Values-Based Banking Mel King Community Fellows: 2015
Participants of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values in Paris, France. Photo by Alain Bujak.
Background
The CoLab Mel King Community Fellows program builds upon a 40-year tradition of bridging practice-based knowledge and academic research. Dedicated to the legacy of Mel King, a still-active champion of cities and the communities they comprise, the program originally provided fellows with a year-long sabbatical at MIT to reflect, conduct research, acquire new skills, and build upon their existing networks.
Values-Based Banking Cohort
This cohort of Mel King Community Fellows is focused on the field of Values Based Banking. Values-based banks operate and innovate within the so-called “real economy”. They avoid speculation and derivatives and work to better serve their members, the planet, and the communities in which they operate. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the demand has grown for banks and financial institutions that operate under this triple-bottom-line philosophy. However, the business model is being challenged by new entrants into the banking market, low interest rates, and new regulations designed to reign in larger banks.
MOOC on Values Based Banking
The Fellows are focused on building materials and opportunities for knowledge sharing and leadership development in the field of values based banking. In collaboration with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values, the fellows co-facilitated an 18-month course on leadership in values-based banking for mid-career professionals from across the GABV.
They also developed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on values-based banking. The goal of the MOOC, “Banking as if Society Mattered”, is to facilitate knowledge sharing and network building within the values-based banking community as well as to disseminate information about values-driven financial models to organizations, individuals, and communities around the world. The MOOC takes a critical look at the core tenants of values based banking, drawing on theory, real-world cases, and interviews with leaders in the field.
The MOOC, now complete, can now be found here on edX.