CESR Ethical Leadership

High Impact Business Leaders Inspire Leeds Students to Make a Difference

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 22:56:15 +0000

High Impact Business Leaders Inspire Leeds Students to Make a Difference Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/07/2022 - 15:56

Justine Roberts

It's great to connect with people in industry who are making a major effort to move the needle. Seeing what social and sustainable venturing look like in practice really grounds the concepts we're covering in classes and provides important perspectives on what it takes to make an impact. - Wolfgang Reichard (MBA ‘23)

Over the past several weeks CESR has hosted a series of small group conversations for business students with professionals working in roles that align with our three priority areas: business solutions to environmental challenges, ethical leadership, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Our guests have come from the natural and organic industry, the clean energy transition, and the world of social justice and community impact. This program, called CESR Explores, offers students a unique opportunity to learn from the experience of trailblazers, and to reflect on their own career goals and trajectories.

Meet this year’s CESR Explores guest speakers

Cullin Schwarz, DoneGood

Cullen is founder and “Chief of Good Thoughts” (aka CEO) for DoneGood, an online platform where you can shop with sustainable brands that pay fair wages, use eco-friendly practices, and invest in social impact. All products on DoneGood are made ethically and sustainably. And DoneGood users can further filter product searches based on more specific issues important to them—like finding products that are organic, non-toxic, vegan, Made in the USA, and more. Cullen started DoneGood because he believes the world’s most powerful force for change is the dollars we all spend.

As a public benefit corporation, DoneGood has a social mission baked right into its company charter and is legally obligated to pursue that mission. For Cullen, business success and impact are tied. “We operate on conscious capitalism principles; from a place of love,” he explains. “DoneGood is for people who want to use their purchasing power for good. In the long run, if you are creating value in a real way you make money.”

Cullen’s vision is to inspire and support people to make more conscious choices. His goal is “to help increasingly large numbers of people move large sums of money [away] from companies that keep people in poverty and destroy the planet, and demonstrate aggregate consumer demand for sustainable products.” Michele Lishnevsky (MBA ‘23) appreciated Cullen’s focus on “being mindful and conscious about where your money is going as the thing that leads to socially responsible shopping.”

Americans gave $450 billion to charity last year. But we spent over 300 times more than that buying stuff. If even a fraction of our consumer spending can help reduce poverty and fight climate change, the dollars we all spend can be the world’s most powerful force for change,

says Cullen Schwarz

Cullen believes that moving business toward doing good, and having a moral foundation, is “the most important shift in the world. We need to act ethically and morally in the business world, not just in our private lives,” he argues.

Laura McCord and Christine Mondry, KeHE

KeHE Distributors®, a natural, organic, specialty and fresh product distribution company, is the second largest B Corp in the USA. They work with over 8,000 brands, of which 100 are B Corps. As Laura McCord, Executive Director of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at KeHE, says, “it's kind of a big deal.”

Laura drives environmental stewardship, employee engagement, and community involvement within the company. She started her career as a zoo keeper, and worked as a grocer and merchandiser before shifting into sustainability. In her current role, Laura co-founded KeHE’s CAREtrade® and DIVERSEtrade™, to support suppliers that share KeHE’s mission to make a difference in the world, and celebrate women, veteran, LGBTQ, disability, and minority-owned businesses. Laura is in the process of launching a new program that identifies companies making a significant climate action commitment. She is trying to create a “race to the top” so that more businesses want to be part of this movement. At the center of Laura’s approach is the question “how can we better serve brands that align with our commitment to making lives better?”

Christine Mondry, a recruiter for KeHE, joined the company because of its commitment to social and environmental impact. In addition to their B Corp status and commitment to DE&I, Christine was attracted to the KeHE Cares program, which uses service trips to give to the causes and communities their employees are passionate about, and to develop leaders within the company. On these trips they remove titles and stay focused on “remaining relational, acting like your best self, and returning to joy,” explained Laura.

The more our brands make, the more goes into our philanthropic activities.The more we make, the more we can give,

says Laura McCord

Even though KeHE sells to retailers, not to consumers, the company’s commitment to environmental and social sustainability positions them as thought leaders, Christine said. They have a platform from which to inspire retailers to support sustainable brands.

Laura’s advice to those building a career is to “be humble and collaborative and help people with their objectives.” She looks for people who share their good ideas with their teams to lift everyone up, not just people who hit all their targets.

Dr. Ryan Ross, the Colorado Community College System and Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado

Dr. Ryan Ross serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Equity, and Inclusion for the Colorado Community College System, owns a boutique speaking and consulting firm called Stirred UP Enterprises, and serves as President of the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado. Ryan’s passion for community, leadership, and education is related to his experiences growing up and desire to pay it forward to. His many roles are all focused on investing in people and using an equity lens to look at ways that work can be more impactful.

Flex your purpose, not your power,

says Dr. Ryan Ross

Ryan focuses on the business world because, he says “the world of work brings people together and is the most diverse place we have in our country. When we give work purpose, act intentionally and with integrity, and stand up for change, that ensures everyone thrives.” Ryan also believes that we need diversity to be successful. “Business is about results,” he explains. “What a business wants to do doesn’t always work in the target community if you decide for the stakeholder. Businesses have to listen and ask about the experience others are having.”

