Jesus Salazar, CEO of Prosono

Jesus Salazar is a 2016 Young Leader and President and CEO of Prosono, a consulting firm that helps organizations drive results by uniting their business and social objectives.

How did you hear about the French-American Young Leaders program, and what made you want to get involved?

I heard about the program when the City of Denver (my hometown) hosted them. I was really impressed by the current class and its alumni. I was intrigued by the mission of FAF to build lasting relationships with leaders of France in the hopes that we find ways to collaborate and support one another as we progress through life and our careers. Due to my work, I have a broad background in business, the public sector, and not-for-profit work. I felt this perspective would be valuable to share with folks from both France and the US. In a time when international relations continue to be strained everywhere, I think organizations like FAF and the YL program are more important than ever.

What were some of the highlights of the Young Leaders seminars you’ve attended?

Getting to visit the EC and NATO in a single day was a profound day. It gave me a better grounding and appreciation of how my French colleagues perceive the effectiveness of the EC and the challenges it faces. Although all of the site visits we did were remarkable, I most enjoyed the thoughtful conversations that always ensued. Last year in San Francisco we received a stimulating lecture from one of Google’s chief scientists on Artificial Intelligence. It was a rare opportunity and one of the best lectures I’ve ever attended.

As the Co-Founder and President of Prosono, you help organizations drive results by uniting their business and social objectives. What made you decide to take on this role? Had you always been interested in corporate social innovation?

I’ve always been interested in doing my part to improve society. We live in a world full of scarcity… we don’t have the resources to feed everyone, shelter everyone, education everyone, or give them the dignity and rights that every human deserves. Having been a consultant for years and working on business strategy, I decided to focus my attention through a new lens… helping organizations find profitable and sustainable strategies that drive progress toward the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

I believe that consumer expectations are changing for businesses. Consumers are demanding that businesses create high performing products/services but also serve a higher societal purpose. We are building a company that helps organizations position themselves through their strategy, data and analytics capabilities, employee volunteerism programs, and societal-impact ecosystem to drive highly profitable UN SDG progress.

What do you find most rewarding about your consulting practice?    

That everything we do is accelerating achievement of the UN SDGs.

What are your future goals for Prosono?

We measure our own societal impact as a multiple of revenue. Our long-term vision is to carry a 5-1 dollar for dollar multiple.  This means for every dollar we take in from a customer, we would like to be able to point to $5 of societal-impact value. We would like to be nationally recognized and globally impactful.