What does a career in sustainability actually look like? The answer might surprise you.
From environmental education and sustainable finance to business and climate solutions, green jobs span industries, disciplines, and skill sets. But for people interested in entering the field, it isn't always easy to picture what these careers look like in practice—or how to get started.
That's why the Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability (Bard GPS) partnered with Brown Girl Green and Green Jobs Board to launch The Green Jobs Show, a five-part video series exploring the people, careers, and possibilities shaping the future of sustainability.
What Kinds of Green Jobs Are Out There?
Hosted by environmental educator and climate advocate Kristy Drutman, founder of Brown Girl Green and Green Jobs Board, The Green Jobs Show takes viewers beyond job titles and descriptions to see what sustainability professionals actually do.
Throughout the series, Kristy spends time with Bard GPS alumni in their workplaces, learning about their day-to-day responsibilities, the challenges they're tackling, and the paths that brought them into the field.
The goal? To make green careers more visible, accessible, and relatable to anyone curious about working in sustainability.
"What this series showed me is that green jobs don't fit in one box," Kristy shared. "Across five episodes, I met alumni working as environmental educators, in sustainable finance, and in business, and no two paths looked the same."
Rather than focusing on a single definition of a green job, the series highlights the diversity of roles and experiences that make up the growing sustainability workforce.
"There were different roles, different specialties, and different routes in," Kristy continued. "Hearing them tell it themselves made the field feel bigger and more welcome than any job description could."
Bringing the Conversation to Climate Week NYC
The partnership also extended beyond the screen during Climate Week NYC, when several alumni featured in The Green Jobs Show joined Bard GPS faculty member J. Renay Loper for a panel discussion at the Green Jobs Pavilion.
The conversation explored sustainability career pathways, the value of graduate education, and the many ways professionals can build careers that contribute to a healthier, more just world.
For Kristy, the experience reinforced the importance of helping people see themselves in these careers.
"If you're a prospective student, an undergraduate weighing what comes next, or just curious about a career in sustainability, The Green Jobs Show is for you," she said. "I hope it shows you, as it showed me, how many ways there are to do this work."
Explore Green Careers with The Green Jobs Show
There's no single way to build a career in sustainability, and no single job description that captures what it means to work toward a healthier planet.
Over the next five weeks, we're sharing an episode of The Green Jobs Show each week, taking you behind the scenes with Bard GPS alumni working across the sustainability field.
Follow Bard GPS and Brown Girl Green on Instagram to catch each new episode, meet the alumni, and discover the many ways people are building careers that make a difference.
*Editor’s note: Portions of this article were drafted with the assistance of AI technology and reviewed for accuracy and clarity by Bard College staff.