One of the central tenets of Ryan’s work is that to achieve social impact, you must start with understanding people. Michael Bortnowski (B.S.B.A. Business Analytics, Economics Minor ‘22) says he was struck by Ryan’s comment that "As leaders, we have to pause and take the time to think ‘What role do I have? What are the strengths of my teammates? How can I build an offense around their talents and natural strengths?’”

“Talk to people everywhere you go,” Ryan says. “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know, or has an ability you don’t have.” Ryan continues to live by his own words “Achievement waits ahead so never look back, besides why settle on being good when we are designed to be great!”

Amy Haddon, Schneider Electric

Amy Haddon drives thought leadership and client communication services for Schneider Electric’s (SE) Sustainability Business, where she is responsible for elevating market awareness and corporate storytelling on climate change, sustainability, decarbonization pathways, renewable energy and clean technologies, and the energy transition. She tracks trends, educates clients, and consults with experts inside SE to ensure the company has a voice in the larger conversation about the clean energy and climate transition.

She has watched the private sector shift from considering energy management the responsibility of plant managers, to more and more centralizing these functions within business operations. She attributes this shift to increasing outside pressure from competitors and financial markets as climate impacts become more tangible. But Amy believes sustainability is a systemic issue that requires working not just at the individual or organizational level. “We could all as individuals live our best, most sustainable lives but without systems change we won't get where we need to go,” she argues. At the same time, she is optimistic that transitioning to a predominantly renewable grid is inevitable.

We need to advance clean energy systems as urgently as possible,

says Amy Haddon

Amy sees opportunities to improve access to affordable electricity as the grid transitions for underserved and minoritized populations. She believes that we can make progress by focusing on a “just transition” that marries economic viability and job creation to clean energy infrastructure.

“Two billion people don’t have access to electricity today,” she points out. “It's outrageous, and we can fix it. Because no electricity means no digital, and that has huge ramifications for education and economic development.”

The key skill, Amy says, for being successful in her field is the ability to understand data. Second to that is managing complexity, and negotiation and influencing skills. “The field is growing exponentially and there is a need for people focused on action and impact,” she says.

To learn more about CESR’s upcoming events check out our website.

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SRE Certificate Helps Leeds Undergrad Students Prepare for Careers in Ethical Business

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 22:10:13 +0000

SRE Certificate Helps Leeds Undergrad Students Prepare for Careers in Ethical Business Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/23/2021 - 16:10

Justine Roberts

Dynamic undergraduate students choose to pursue the Certificate in Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE) in addition to their BS because it allows them to study how stakeholder value fits into the business world.

Meet Carmen Rodriguez Garcia and Jacob Hahn. Both of these graduating seniors are excited to champion ways for business to lead on environmental and social impact as they pursue careers in real estate and apparel.To learn more about Leeds students, and connect with those who are currently looking for internships and job opportunities in impact-driven business, please be in touch with CESR. We would love to introduce you.

Carmen Rodriguez Garcia BSRelEst ‘21

Why did you decide to get an SRE Certificate? What made you choose Leeds?
I decided to get the SRE Certificate because I noticed that all the professors that talked about people and the planet (in addition to profit) were in the Social Responsibility and Sustainability (SRS) department. I started talking to a few of them during office hours and I realized that I had found a passionate group of people who were asking questions about stakeholders that I had never even considered. That's when I realized that I wanted to expand my knowledge on social responsibility and pursue the certificate.

I grew up in a neighborhood called Westwood in Southwest Denver. I was drawn to Leeds because there is a lot of financial aid provided for low-income students like myself. I was also smitten with the Flatirons at first sight!

What was something you learned while at Leeds that surprised you?
There's tons, but the one that sticks out to me comes from my Sustainable Operations class. We talked about so many facts and figures that were mind boggling, such as 70% of the world's emissions are created from 100 companies, and facts about recycling that might seem mundane but really impacted me and the way I do things. I now know to look at the number inside the recycling symbol to know where I can dispose of it.

I realized that I had found a passionate group of people who were asking questions about stakeholders that I had never even considered. That's when I realized that I wanted to expand my knowledge on social responsibility and pursue the SRE Certificate,

says Carmen

What accomplishments are you most proud of from your time at school?
I'm super proud of the communities I've built in my time as a Resident Advisor (RA) [in the residence halls]. Naturally, they happen organically, but it is so heartwarming to see residents from my floor moving in together after their freshman year and continuing to hangout. I have a lot of pride in the communities and friendships I've helped start in my time as a Darley RA.

To become an RA I applied my freshman year and had to submit a thorough application with essay questions as well as an interview. This is my third year doing it! I was a regular RA for my sophomore and junior years and then I applied to be the Senior Resident Advisor for my building. I also went through an interview process for that. So now I am a liaison between the RAs and the Hall Director (our boss) and I have a few additional responsibilities.

