Happy Spring From Bard MBA!
ebangood@bard.edu Unsubscribe
12:34 PM (1 hour ago)
to me
Bard MBA Community Newsletter | Spring 2022
Greetings from the Bard Community,
Spring has arrived on the Bard campus. We are looking forward to a joyous in-person graduation in May, welcoming this year’s graduating MBAs as well as alums from the Covid classes of 2020 and 2021.
With the daffodils opening and the evening songs of frogs returning, still, our media feeds remind us hourly both of the terrible suffering in Ukraine and the heroism of the people there in defense of freedom and democracy. What does this war mean for our work at the Bard MBA? Here are a few observations.
Putin’s invasion is another nail in the coffin for fossil fuels. High and volatile oil prices are powerful incentives for private actors to decarbonize. Europe’s resolve to decouple from Russian gas is growing stronger by the day.
The war is yet another evil manifestation of monopoly control over energy resources. This invasion is made possible by one man’s control over vast fossil fuel wealth. As renewables democratize access to energy globally, this corrupting force will wither.
Stakeholder capitalism has taken root. Global brands quickly pulled out of Russia. The shift in mindset of CEOs away from short-term profit to purpose led to this rapid business response.
Rethinking globalization. Covid revealed the limits of organizing global supply chains around rock bottom costs rather than resilience. The war– including the role China plays going forward– is highlighting political risks to business from globalization.
Refugees and racism. It is a very good and powerful thing that European nations have opened their doors millions of people who have fled Ukraine. At the same time, we must recognize the racism inherent in denying sanctuary to Muslims and Africans fleeing conflicts of similar horror. How can sustainable enterprise address and defuse this rising issue of refugees and racism that so dominates politics in countries across the world?
More on all these points in this post.
In the face of the momentous shifts in the global economy caused by war and Covid, the Bard MBA is building a community of business leaders working to create a better future: a world with less and less conflict, more and access to healthcare, more and more racial justice, and a stable climate.
In this newsletter, we celebrate the progress of our community during difficult times. Read below about the good work of our students, alums and faculty, and take inspiration for the journey ahead.
Best Wishes for the Spring,
Eban Goodstein
Send Potential NYCLab Consulting Clients Our Way
This year’s NYCLab request for proposals will go live in May, and we’d love to be in touch with potential clients. In this unique experiential course, our MBA students work with corporate, government and nonprofit organizations to solve sustainability-related business problems. We’re looking for substantive projects that will engage a student team for 7 months, from clients ranging from startups to established organizations. If you know a potential client, put them in touch with Director Eban Goodstein at ebangood@bard.edu.
Upcoming Events
- Friday, May 20 (evening) - Alumni Celebration for '20 and '21 classes
- Sunday, May 22 - Capstone Presentations and End of the Year Celebration
- Saturday, May 28 - Commencement (Bard College campus, Annandale NY)
Keep reading to see what our students, alumni, and faculty have been up to over the past year.
Bard MBAs Speak Out
On March 30, 2022 over 300 Colleges, Universities, High Schools and other organizations worldwide engaged over 30,000 people, as part of the WorldWide Teach-In on Climate and Justice. The global teach-in was spearheaded by Bard College’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability, supported by the Open Society University Network. Bard's own Teach-in on Climate and Justice event was a huge success and included a free low-carbon meal, a performance art dance called “Cranial Fracking” and multiple themed panels made up of more than 35 experts in various fields including Eban Goodstein, Randy Strickland, and Chelsea Mozen of the Bard MBA community. The work continues! Check out this page for resources on how you can advance climate justice.
The work of Chelsea Mozen (C1) was featured in Fortune Magazine: From intern to sustainability director: Chelsea Mozen’s journey at Etsy
Sonia Wright (C9) has an op-ed post on women in the construction industry, in the Hechinger Report: Women need more and better opportunities in the construction industry
Hector Aguirre (C10) assisted faculty member Kathy Hipple with a November 2021 publication: Poor Economics for Virgin Plastics: Petrochemicals Will Not Provide Sustainable Business Opportunities in Appalachia
Mo McCarthy (C7) wrote a thought leadership piece on sustainability reporting published by Harvard Law School forum on Corporate Governance: Sustainability Reporting: A Gap Between Words and Action
Simon Fischweicher (C3) was quoted in several recent articles:
- The Guardian: Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?
