Earvin “Magic” Johnson will be among the speakers participating in an Earth Day Summit in Irvine.
Sodexo, a global food services company that runs chow lines everywhere from military bases to UC campuses, is bringing together local farmers, leaders and “forward thinkers” Wednesday, April 22, at Park Place, 3337 Michelson Drive, Irvine.
Johnson, the former Lakers star who spun a Hall of Fame NBA career and bout with HIV disease into a successful second life as an urban entrepreneur and AIDS relief advocate, is scheduled to discuss his philosophy of
serving ethnically diverse communities and commitment to responsible corporate citizenship from 3 to
3:45 p.m. In addition to chairing Magic Johnson Enterprises and the Magic Johnson Foundation, he is president of SodexoMAGIC, LLC.
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Arlin Wasserman, Sodexo's vice president for Corporate
Citizenship, immediately follows Johnson to “share the company's
strategic initiatives to increase the benefits
to people and planet from innovations in food service and facilities
management.”
Earlier this week, Sodexo was named one of the world's most ethical companies.
The Earth Day Summit is part of its corporate commitment to help reduce
the overall carbon footprint, energy use and water consumption while
controlling costs and developing the thousands of communities the
company serves by 2015.
The Irvine event begins at 2 p.m. Other speakers include: Joel Makower, the “guru of green business practices,” making a case for corporations to adopt environmental
strategies that spell business success; Mai Pham, chef/owner of Lemon Grass Restaurant,
Lemon Grass Asian Grill and Noodle Bar and the newly opened Star
Ginger, hosting a special food-and-taste demonstration; and representatives from Kenter Canyon Farms and Underwood Family Farms, family growers of fruits and vegetables in Ventura County, discussing sustainable farming. A reception follows at 4:30 p.m.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.