What kind of work do you want to do and why does it appeal to you?
I want to go into a job where I can talk to people! Collaboration kind of scares me, but I want to step out of my comfort zone. I love getting to know people in my personal life, and would love to extend that to my professional life. My emphasis is real estate so I've been applying to jobs in the industry, mostly property management or customer relations. I am currently an HR intern at Ball Aerospace.

What is one thing that you would like others to know about you?
One thing that I'd like people to know about me is that I am one of the best Mario Kart players you'll ever meet. I got into Mario Kart because my older brother had a Wii and when I was bored I would play. Eventually, I got really into it and joined a few tournaments where I ended up winning first place!

Jacob Hahn BSBusAcct ‘21

Why did you decide to get an SRE Certificate? What made you choose Leeds?
I chose to attend ��Ƶ Boulder and Leeds because of the emphasis that the school places on ethics. I am somebody who likes business but is very wary of its flaws. When I entered college, I was debating between international affairs and business, and I chose business because I felt that my impact could be greater as a business student.

Once I entered Leeds, I knew that I was going to complete the SRE Certificate no matter what. I entered Leeds with a desire to reform the ethical and sustainable aspects of the fashion supply chain. I believed that the SRE programming and courses would give me the understanding needed to achieve my dreams.

I think that my time at Leeds really prepared me to have difficult conversations about how the current approach to business leaves a lot of populations behind. While these certainly are not easy conversations, I am comfortable and prepared to have them in a professional setting,

says Jacob

What was something you learned while at Leeds that surprised you?
I genuinely was shocked at how many students actively supported and believed in the power of the shareholder approach. In SRE programming, and personally, I have learned a lot of the advantages to a stakeholder approach; how the benefits really go beyond profits, and can support communities, at all points in the value chain.

What accomplishments are you most proud of from your time at school?
The summer after my sophomore year I had enough money saved up from work to go backpacking through Southeast Asia for a month. So, when I saw a good deal on flights, I booked them. I spent a month backpacking Hong Kong, Thailand, and Cambodia. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life as I was backpacking solo. While at the same time it was hands down the best experience of my life. I learned so much about me and what I desire, I think solo travel is something that everyone who can experience it should.

What kind of work do you want to do and why does it appeal to you?
As a long-term goal, I am hoping to do work with large corporations to make them more sustainable and ethical. When I backpacked Cambodia, I spent a week in a city where the economy had been reliant on the fashion industry. They had a lot of garment factories for fast fashion companies like Zara. These companies had pulled out of the country five years earlier, and it was shocking to see how careless these companies had been. I realized at that point that I wanted to work to ensure that companies were not hurting communities like this.

What is one thing that you would like others to know about you?
I am really into fashion. Specifically thrifting, I think it is a great way to combine my passions of ethical and sustainable practices with my interest in fashion.

To get in touch with Carmen or Jacob, or learn more about other Leeds’ students pursuing impact careers, please contact CESR.

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��Ƶ Boulder MBA Competition Leads to Real Social Impact

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 23:46:20 +0000

��Ƶ Boulder MBA Competition Leads to Real Social Impact Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/22/2021 - 17:46

Justine Roberts

Students pitch winning Net Impact Case Competition vaccine distribution plan to state COVID response leaders

This spring, teams of MBA students from around the world devised solutions to one of the most pressing questions of the moment: how to create a vaccine distribution plan that could achieve herd immunity, and address vaccine hesitancy, as part of ��Ƶ Boulder's Net Impact Case Competition (NICC). A team of students from the University of Denver created the winning solution that considered both short and long term implications and contingency plans in the case of unforeseen challenges. This week, they shared that solution with Colorado leaders working on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The students came up with innovative solutions to the crucial challenges around vaccine distribution,” said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) at the Leeds School of Business. “We wanted to connect them with leaders from Colorado’s COVID response in case their fresh perspective can help our society respond to this problem in an ethical and inclusive way. We were thrilled with the enthusiastic interest from our leaders in hearing these ideas.”

Meeting with State leaders

The students spoke with Beth Bean, Policy Director for Governor Polis, Mara Brosy-Wiwchar, Chief Of Staff to the Executive Director of Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Kyle Brown, Deputy Commissioner of Affordability Programs - Division of Insurance, Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

Students from the winning team shared how their focus on the economic benefits of being vaccinated allowed them to side-stepping politically divisive debates about free speech while emphasizing benefits for all members of society. They recommended funding the plan through bonds, and demonstrated that their vaccination campaign would be cheaper than the financial costs already imposed by the pandemic.

Discussion touched on the ways policy discussions at the state level have grappled with similar questions, and some of the controversial and unique issues that impact decisions on how to implement public health strategies for Colorado. Andrea Brands, Corporate Social Responsibility Director, Higher Education at AT&T, thanked the state leaders for meeting with these emerging business leaders and making time to hear from young people who have been deeply impacted by the Coronavirus.