- Fortune: The world inches closer to ’alignment’ on global ESG standards
- Grist: Beyond greenwashing: How chain restaurants could actually address their climate pollution
- Utility Dive: Xcel, Dominion dispute global utility assessment, say they are on track to meet 1.5 degree climate target
- Business Insider: How a nonprofit is holding companies like Stanley Black & Decker accountable to sustainability goals using a ranking system
- Camila Leal Giraldo (C9) was quoted in a press feature by Spoiler Alert: Spoiler Alert Raises $11 Million to Accelerate Waste Prevention Efforts in the CPG Industry
Cory Skuldt (C5) has written:
- A Sustainable Brands article:How Sustainable Choices for Pet Parents Can Drive Industry Transformation
- A Corporate Citizenship Monthly Briefing: Circularity innovation and scale – opportunities to accelerate sustainability progress
MBA alum Aly Criscuolo (C6) has:
- Published a blog: Our Partners are Doing Their Part for Sustainability
- Discussed sustainability at New York Road Runners on a podcast: 'The How and Why of Running Sustainably'
- Co-authored an article for The Sustainability Report: Planetary health and human health: What Covid-19 can teach us about promoting sustainability
Bard MBAs Step Up
Congratulations to Cece Jacob, Lauren Ravert, Sabrina Holsborg, and Hung Tran (left to right) for winning the 2021 Disrupt to Sustain pitch competition! Their project, Undaria Seaweed Farms, looks to disrupt the cosmetics, palm oil, and plastic industries by producing seaweed oil extract and seaweed based bioplastic while supporting sustainable agriculture in coastal communities. Check out the full project page on Rebelbase here.
A Bard team consisting of Steph Lavallato, Lindsay Moreau, Delicia Nahman, and Leigh Anne Statuto (all C8s) won the 2021 Total Impact Portfolio Challenge (TIPC) case competition hosted by Wharton. More info here!
Aly Criscuolo (C6) Continues as Sustainability Lead at New York Road Runners, where she hosted Kat Malek-Hood (C9) as an EDF Climate Corps Fellow. Highlights of the past year include being honored as one of EDF’s “Generation Climate” Leaders and featured in EDF’s “Solutions” Magazine 2021 cover story; managing sustainability for the 2021 ESPY Awards & Sports Humanitarian Awards; joining the EDF Climate Corps Alumni Advisory Board; joining CSM & Sport Business Journal’s “Mentoring Challenge” which brings together ambitious women early in the careers in the sporting industry and top-level female executives who have been recognized as a Game Changer by Sports Business Journal; and judging Tata Consultancy Services’ Marathon Sustainability Challenge.
Treston Rudder (C10) and Hector Aguirre (C10) were selected as Emerging Leaders for Greenbiz 22, the premier annual event for sustainable business leaders.
Cory Skuldt (C5) presented on a panel at Circularity21, Habits and Hooks: Ensuring Consumer Engagement; as well as at a Sustainable Brands conference, Research Insights Series: Consumer Preferences and Behaviors
Bard MBA Student and Alumnae Professional Updates — Congratulations!
Mo McCarthy (C7) started a new job as an ESG Analyst at Royce Investment partners.
Beatrice Ajearo’s (C4) restaurant, Nneji, in Astoria, was just named by The New York Times as having one of the 10 best dishes in New York City for this year!
Hector Aguirre (C10) started a new job as a Senior Associate with Sustainalytics in March 2022.
Camila Leal Giraldo (C9) started working at Danone as a Senior Manager, Zero Waste in August 2021
From John Stallings (C7): “At my current consulting firm, Cloud for Good, I am stepping into a new role as the Program Manager of our newest initiative, Talent for Good (TFG). TFG is a paid apprenticeship, designed to help close the skills gap and launch Salesforce careers, via a comprehensive training and development program. TFG Analysts will gain valuable experience within consulting teams at Cloud for Good, and will progress into careers in consulting or as an in-house Salesforce professional with one of our clients in the nonprofit or higher education industries.”
Cory Skuldt (C5) was promoted to Director at Corporate Citizenship, and now leads their Strategy & Performance service line globally.
Sam Brundrett (C4) started a new job as Impact and Sustainability Manager at Etsy, focusing on operations sustainability and climate risk.
Lindsay Strange (C6) is now a Designer of Circular Capabilities and Acumen at Target, on their new Responsible Design team.
Katie Preissler (C9) Starting a new position as Regional Director, West Region at Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Jake Mitchell (C10) has accepted an offer with GreenBiz Group as their Startup Programs Manager.
From Melisa Baez (C6) - “What started off as a Capstone brain child is now a formal venture. I launched ELUME in the fall of 2021. We launched with our first product, a sustainably made Notebook made from repurposed stone. Currently working on the next phase, a service offering to assist entrepreneurs/social enterprises to utilize the journal to share their stories of impact.”
In October 2021, Rob Kimmich (C7) started a new role as Strategic Projects and Sustainability Manager at Siemens Financial Services - Americas. As part of a newly-created team, he’ll develop sustainability-linked loans and pay-per-use financing for capital equipment, among other initiatives.
Michelle Aboodi (C7) has accepted a new role as Global Sustainability Analytics Product Manager at Nike/Converse.
Kristin Hanczor (C6) is taking on a new position as Project Director, Sustainability, Energy and Climate change, with WSP USA.
Whitney Files (C2) is the new Chief executive Officer at Penobscot Bay YMCA in Rockport, Maine.
