MBA in Sustainability Fall 2020 Newsletter

Looking Forward to a

Sustainable Recovery

Over this past Covid year, every-day people across the world have made countless sacrifices to protect each other. While much press attention has focused on the failure to wear masks by irresponsible politicians and some of their angry followers, the vast majority of individuals have paid tremendous costs to protect their family members, friends and neighbors. Lay this beside the dedication and heroism of front-line workers in health care, primary education, food and other services who put their lives at risk daily, and this collective care for each other in every city and town on this planet has been a win for the human side of humanity.

We need to keep this incredible feat in mind, as we also consider the other crises that this past year brought -- record-breaking fires, hurricanes, and storms that bring regions to a standstill; deepening challenges to democracy fueled by the unifying power of conspiracy theory; and ongoing revelations of brutal systemic racism. In 2020, we left the false stability of the 20th century firmly behind. The sustainability challenges we have been foreseeing are now with us and gathering force. In the years ahead, it is our responsibility to build businesses, create policies, and open minds to enable a just, and ultimately, finer future.

Thankfully, sustainability solutions have not taken a break throughout the pandemic. China committed to building a carbon neutral economy; Tesla surpassed Exxon in market value; solar and battery prices continued to plummet while GM committed to an all-electric fleet by 2035. American Democracy stepped back from the brink, with an increasing recognition of the need for big structural, political change; and parts of American society entered yet another period of reckoning with racial injustice. As the economy opens back up, there will be opportunities for you all to radically reimagine what business can accomplish.

At the Bard MBA, we came together as seamlessly as possible to move to an online format, and I want to deeply thank everyone for all the work that has gone into sustaining not just the quality of our education, but also the strength of our community. We also received the affirming year-end news that the Princeton Review had named Bard the #1 Green MBA, along with ranking the program among the top 10 for the Best MBAs for Nonprofit (alongside Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and Columbia). Going forward, I am confident that Bard graduates will be leaders not in a return to normal, but in building
a better world.

We are happy to share the amazing work of our community over this last year and look forward to the work we are all doing to create a more just, sustainable future.

Best,
Eban Goodstein
Director, Bard MBA

Keep reading to see what our students, alumni, and faculty have been up to over the past year.

Skip to the section:

• Bard MBAs Speak Out 
• Bard MBAs Step Up 
• Bard MBA Student and Alumnae Professional Updates—Congratulations!
• MBA Faculty in Action
• Get Engaged—Connecting with Sustainability Experts

Bard MBAs Speak Out

• As the executive director of IMPACCT Brooklyn, Bernell Grier ‘15 shared a recent press release regarding funding from Robin Hood, the largest poverty-fighting organization in NYC.
• Nicole Pamani ‘20 recently interviewed Dan Linsky, the Vice President of Voluntary Markets and Leader of the Transaction Team at ClimeCo for her talk show. Watch the interview here, or read more about it on her blog.
• Cahoots, co-founded by Stephanie Erwin ‘20, Eliza Edge '20 and Lindsey Strange '19, was featured in both the Hudson Valley Magazine and the Hudson Valley One. 

• Alistair Hall ‘18 recently had two articles published — KPMG Whitepaper on Digitization and Decarbonization and an article on Utilities and Covid-19. 

• Emily Robichaux ‘18 spoke at the Montgomery County Energy Summit.

• Alexandra Criscuolo ‘19 co-wrote an article: "Planetary Health and Human Health: What Covid-19 Can Teach us About Promoting Sustainability" that was published in The Sustainability Report.

• PJ Connolly ‘21 and Kiana Cardwell ‘21 recently became partners of Just Capital Quotient, which was featured in an episode of The Robcast in November.

Bard MBAs Step Up

• In March, Cynthia Wasser ‘18 was recognized by ProBuilder on their "40 under 40" list as a rising star within the homebuilding industry.
• Michelle Aboodi ‘21 was selected as a participant in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation from Linear to Circular Programme. She has also been working with a global team on a circular business solution for a nonprofit organization which supports cultural institutions with tools to educate the public on all issues connected with sustainability.

• In February 2020, Stephanie Lavallato ‘21 led a panel at GreenBiz20 in Phoenix on how environmental data is used by the financial sector.

