Leaders in Sustainable Global Enterprise - Doug Beal ('89), Partner and Director, Sustainable Financial Institutions, Finance, and Investing at BCG

Doug Beal

Partner and Director, Sustainable Financial Institutions, Finance, and Investing

BCG

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-beal-6ab451/

Douglas Beal is a Global Director in Social Impact at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He has 24 years experience working with private, public and philanthropic organizations to create scalable and sustainable solutions to the world's most pressing problems.   Doug brings a global perspective, having lived for two decades in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and has worked with clients in over 25 countries.  

As a leader of BCG's Total Societal Impact initiative, Doug works with large corporations to leverage their core capabilities to create positive social and environmental impact.   In particular, he focuses on ensuring positive benefits are re-captured into the company – in the form of direct financial benefits but also through access to new markets, innovation, employee engagement, improved government and public relations and ultimately better long term shareholder returns.   Strategies include optimizing goal setting and measurement around a company's most material environmental, social and governance issues, and how best to communicate to the investor community.

Doug also advises the investment community – including impact investors, development finance institutions, and "traditional" investors – on their own strategies and operating models to ensure measurable social impact with their portfolios.

Doug is now embarking on a global effort, partnering with an international organization, to engage multiple stakeholders (investors, corporations, regulators, ESG standard setters) to define and recommend a global configuration for ESG reporting standards by industry. 

For 5 years Doug was the global leader of BCG's Economic Development Topic Area where he worked with national, regional and local governments and civic leaders in Europe, Middle East and Africa on holistic development strategies.   An important component of these strategies included the role of the private sector and philanthropic organizations. 

In 2012 Doug created BCG's Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA), which has provided a modern day compass for government leaders to determine their national priorities.   It is based on the belief that overall wellbeing of populations, not just GDP growth, should be the ultimate goal of leaders.   Doug has also used SEDA with private and philanthropic organizations to guide their own role in improving wellbeing.  SEDA 2016 focused on the financial services sector and demonstrated the linkage between financial inclusion and wellbeing.

From 2005 to 2008 Doug led BCG's financial institutions practice in Greater China.

Doug has worked with many international development organizations, NGO's and venture philanthropists on their own strategies and capabilities and has built several foundations.   Doug is on the board of directors of Save the Children Hong Kong.  

Throughout his career Doug has contributed frequently to the global media including The Financial Times, Huffington Post, The Hill and recently did a TED talk on the topic of wellbeing.  

Doug has an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.