From Ian Edwards (C2) “In November 2021, we launched Bank of Nature as an environmental philosophy/design initiative and website to explore the role of a 'proxy for nature' in the society and economy. It's supported by a fellowship from Arizona State University. We put fiduciaries squarely in the climate crisis debate. Pensions alone are worth $35 trillion+ which is comparable to the cost of decarbonizing the planet. Every day and with every new hire, pensions push forward a 75-year promise that they will provide benefits until the 22nd Century. Instead, fiduciary money so far earns its financial minimums from speculative, short-term, extractive markets like Wall Street that are abstracted from a direct role in repairing nature. That makes fiduciary money complicit in financing the climate crisis and guilty of devaluing a dignified future that they promise retirees. Bank of Nature has an alternative 'safer path' financial model (and emerging tort law) to engage big fiduciary money and makes them the heroes of climate security.”
Bard MBA Faculty in Action
Kristina Kohl (Faculty in Sustainable Organizations) recently published a new book with CRC Press: Driving Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion. Release date January 28, 2022. Contributing members of the Bard community include Kathy Hipple, Giles Mesrobian, Caitlin O'Donnell, Roxi Sharif, and Cara Kiewel.
L. Hunter Lovins (Faculty in Principles of Sustainable Management)
- Created a suite of 12 videos of sustainability management lectures, now used at universities around the world. Gave 23 webinars reaching 57,000 people around the world. These included: Microgrid International, End Pandemics, Warsaw B Corp Summit, Food Summit Dialogues, Regenerative Coalition Convening, and Adventure Uncovered Wales.
- Chaired an Action Area for the UN Food Systems Summit / Helped launch United for Regeneration, and Regen10 at COP 26 at Glasgow / Served on the Transformational Economics Committee of the Club of Rome / Served on the Steering Committee for the Partners for a Planetary Emergency / Co-created and co-chaired the Colorado Regenerative Recovery Coalition.
- Wrote five articles/chapters including: “Regenerative Value Creation,” The Economics You Weren’t Taught in School for the new book, Thrive; “Crafting the Post-COVID World”, “Hedge Funds Versus Visionary Leaders”, “Future Food Systems: Challenges and consequences of the current food system.
Renay Loper (Faculty in Leadership)
Contributed a chapter on the topic of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in the book, People Economics: Defining and Measuring the True Value of Human Capital by Laura Queen, EdD.
Michael Shuman (Faculty in Mission-Driven Organizations; Capstone Advisor)
Main Street Journal – With support from the Heron Foundation, I launched a biweekly publication containing news and analysis on local investment. It currently has about 30 partner organizations and reaches 8,000 subscribers via Substack.
Local Investment 101 Workshops – Designed and led four deep-dive workshops (each series was 4-8 weeks) on local investment for practitioner networks in Alaska, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Washington State.
Native American Economic Development – Continued working with the Northwest Area Foundation to deliver economic-development assistance to the following reservations: Crow (MT), CSKT (MT), Fort Belknap (MT), Meskwaki (IA), Northern Cheyenne (MT), Rosebud Sioux (SD), and Warm Springs (OR).
“Main Street Can Fund Climate Action,” Newsweek, 19 August 2021 (with Mark Sommer).
“The Promise of a Million Utopias,” chapter in James Speth & Kathleen Courrier’s New Systems Reader (Routledge, 2021)
Aurora Winslade (Faculty in Leading Change In Organizations)
Recently launched the Change Leadership Development Program with participants from across North America in collaboration with the Association for the Advancement for Sustainability in Higher Education. It's a six-month 6-month, virtual, hands-on, cohort-based collaborative program that trains sustainability professionals in a diverse set of frameworks, tools, and models for leading organizational change and guides them through designing and implementing a change management project over the course of the program.
Stanford University, where Aurora is the Director of the Office of Sustainability, recently achieved the milestone of 100% renewable electricity.
John Holm (Faculty in Circular Value Chain Management)
Featured as the designer and lead of PYXERA Global's collaboration with the Harris School of Public Policy's Inter-Policy School Summit.
Conducting trainings for SAP's Open Circular Economy course.
Facilitated and designed a panel discussion, Inclusive Circular City Design: A Regenerative Roadmap, with panelists including John Elkington-Volans, Peter Perrault - Enel North America, Eva Gladek-Metabolic, and Bridget Croke-Closed Loop Partners.
Speaker for GreenBiz 22, Circularity 22, and Circular Cities Week 22
Did we miss something? Use this form to submit news items and updates to us for our press blog, social media, and future newsletters.
Get Engaged — Connecting
with Sustainability Experts
Our students and alums continue to have insightful conversations with sustainability leaders on The Impact Report podcast. Here are a couple of the latest reports to listen to:
Changing Behaviors in the Workplace with WeSpire
featuring Susan Hunt Stevens
Sustainability is Beautiful at Estee Lauder Companies
featuring Al Iannuzzi
Help us Find Future Leaders
As we recruit our next group of students to rewire the world with clean energy, re-imagine the global food system and reinvent finance, we invite you to be part of the process. Please let folks who want to be part of this work know how to apply to join us.
Best regards,
Bard MBA in Sustainability
| The text being discussed is available at
and
| |
