Lead the Change

Key Takeaways

• Sustainability-focused professionals typically change minds through environmental education, change the rules through environmental policy, or change the game through sustainable business and innovation.
• Bard graduates hold leadership positions at top organizations, including Amalgamated Bank, NRDC, Target, and BSR.
• While entry-level roles can help you get your foot in the door, a sustainability-focused master’s degree can be a catalyst for long-term leadership, career pivots, or specialized expertise.
• Accelerate your sustainability job search by asking your network for informational interviews.
• Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability offer specialized master’s degrees to help you advance your career:
  • MEd in Environmental Education for teaching communities about climate issues and systemic injustice
  • MS in Environmental Policy or MS in Climate Science and Policy for policy and advocacy careers
  • MBA in Sustainability for mission-driven business leadership

The world desperately needs repair people. From climate change to biodiversity loss to gender inequity and crushing poverty, we are living at a time that is asking us to step up and help repair our ailing planet and our challenged communities.

Not everyone wants to do this kind of repair work; it’s challenging and often complex. But some people are motivated by exactly that kind of challenge and choose to build careers in sustainability. And if you're reading this, you're likely one of those people. If you want to build a future of shared well-being on a healthy planet, keep reading.

In this blog:

• Sustainability career paths: three ways forward
• Exploring careers in the sustainability field
  • Education
  • Policy
  • Business
• Alumni spotlights: What can I do with a sustainability-focused degree?
  • Emily Robichaux, Director of Climate Partnership Lending, Amalgamated Bank
  • Jackson Morris, Director of the State Power Sector at NRDC
  • Aviva Magder-Pascaris, School Programs Lead Instructor at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
  • Jarrid Green, Director, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR
  • Lindsey Strange, Designer of Circular Capabilities and Acumen, Responsible Design Team, Target
• Skills and education for a career in sustainability
• Networking and sustainability job search strategies
• Advance your sustainability career path at Bard

Sustainability career paths: three ways forward

The first step in your sustainability career journey is determining your own personal vision. Given your passion and skills, where do you see yourself contributing?

As it turns out, a significant portion of sustainability work falls into one of three major career paths:

1. Changing minds through environmental education
2. Changing the rules through policy
3. Changing the game through sustainable business

Take the Sustainability Focus Quiz

Exploring careers in the sustainability field

Within these three broad pathways, what do actual sustainability jobs look like?

Education

Education jobs where you can change minds include:

1. Environmental or social justice educator: In the US, environmental education is usually handled by non-profits, which deliver in-school, after-school, and summer programs that engage the rising 'screen generation' with the natural world outdoors and the key lessons of ecological literacy.

Policy

If you’re interested in changing the rules, you might consider:

1. Working in government: At the local, state, national, and international levels (through the UN and other organizations), sustainability jobs in government focus on passing and implementing laws and regulations to drive sustainable change. This can include sustainability careers in environmental law, urban planning, and conservation work in parks and wilderness areas.
2. Working in non-profits: Here, you are employed outside the system, educating, advocating, and lobbying to change the rules in government or in business. Organizations like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club have helped pass government laws that drive clean energy adoption and have pressured businesses to change their practices (e.g., working to get big banks to stop lending for new fossil fuel projects).

Business

Business opportunities to protect the planet are most typically found in resource-intensive sectors like renewable energy and climate, clean transport, sustainable fashion, regenerative food systems, green building, and clean water, as a few examples, but also in industries that drive their transformation, like sustainable finance and ESG data services. On the human-centered side, the jobs tend to focus on supporting people and equity in the workplace.

Very basically, there are three types of sustainable business jobs:

1. Entrepreneurs start new sustainable businesses or non-profits focused directly on solving environmental or social problems.
2. Intrapreneurs are change agents within an existing company or organization, helping businesses adopt green practices or achieve justice objectives. Some job titles include, but are not limited to, Corporate Social Responsibility Director, Sustainable Supply Chain Manager, or Chief Sustainability Officer.
3. Consultants are hired by other companies or non-profits to provide guidance on how their organizations can be more sustainable. Dedicated sustainability consulting companies like BSR provide these services, but increasingly, mainstream consulting companies like E&Y and KPMG are also offering sustainability consulting.

As you can see, sustainability jobs vary across industries and pathways, but they all have one attribute in common: they allow you to collaborate with others to protect the planet and each other.

Alumni spotlights: What can I do with a sustainability-focused degree?

Emily Robichaux, Director of Climate Partnership Lending, Amalgamated Bank

After earning her MBA in Sustainability from Bard, Emily Robichaux built a career at the intersection of climate finance, community development, and clean energy investment. She’s helped expand access to community solar projects and led climate initiatives for a national network of community development financial institutions; she has consistently focused on using finance to accelerate the clean energy transition.

Today, as Director of Climate Partnership Lending at Amalgamated Bank, Emily originates climate and community impact loans, supports partnerships with green banks and community lenders, and helps mobilize capital for renewable energy and affordable housing projects.

