 2026

Washington and Lee University’s annual Institute for Honor Symposium, this year titled “Business as a Force for Good,” will take place Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21.

Registration is required and includes all receptions, meals and events for the weekend.

This is the first year the Institute for Honor will be organized and executed by Megan Hess, Class of 1960 Professor of Ethics and Accounting at W&L, whose careful thinking about honor, civility and integrity comes from not only her status as a W&L alumna (Class of 1997), but from her time as an investigator into corporate fraud and an educator of business ethics in the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics.

This year’s symposium will consider how business can be a force for good for society through the lens of the conscious capitalism movement, which has spurred the development of innovations and business models that foster ethical and profitable business growth. Symposium participants will learn about the key principles of this movement and how entrepreneurs and other business leaders are using markets to bring positive social impact to scale.

The keynote address will be a fireside chat with Jay Coen Gilbert, entrepreneur and co-founder of B Lab, at 5:10 p.m. on March 20 in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library, following opening remarks from James Lambert, director of Lifelong Learning, and Hess at 5 p.m. Entrance into Northen Auditorium, located on the first floor of Leyburn Library, will begin at 4:30 p.m.

B Lab is a nonprofit organization that seeks to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet. It is best known for empowering participating organizations to advertise themselves as certified B-Corps after they meet high standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. This certification allows business owners to signal their commitment to ethical business practices and for buyers to better align their spending with their values.

Prior to B Lab, Gilbert co-founded AND 1, a basketball footwear and apparel company, where he led product and marketing and served as chief executive officer. He currently serves as executive co-chair of Imperative 21, a cross-sector coalition focused on redesigning economic systems to create value for all stakeholders, and he is also a co-founder of White Men for Racial Justice, reflecting his commitment to anti-racism work. Along with his B Lab co-founders, Gilbert is a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the McNulty Prize at the Aspen Institute, where he is a Henry Crown Fellow.

The symposium will also include panel discussions on March 21 that build upon Gilbert’s address and its themes of B-Corps and the conscious capitalism movement. Drew Hess, the Ehrick Kilner Haight Sr. Term Professor of Business Administration and the associate provost for academic development and operations, and Joel Adams, assistant professor of business administration, will continue the discussion of whether business can be a force for good in a “Liberating Ideas” debate. Emily Landry, assistant professor of business administration, and Matt Paxton, publisher of the News-Gazette in Lexington, will share “Lessons from the Field” and discuss local B-Corps activities.

The Institute for Honor Symposium is also held in conjunction with this year’s Entrepreneurship Summit. The summit, an initiative co-hosted by the Office of Alumni and Career Services and the Connolly Center for Entrepreneurship, is a two-day event designed to encourage innovative business ideas and strategies, while providing the perfect opportunity to connect, learn and grow participants’ entrepreneurial spirit.

A full schedule of the symposium’s events is available online.

Established in 2000 at W&L by a generous endowment from the Class of 1960, the Institute for Honor includes an array of initiatives and specific programs designed to promote the understanding and practice of honor as an indispensable element of society. The Institute for Honor Symposium is dedicated to the advocacy of honor as the core value in personal, professional, business and community relations. For more information or to register for the entire program, please contact W&L’s Office of Lifelong Learning (lifelong@wlu.edu) or call 540-458-8916.