This opportunity came about through the Net Impact Case Competition (NICC), run by MBA students working with the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business at ��Ƶ Boulder. NICC is the longest running graduate student competition exploring ethics and business. Since its inception 20 years ago, NICC has challenged graduate students from across the world to develop solutions with real world social impact to pressing business issues. This year’s case, “Economic Recovery in Response to a Global Pandemic,” was especially timely.

“NICC gives students practical experience in thinking about the needs of all stakeholders and creates connections between sustainability-minded leaders from top business schools around the world,”

said Waggoner

What it took to win

Ultimately, the strength in the winning team’s approach was a focus on the immediate need to save lives and get the economy back on track while keeping an eye on how strategies implemented today could support long term positive social change.

“What stood out for me with the winning team was their plan addressing each type of unvaccinated individuals with a targeted carrot/stick solution,” said judge Kerri Webster, VP Children’s Hospital Colorado. “I loved how they thoughtfully applied and highlighted the core values addressed throughout each phase of their decisions that were made. And I genuinely appreciated the data-driven decision making approach.”

Read more about this year's NICC and the winning proposal here.

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The Changemakers Series: Exploring how Business Leaders Drive Change

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 23:32:22 +0000

The Changemakers Series: Exploring how Business Leaders Drive Change Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/29/2021 - 17:32

Justine Roberts

This year CESR organized a new series featuring mission-driven executive-level speakers. Called Changemakers, these events showcase inspirational leaders whose careers have helped shape the way businesses approach sustainability and social impact. They are designed to be direct and personal with discussions ranging from the impact the speaker is most proud of, to their relationships with mentors throughout their career, to how life experiences have shaped their approach to business.

Changemakers was created in part as a response to the pandemic. Speakers talk about how their values, relationships, and personal passions connect with the work they do. Everyone’s story contains some adversity and learning about the long arc of a career speaks to the way leaders practice resilience; an important perspective during this past year.

"Showing up as your whole self means being respectful, being open to learning, and focusing on what matters." - Joyce Cacho

The Changemakers series consists of four events held this academic year. Three have already taken place and the fourth is coming up.

Changemakers: Annie Ryu on Social Entrepreneurship | April 14 | 12:30-1:30pm

Presented by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and the Deming Center for Entrepreneurshi p.

Annie Ryu is the founder, CEO, and President of The Jackfruit Company and Global Village Fruit, Inc (GVF). Annie founded GVF in the summer of 2011, while working in India to implement a maternal and child healthcare program (Remindavax) she and her brother had developed. Annie worked to build GVF during her junior and senior years at Harvard, winning Harvard’s Women in Business Competition, Harvard’s i3 Innovation Challenge, and the Resolution Project’s Social Venture Challenge, and being recognized as a Global Good Fund Fellow, an Honorary Fellow at the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, and one of Glamour’s Top 10 College Women. To hear more about Annie and her approach to social entrepreneurship, register for her event here. Open to all.

Read about Changemakers we have interviewed and click on the links below to watch videos of these conversations:

Chip Coe on Environmental Stewardship

Presented by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and the Leeds Outdoor Industry Club.

Chip Coe has more than two decades of leadership experience. He is currently the Global Brand President of Cat Footwear and has held several positions within Wolverine Worldwide since joining the company in 2010. His previous experience includes serving as president of Chaco Footwear and president of Smartwool.

Natalie Dueschle (MBA/MENV ‘22) interviewed Chip. She was drawn to this opportunity to explore the intersection of business and social impact. Their conversation spanned Chip’s first job in the outdoor industry, how Chaco is responding to the pandemic, and his approach to ethical leadership. Chip discussed how Chaco has remained financially strong with a product that lasts forever, and how his focus on both upstream and downstream environmental impacts have helped the industry move away from man-made fabrics and toward natural fibers.

"It was an honor to engage with CESR and the Changemakers series. Too often, business schools seem to focus on the "hard" skills. In my 35-year business career, I have found it very easy to hire for ‘hard’ skills; but very challenging to hire for ethical thought and leadership." - Chip Coe

Chip’s advice to anyone who wants to make a difference is to practice consistency, credibility and patience. “Things take longer than you think they should and to maintain your credibility have to temper frustration and play the long game. It's not getting one thing done at the cost of torching a relationship or acting in a way that is inconsistent with your values.”

Demesha Hill on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Presented by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility

Demesha Hill is Managing Director at Janus Henderson Foundation and the Community Relations Manager at Janus Henderson Investors. She is a champion for community engagement programs and provides leadership and strategic support for the corporate diversity and community outreach initiatives. Demesha also fosters the diversity and inclusion employee resource groups at her firm. She serves or has served on several nonprofit boards including B:CIVIC, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Studio, Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, and the Advisory Council for Colorado Succeeds. An award-winning CSR professional and leader in the Colorado impact business community she was named Corporate Executive of the Year by the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce in 2018.

Demesha wanted to participate in the Changemakers series because she believes that as students go into the business world “they need to understand the role diversity, equity and inclusion plays in a company's ESG identity.”