How did she get there? By combining expertise in finance with a deep understanding of sustainability.

As investment in clean energy, climate resilience, and community development continues to grow, organizations need professionals who can structure deals, build partnerships, and move capital toward projects with measurable environmental and social impact. Emily's career is one example of how sustainability graduates are helping shape the future of finance.

Jackson Morris, Director of the State Power Sector at NRDC

Jackson's career began with a sustainability internship during graduate school, which opened the door to his first role in energy and climate policy. From there, he joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and worked his way into government affairs, collaborating with state and federal policymakers on climate and clean energy legislation.

One example of his work came during the Biden Administration, when he advocated with legislators as Congress developed the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest federal investment in clean energy and climate action in U.S. history. Jackson's career highlights how sustainability professionals can help shape the policies that drive large-scale environmental change.

Aviva Magder-Pascaris, School Programs Lead Instructor at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

After earning her M.Ed. in Environmental Education from Bard, Aviva Magder-Pascaris built a career connecting young people with the natural world through hands-on learning. Today, she leads educational programs for visiting school groups at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where students explore plants, ecology, and environmental stewardship through direct experiences in the Garden.

In addition to teaching, Aviva trains and mentors fellow educators, helping ensure that thousands of students each year experience engaging, inquiry-based environmental education.

Her career demonstrates that environmental educators aren't limited to traditional classrooms. From botanical gardens and nature centers to parks, museums, and nonprofit organizations, sustainability graduates help inspire the next generation of environmental stewards in communities across the country.

Jarrid Green, Director, Human Rights and Inclusive Business, BSR

Jarrid's journey to becoming a sustainability strategy consultant began with post-college work in the nonprofit and public policy world, where he conducted research and developed initiatives focused on community development, racial equity, climate, and public health. Returning to grad school for an MBA in Sustainability helped him develop the experience and skills to transition to advising businesses and non-profits on how to make progress toward their environmental and social sustainability goals.

Lindsey Strange, Designer of Circular Capabilities and Acumen, Responsible Design Team, Target

Lindsey's first career was in fashion as a designer and then a fashion design teacher. Her passion for sustainability led her to earn a green MBA, where she gained expertise in circular business models and sustainable supply chains. That expertise proved to be well-timed. As major fashion brands invest in circularity and move away from the destructive "fast fashion" paradigm, Lindsey's experience and graduate training positioned her for a career helping reshape the industry.

Skills and education for a career in sustainability

Emily, Jackson, Aviva, Jarrid, and Lindsey work in very different industries, each requiring specialized skills. And yet, there are core skills that led them to success in sustainability careers: problem-solving, systems thinking, collaboration, adaptability, and excellent communication skills. If you have these skills, then you have the foundation for a sustainability career.

Sustainability is a growing field, and you don't need a master's degree to get started. There are plenty of entry-level opportunities in environmental and climate policy, environmental education, sustainable business, nonprofits, and government. Programs like AmeriCorps can also be a great way—especially for recent college graduates—to gain hands-on experience, build your network, and figure out which part of the field excites you most.

But if you're looking to build a long-term career in sustainability, a graduate degree can help you get there faster. Whether your goal is to move into leadership, switch careers, or develop specialized expertise, the right program should give you more than classroom knowledge. Look for opportunities to gain real-world experience through internships, consulting projects, fieldwork, or capstone projects so you graduate with both a degree and a stronger résumé.

Networking and sustainability job search strategies

Whether you have an advanced degree or not, finding or changing jobs requires time and energy spent networking, polishing your resume and LinkedIn profile, and applying to several jobs.

Networking and job searching can seem mysterious to people just getting started, so here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Reach out to people in your professional and personal circles to share what kind of work opportunities you’re looking for. They may know people you can talk to.
• Ask for informational interviews from both people you know and people you find on LinkedIn. When you meet, actively listen and discuss your career vision and passions. Be authentic and share a personal story that shows your commitment to sustainability and leadership.
• Make sure your resume and LinkedIn profile clearly convey your strengths and interests. You could look up examples online, reach out to your network, or go to your college’s career center for help refining your personal brand and job search materials. And don’t overlook the “small” things; typos and formatting errors are often why resumes get thrown out.

Remember: if you struggled to find resources for building careers in sustainability, others most likely are, too. Pay it forward; share what you learn with your network, as well.

Advance your sustainability career path at Bard

Climate change, social inequity, species extinction, extreme poverty, water pollution—these are the forces that are shaping this century.

If you're ready to build a career addressing these challenges, Bard's Graduate Programs in Sustainability can help you take the next step. You'll join a community of students, faculty, and alumni committed to creating practical solutions through policy, business, climate science, and environmental education—and graduate prepared to lead meaningful change.

Request more information about the sustainability master's programs at Bard or download the Career Guide to Jobs in Sustainability to learn more!