Ken Larson

Encore Fellow
Ken comes to the Sierra Business Council as an Encore Fellow (www.encore.org) working on the Green Communities Phase II Project.  Encore Fellows places retired business executives in non-profits for up to a year to bring together business and community interests.

Professional Experience

Ken worked for Hewlett Packard Company for over 25 years in a variety of roles including Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, California Region Government and Public Affairs Manager, Sacramento Area Public Affairs Manager and various roles in Human Resources including Human Resources Manager for several of HP’s businesses.

In these roles he was responsible for ensuring that HP’s business practices added to shareowner value as well as to appropriate, desired social value and environmental sustainability for customers, employees, partners and communities around the world. 

He worked with external stakeholders, including Socially Responsible Investors, NGOs and other interested parties to understand the emerging standards and expectations of corporations in the area of global citizenship and engaged with groups, public/ private/ industry based, to communicate HP’s positions and contribute to the discussion of the roles and responsibilities of corporations and others in this arena.

Ken managed HP’s Citizenship reporting processes for several years, including 2003 and 2004 when the HP Global Citizenship Report received the top honor for reporting from CERES.  He also drove the foundation of the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct association that developed a standard supplier standard and verification process.

Since retiring from Hewlett Packard in 2005 Ken has worked with companies, organizations and public entities to make their commitments to their employees and their communities clear, their strategies compelling, their programs effective and their reporting credible.  He also worked to ensure that these organization’s stakeholders were an integral and effective part of these efforts.

Education

Ken has a Master’s of Public Administration from UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Affairs from Occidental College. He completed a year of graduate study in social welfare at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. In addition he lived in Japan and traveled extensively through Southeast Asia.

Personal Highlights

Ken lives near Folsom Lake with his wife Marie, a retired Community College instructor and has served on many non-profit boards that strive to bring social, economic and environmental justice to people around the world.

Ken and Marie have two grown daughters and three grandchildren that they love to play with.  Camping, travel and gardening are top priorities.