Justine Roberts, Program Manager at CESR, led this interview. Justine was particularly excited to talk with Demesha about how she was approaching DEI at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement was making an impact on the national conversation about racial justice. The conversation moved from how Demesha defines diversity, to how she measures success, to more personal questions about how her upbringing informs her work and the kind of difference she wants to make. Janus Henderson is an international firm, so Demesha shared how DEI work differs in different countries.

Joyce Cacho on ESG & Board Leadership

Presented by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and the Burridge Center for Finance.

Dr. Joyce Cacho has more than two decades of leadership experience. She is a former Global Chief Sustainability Officer and an expert in finance, ESG, strategy, innovation and regulatory compliance. Joyce served as Board Director for Land O'Lakes, Executive Director at Rabobank International, and Board Director for Sunrise Banks, a certified B Corp, and the World Benchmarking Alliance. She was interviewed by Mrunal Wakode (MS ‘21). The opportunity to interview someone, much less a role model, was new to Mrunal and she jumped at the opportunity.

"Joyce is extremely inspirational and her perspective is very interesting and exciting!" - Mrunal Wakode

Joyce said yes to being part of the Changemakers series because “It was an opportunity to bring the ‘real world’ to the classroom and to young people. We are trusting this highly energized group of people to build a normal which creates value with a wide range of people and geographical settings,” she says, “‘Yes’ is the only answer I could possibly have given!”

Joyce and Mrunal’s conversation explored how her childhood has influenced her work as an adult, and what motivates her beyond “honing skills and getting paid and traveling.” They also discussed the ways the Coronavirus pandemic has brought much needed attention to the relationships between inequality, gender equality and racial justice. Joyce argues that shareholders and stakeholders are one and the same because corporations are stakeholders in the greater economy. She believes it is imperative that corporations and their boards support strategies that not only improve the environment, but which also contribute to closing gender equity and racial equity gaps in the US and around the world.

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Case Competition Winners Deliver Equitable Vaccine Distribution Answers for Colorado Governments

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 09:12:00 +0000

Case Competition Winners Deliver Equitable Vaccine Distribution Answers for Colorado Governments Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/15/2021 - 03:12

Teams from DU take first and second place in the 2021 Net Impact Case Competition hosted by Leeds MBA students.

Now in its 20th year, the Net Impact Case Competition (NICC) is the longest running graduate student competition exploring the balance between ethics and finance in business. NICC gives graduate students from across the globe the opportunity to create real world solutions to business challenges focused on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. It has been run by MBA students at the Leeds School of Business since its inception and has hosted thousands of students presenting their solutions to pressing business issues.

“NICC gives students practical experience in thinking about the needs of all stakeholders and creates connections between sustainability-minded leaders from top business schools around the world,” said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) at the Leeds School of Business. “This year, the student leaders achieved a particularly extraordinary task in running a very successful competition during the pandemic. NICC is an important part of the Leeds legacy, and we are excited to continue supporting it and seeing it grow into the future.”

The 2021 NICC was made possible through a partnership with AT&T which supported development of the case and provided financial prizes for the top four teams. The winning team may have the opportunity to present their proposals to the Colorado Vaccine Task Force.

The case

This year’s case challenge was “Economic Recovery in Response to a Global Pandemic.” In November, 85 registered teams from seven countries were invited to devise a vaccine distribution plan that created a path to recovery for a fictional country in the midst of a global pandemic. Students were asked to develop and pitch a system for ranking who to give the vaccine to first while balancing social and economic considerations in their approach.

The goal was to reach a 75% vaccination rate. Judges focused on the ethical reasoning behind students’ solutions.

The top 20 teams moved on to the finals where they were given a twist. New information required teams to address vaccine hesitancy and develop a set of proposals that would achieve country-wide herd immunity. The best solutions considered both short and long term implications, contingency plans in the case of unforeseen challenges, and the ethics behind the proposal. While the case presented a hypothetical situation, it was based on a real world scenario so judges evaluated feasibility considerations like cost and timeliness, as well as the measurability and security of plans.

The top four teams then moved on to the championships where they presented their solutions to a panel of three judges who selected the winning proposal. To win the competition, teams needed a clear presentation, a persuasive road map to implementation and be able to articulate how their solution addressed financial, social and environmental impacts. The solutions students came up with for their fictional country were based in real world scenarios, and have implications for creating a more just and sustainable future.

The competition

In both the final and championship rounds students were given 20 minutes total time for their pitch. They gave a presentation with slides for the first ten minutes, followed by ten minutes for questions from the judges. The finals were held in the morning of March 6, 2021, with the championships following that same afternoon.

“We are so grateful for the way that the sustainable business community has supported NICC over the years,”

said Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR).

“This competition is a wonderful example of incredible student leadership, community support and connection building that engages so many passionate people around using business to make the world a better place.”