• In September, Maddison Shropshire ‘23 started a new service position with Vermont ECO AmeriCorps as the Water Quality Planner for the Addison County Planning Commission.
• Summer Sustainability Fellow for Just Salad, Leigh Anne Statuto ‘22, published her article “Counting Carbon: Fighting Climate Change One Salad At A Time” in Climate Week NYC. Leigh Anne is also in the process of calculating the carbon emissions for a UN Cookbook that has yet to be released.

Bard MBA Student and Alumnae Professional Updates — Congratulations!

• Curtis Columbare ‘17 was promoted to Manager - EHS Management Consulting, Upstate NY at AECOM.
• In January 2021, Maureen McCarthy ‘20 assumed a new role as the sector specialist in electrical equipment at the Institutional Shareholder Services.
• Sara Hicks ‘19 recently transitioned into the role of Accountant at Scenic Hudson Inc.
• At the end of November, Savannah Parsons ‘20 started a new job as Senior Management Consultant at Credera.
• Carolyn Pincus ‘20 accepted a new role at the American Sustainable Business Council as the Director of Strategy.
• Tessa Rainbolt ‘21 took on a Sustainability Fellowship position at Just Salad and has been working with them on their carbon labeling initiative and strategy.
• During the pandemic, Miles Crettien ‘15 opened up his own restaurant “Lunch Nightly” in Kingston, New York.
• In July, Robert Ransick ‘14 was appointed to be Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
• In October, Alistair Hall ‘18 was promoted to Senior Associate at KPMG.
• Cameron Patterson ‘22 started a new position as Developer Officer for GRID Alternatives in Colorado where he focuses on building partnerships with Corporate and Individual sponsorships.
• In January 2020, Whitney Files ‘15 joined the board of The Apprenticeshop in Rockland, Maine.
• Over the summer, Jennifer Shelbo ‘17 accepted a position with Flow Cannabis Co as the Packaging Inventory and Procurement Manager.
• Emily Robichaux ‘18 was promoted to CFO at Groundswell, Inc. in September.

Bard MBA Faculty in Action

• In June, Sustaining Mission faculty member Michael Shuman published his new book Put Your Money Where Your Life Is: How to Invest Locally Using Self-Directed IRAs and Solo 401ks. Since then, he has done about 20 business-related podcasts and has given virtual talks throughout the nation. Along with a colleague in Australia, Michael put on a series of webinars on “The New Local” that involved 1,300 people from around the world.

• Gautam Sethi, Fall 2020 MBA Economics Faculty Member, recently delivered two research talks at the prestigious iEMSs conference based on work he did with recent CEP alums: 
  • Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier: Assessing Conflict Risk in Uganda
    (with Rachel Dunn, MS '20)
  • Peddling Influence: Estimating the Impact of Lobbying on Congressional Voting Behavior and Environmental Policy (with Iyla Shornstein, MS/MBA '19)
• In November, Circular Value Chain Management professor John Holm convened a panel, “Enabling Best of Class Circular Partnerships “ for the Association of Supply Chain Management Connect+ Conference. This panel included James George of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Ian Rosenberger, Founder and CEO of First Mile; and Deborah Dull, Principal of Manufacturing Process Management at GE Digital. He also convened the panel “Circular Cities in the Urban Environment” at GreenBiz VERGE. In December, John Holm also participated in a LinkedIn Live Interview with the founder and CEO of Soul Buffalo to discuss PYXERA Global’s strategy in convening, designing, and enabling inclusive circular economies. 

• Employees and Organizations professor Kristina Kohl is writing a new book for CRC Press entitled Driving Transformative and Equitable Change to Build Inclusive Organizations. Several members of the Bard community are also contributors to the book. In addition, Kristina also received the Beacon ICON Award for her work in championing women in business.

• The ninth edition of Bard MBA Director Eban Goodstein’s college textbook, Economics and the Environment, was published this fall by Wiley.

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 upcoming reports to look forward to: 

Additionally, we continue to hosts our Building a Career in Sustainability Career Panel series. You can find the recordings from previous webinars here, and we would love for you to join us at our future webinars!

Building a Career in Sustainability:
Tips from Advocacy & Lobbying Leaders

Wednesday, March 24, 2021
6:30 - 7:30pm EST

Building a Career in Sustainability:
Advice from Supply Chain Experts

Wednesday, April 21, 2021
6:30 - 7:30pm EST