Bridging Worlds: Business, Development and Politics
Join us for a special event with Chris Coghlan, LBS MIF 2012, co-founder of the Grow Movement and current Member of the UK Parliament for Dorking and Horley. The conversation will be moderated by Rajesh Chandy, Professor of Marketing, Tony and Maureen Wheeler Chair of Entrepreneurship and Co-Academic Director of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at LBS. The event is a collaboration with the LBS Social Impact Club and will have the participation of Paolo Surico, Professor of Economics at LBS and will be hosted by Sergei Guriev, Professor of Economics and Dean of London Business School.
The event will be a two-part conversation with Chris on his remarkable journey—from mentoring entrepreneurs in some of the world’s poorest communities to influencing policy at the heart of the UK government. His story is a powerful example of how ideas from the classroom can shape lives, livelihoods, and legislation.
In the first part of the event, we explore Chris’s work with the Grow Movement, a global initiative that has empowered thousands of entrepreneurs through remote coaching, and its long-standing collaboration with LBS. We’ll reflect on how LBS students, alumni, and faculty have contributed to this mission—showcasing the power of experiential learning, global business education, and inclusive innovation.
In the second half, we will shift to Chris’s current role in Parliament, where he is helping bring business school research into the policymaking arena. He will be joined by Paolo Surico, Professor of Economics at LBS, to discuss how academic insights—on topics like defence spending, productivity, and innovation—are shaping national economic strategies.
Whether you’re passionate about entrepreneurship, business as a force for good, interested in a career in public service, or curious about how research turns into real-world change, this event offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at leadership across sectors.
Be part of this inspiring discussion at the intersection of business, development, and policy—and see how one individual’s journey continues to connect and transform worlds.
This event is part of a new series called Journeys, which will invite and provide a spotlight on inspiring guests and personalities that pursued impact-driven business careers.
Date/Time: 1st May 2025, 5pm BST
Location: London Business School, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4SA [room will be publicised soon]
Chris Coghlan, LBS alum MIF 2012, is an elected UK Parliament for Dorking and Horley and founder of the Grow Movement, a non-profit providing business skills training to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Rwanda. Throughout his career, Chris worked at the intersection of business and international politics, from being an officer in the army reserve, an election observer for the EU in Ukraine and DR Congo and accountant and investment manager for an emerging markets hedge fund.
The Grow Movement is the subject of a three-year randomised control trial of 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs in Uganda by London Business School, Stanford Business School and Chicago Booth. Since 2009, the charity has improved the lives of more than 50,000 people in the poorest communities on earth. In recognition of this, Chris Coghlan was awarded the LBS Gold 2018 Graduate of the Last Decade Award. His long-term collaboration with the Wheeler Institute and LBS has allowed Chris to further engage with social, economic and environmental causes and has inspired our students to pursuit impact driven careers.
Rajesh Chandy is Professor of Marketing and the Tony and Maureen Wheeler Chair in Entrepreneurship at London Business School, where he is also the Academic Director of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development. Rajesh’s current research lies at the intersection of business and development. His recent projects have covered the impact of business skills among micro-entrepreneurs in South Africa, novel financing approaches in Ghana, property rights in slums in Egypt, innovation among farmers in India, highways and private education expenditures in India, and using big data for development outcomes.
Rajesh is a member of the advisory board of the Journal of Marketing and a Co-Editor of the journal’s special issue on “Better Marketing for a Better World”. He is also co-editor of the Management Science special issue on “Business and Climate Change,” and previously served as an Area Editor for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation area at Management Science. His research and publications have received several awards, including the Mahajan Award for Lifetime Contributions to Marketing Strategy Research.
Paolo Surico is Professor of Economics at London Business School, fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, research associate at the London School of Economics Centre for Macroeconomics and research consultant to several international policy institutions and central banks, such as the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, and previously at the IMF and the European Central Bank. Before joining London Business School in 2009, he was Advisor of the External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.
Paolo Surico’s expertise lays at the intersection of macroeconomics and finance with particular emphasis on monetary and fiscal policy, housing and mortgage markets. His recent work focuses on assessing the aggregate effects and distributional impact of conventional and unconventional monetary policies as well as tax reforms and government spending, giving particular emphasis to the role played by household and corporate debt in the transmission mechanism of macroeconomic policies and shocks
The Social Impact Club
The Social Impact Club is one of the largest student clubs at LBS with the goal to support the development of students in becoming socially responsible business leaders by providing educational, experiential, professional, and networking opportunities to the LBS community.
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