Nearly 40 business leaders participated as judges across the three rounds of competition. For the championship round, the three judges all had professional backgrounds connected to the delivery of healthcare from a variety of industries. The championship judges included Joe Cutrell, Director of Strategy & Innovation, AT&T Healthcare Solutions, Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation, and Kerri Webster, MS, RN, VP/Chief Analytics Officer Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Left to Right: Julie Waggoner, Interim Director of CESR; Blair Simpson, NICC Co-President; Joe Cutrell, Director of Strategy & Innovation, AT&T Healthcare Solutions; Noah Kobayashi, NICC VP; Chelsea Myntti, NICC Co-President; Kerri Webster, MS, RN, VP/Chief Analytics Officer Children’s Hospital Colorado; Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation; Shay Cardenas, NICC VP; Justine Roberts, CESR Program Manager; Cate Griffin, NICC judge coordinator

The winning solution

All four championship teams used a mix of incentives and penalties to convince citizens that vaccination was in their best interest. The winning team outlined five guiding values with which to align their plan: civic responsibility, community care, national urgency, discipline and patience, and public trust. They used this framework to develop their initial distribution plan. For their response to the twist, the team built on the success of their original vaccination drive and proposed a public engagement process to identify the roots of vaccine hesitancy in the remaining population. They then proposed using that data to guide future decisions made in partnership with local governments.

“The case was well designed and really forced the teams to think in real time about the current COVID-19 pandemic and its long term economic repercussions,”

said Adeeb Khan, VP Corporate Social Responsibility & Executive Director, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation.

The winning solution focused on the economic benefits of being vaccinated, and the financial cost of the pandemic, while side-stepping debates with the political opposition about free speech. They proposed funding their plan through bonds, and demonstrated that their vaccination campaign would be cheaper than the costs already imposed on the economy by the pandemic.

“Early in our research we realized there are too many different forms of vaccine hesitancy to use a one-size-fits-all strategy,” explained winning team member Hasib Nasirullah. “We also realized some of the reasons people are hesitant are symptomatic of greater underlying societal challenges. So we tried to think of strategies that would address these over the long term, and at their root cause.”

Specific proposals included a tax credit to companies to pay for employees to get vaccinated, and the threat of a potential future penalty if an unvaccinated employee creates a spreader event at the workplace. This approach was designed to make it possible for a company to insist on vaccination as an economic issue rather than a moral one. The team also identified, as a long term societal goal, reducing the number of people who were against vaccination on ideological grounds by emphasizing the costs of not vaccinating rather than arguing against their political views.

Another strategy the team proposed was creating an on-line dashboard with both public- and government-facing functions. This dashboard would include locations where individuals could access vaccinations, and an online health passport, among other information. The data collected by this system would help public health officials identify lags in vaccine uptake and other community-wide issues.

The team also recognized the real fear among some populations about vaccination based on historical discrimination and mistreatment. Their solution included the creation of a network of local ambassadors whose ability to listen to, and address, specific concerns could lead to systemic changes in the way the health care system cares for these communities.

Overall, their approach to the case focused on the immediate need to save lives and get the economy back on track while keeping an eye on how strategies implemented today could support long term positive social change.

“What stood out for me with the winning team was their plan addressing each type of unvaccinated individuals with a targeted carrot/stick solution,” said Webster. “I loved how they thoughtfully applied and highlighted the core values addressed throughout each phase of their decisions that were made. And I genuinely appreciated the data-driven decision making approach.”

Final results

1st place – University of Denver, Daniels College of Business: $10,000
2nd place – University of Denver, Daniels College of Business: $5,000
3rd place – University of Utah: $2,500
4th place – University of Maryland: $1,000

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How to Make an Impact in Your Community

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 15:40:01 +0000

How to Make an Impact in Your Community Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/19/2020 - 09:40

Justine Roberts

The Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) and the Office of Diversity Affairs (ODA) are collaborating on a new event titled How to Make and Impact in Your Community. The event is designed for undergraduate students at Leeds who are interested in learning how to leverage their business skills to make a positive difference in the lives of others. This unique event is being moderated by Jesse Rivera (BS ‘22) and includes time for students to work with panelists in small groups to workshop an idea for a project. At the core of the event is thinking about how to merge a business skill set with a passion for impact. Students will come out of this event with a concrete idea of where they want to focus their community impact, and how to get started.

This event was developed after conversations with students about how to leverage their business skills to improve their communities, and builds on a long-standing partnership between CESR and ODA to ensure that programming around social impact and sustainability is relevant to diverse audiences.

These questions make sense within the culture of social impact at Leeds. Among the existing opportunities for students are the Leeds Scholars program which includes a year long volunteer community impact project and a number of student clubs, for undergraduates and graduates, that offer student consulting for nonprofits. CESR also offers an Impact Internship program which supports companies with a focus on CSR and sustainability in hiring students, but those opportunities are very competitive and there are many more students interested in this work than existing opportunities. How to Make an Impact in Your Community builds on student excitement about social impact work by giving students access to professionals who can answer their questions, develop their networks, offer personal insights, and inspire students to start something of their own.

Student-run social enterprise projects are not unusual at Leeds. A number of current students and alumni have launched mission-oriented companies including Hapa Solutions, Thinking Huts and Internalyze. One benefit to projects like these are that they fulfill the experiential learning requirement for the Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE) Certificate. The SRE certificate is a career differentiator for Leeds graduates. Employers have told CESR that students with the SRE certificate are more competitive compared to similarly qualified candidates without it. This is due in part to the classes in the program which build literacy and competency in social responsibility. But it is also due to the experiential learning requirement which gives students opportunities to apply the concepts that they are learning in their classes. Students who start their own project have the chance to get that hands-on experience working on an issue they care deeply about.

CESR is excited about this program for another reason as well. We are committed to ensuring that our content is relevant and meaningful to diverse students. Collaborating with ODA ensures that we are working on content that is high priority for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students and allows us to showcase what students from communities of color are already doing in the CSR and sustainability space. We look forward to strengthening this collaboration.

Panelists include:

Jeremy Brown, Founder at Startups Give Back and Content Marketing Manager at Crunchbase. Startups Give Back is a volunteering event where people in the startup community work together with local nonprofits. Their mission is to make philanthropy a priority for startups from the beginning, rather than something that is added onto the corporate culture after success has been achieved.

Berenice Garcia Tellez, Economic Sustainability Specialist at City of Longmont. In her role, Berenice is working to support businesses located in Longmont. Many of these businesses are small and service oriented, and they do not always have access to investment capital. By showing how environmental sustainability is connected to long term economic viability, she is helping green the City while strengthening the local economy.

Mike McGuffee, CEO at Unite for Literacy. Mike has consulted with Native American tribes and large-scale international groups to make engaging, low-cost books available in every home, and to educate families on the importance of reading. He believes that all children have a right to experience the joy of reading, and that technology holds the key to book abundance for everyone.

It's not too late to attend! Email Sara.neuner@colorado.edu if you are interested in participating.

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Natural and Organic Case Competition 2020 Goes Regional

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 18:42:01 +0000

Natural and Organic Case Competition 2020 Goes Regional Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/05/2020 - 12:42

Justine Roberts

Now in its second year, the Leeds School of Business is expanding its' signature Natural and Organic Case Competition (NOCC) into a regional event in which students compete on the best ways to address ethical and business concerns in this growing industry. This year's competition will broaden to welcome teams from Colorado State University's Impact MBA program, the University of Denver Daniels Business School and University of Colorado Denver's Managing for Sustainability program. The 2020 NOCC is made possible by partnerships with Yasso and Manna Tree Partners, who will also be serving as judges for the 4 teams that make it into the final round.

Natural and organics is an area of deep interest for many students at Leeds School of Business, and the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) offers co-curricular programs throughout the year which prepare students for careers in this growing local sector. The NOCC is one of CESR's signature events for students to hone their business skills and industry knowledge.

“The Natural and Organics Case Competition was a great way to challenge myself in social and environmental impact consulting, team collaboration, and persuasive presentation skills. I signed up as an individual (highly recommended!) and was placed on a team with three other students with diverse professional backgrounds and skill sets. The work was challenging and inspiring-- it solidified my interest in the natural and organics industry while providing some great networking opportunities.” says Kallie Beebe (MBA’21), member of the NOCC 2019 winning team. Together with Michaela Monk (MBA’21), Andrew Hossley, (MBA’20) and Donna Merten, (MEnv’20), Kallie's team won $7,500 for taking first place. Judges complemented the team's collaborative style and noted their financial analysis and realistic timeline as contributing to their strong finish.

Registration is open through October 11 and teams will be announced on Oct 13th. The full schedule for the competition is as follows:

Oct 15 | Preliminary Round Case Release
Oct 21, 1-4pm | Preliminary Round
Oct 22 | Final Round Case Twist Release
Oct 30 | Final Round

The NOCC is part of Leeds' Natural and Organic Pathway, a series of classes and co-curricular activities that provide students with the knowledge and skills industry partners are looking for in their employees. Other offerings in the Pathway include the lunchtime Careers in Sustainability series, the Farm-to-Market Supply Chain Management Career Trek, the Natural and Organic Bootcamp, the Net Impact Case Competition, and a student Organics + Naturals club. You can find out more about CESR events on the website. If you are interested in the Natural and Organic Pathway, let CESR know by filling out this form and setting up a time to chat or drop in on Interim Director, Julie Waggoner's Office Hours, Wednesdays 11-12pm via Zoom.

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Exploring the Future of Energy Launch Event

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 01:40:24 +0000

Exploring the Future of Energy Launch Event Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/21/2020 - 19:40

Justine Roberts

This past week CESR launched a new series, Exploring the Future of Energy, which has been developed in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Schneider Electric. The first event, The State of the Renewables Industry, was anchored by Heidi VanGenderen, ��Ƶ Boulder’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Panelists provided context for where we are today with renewable energy generation and use, and then explored the potential for future adoption of green energy and the technical, political and regulatory challenges that stand between us and a 100% renewable energy economy.

Panelists set the stage by explaining how their work - a government research laboratory, a private sector company, and a utility - fits into the clean energy transition. Peter Green, deputy laboratory director of NREL for Science and Technology, pointed out that population is expected to grow 20% and energy consumption to grow by 40% over the next 20 years without any new interventions. He argued that we have to produce a lot more renewable energy to meet demand, but that we also need new policies to support restructuring the energy grid. Peter sees the grid of the future as a distributed system with a range of inputs and off-takers, and lots of different devices and points of control. The power system of the future will need to optimize energy from lots of devices and storage locations. The foundations for this are being laid now but need time to mature.

John Powers, who leads the global renewable energy consulting practice at Schneider Electric, addressed the role of corporations in the energy transition. His partners are companies that need to adopt more energy efficient strategies, and sometimes want to set carbon neutral or carbon negative targets that exceed government requirements. One trend John pointed out is the aggregation of smaller corporations that band together to adopt renewable energy in a cost effective way. He also noted that commitments to renewable energy are even outpacing the availability of that energy. Companies are signing long term agreements which are necessary to allow new projects to get built. That in turn is creating demand for renewable energy globally.

Hollie Velasquez Horvath, Senior Director State Affairs and Community Relations at Xcel Energy, talked about how her company has been pushed ahead in the past by regulation. Today, customers are pushing and Xcel is working to provide energy solutions that meet their goals so they can continue to be their energy provider for the long term. Xcel is seeing the cost of renewable energy come down, and that has allowed them to integrate more and more of it into their grid. Hollie also made the point that Xcel’s commitment to a 100% renewable energy plan for Boulder by 2050 is a goal that has set the bar really high and it is not yet technically achievable. It will require innovation and problem solving from many quarters to be successful. She believes that we will need yet-to-be-developed technologies and called on today’s Leeds School of Business students to join the renewable energy industry and help make this vision a reality.

One question that the panelists discussed was the role of energy efficiency in a carbon neutral economy. Hollie pointed out that over the past several years Xcel sales have remained steady while their customer base has grown. This means customers are using less energy. She noted that Xcel has an opportunity to update its definition of what energy efficiency means and help customers use even less by, for example, including incentives that will level off peak times. Peter mentioned that NREL is working on efficiency at an industrial scale with over 900 partnerships around the world that focus on a wide range of projects including carbon capture, converting CO2 to other chemicals, optimizing performance of wind farms and new software developments, among others.

Another question referred back to a comment Peter made in his opening remarks about the growth of EVs, and asked where that energy would come from? Peter believes that we are simply going to have to generate more renewable energy and will see more and larger production facilities. John noted that a mile driven in an EV is already cleaner than what it is replacing, and while the energy grid is not perfect, it will be easier to move the grid toward a greater amount of renewables than it will be to get gas to be carbon free. Every little step helps, he said.

Heidi also asked the panelists to address whether they believe we can get to a 100% renewable economy. All of the panelists agreed that we are a long way - but it is the right goal. They believe that while the economic and technological advances that are required to get us there may seem fanciful today, that is only because they haven’t been invented yet. The challenges panelists outlined include solving the problem of a reliable, cost effective energy generation and storage system at the scale of a utility, the right policies and large-scale cooperation. John noted that although it will take continuous innovation to get from where we are now at about 7% renewables to even a target of 20%, we should not let the challenges slow us down from getting there as fast as possible.

The panel ended with a call by all participants for students who are interested in our sustainable energy future to join the industry and put their talents and passion to use in helping us achieve a renewable energy future.

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Announcing CESR’s Fall 2020 Programs

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 22:49:44 +0000

Announcing CESR’s Fall 2020 Programs Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/24/2020 - 16:49

Justine Roberts

As the school year begins for ��Ƶ Boulder, CESR is excited to share our Fall 2020 program schedule. It is packed with events that support business careers which add value to the bottom line, to the planet, and to humanity. Two separate series, one for undergraduates called the Find Your Path series, and the other for graduate students titled Careers in Sustainability, give students the chance to gain vital industry knowledge from alumni and others working in impact jobs. MBA students who are interested in the natural and organic industry develop critical skills that employers are looking for in our Natural & Organic Bootcamp and Food Safety Workshop. All students are invited to attend our new Changemakers events and be inspired by local business leaders who are guiding their companies to “do well by doing good.” These are just some of what we have planned.

CESR speakers come from industries and job functions that showcase the wide variety of business careers where you can make a social impact. In addition, our fall programs will feature and amplify the diverse voices of business innovators and thought leaders whose work advances humanitarian and environmental priorities.

With health and safety as a top priority, all events will be virtual.

CESR’s New Rewards Program

All students who attend CESR events are automatically entered into our new rewards program. As you attend additional events you will progress toward the next level status. Each time you reach a qualifying level we will send you a prize! Rewards have been designed in consultation with undergraduate and MBA students to support career development goals and promote CESR’s mission of: "educating current and future values-driven leaders to engage and positively impact ethical, social, environmental and economic challenges."

Over the summer, we held an open call for entries to help name this rewards program. Now we need your help to choose the best name. Please vote for your favorite by August 30th.

Natural & Organic MBA Pathway

The Natural & Organic MBA Pathway, launched in 2019, is a set of 15 suggested graduate level classes and complimentary co-curricular activities offered by CESR. Graduate students in the Pathway acquire targeted skills, knowledge and connections in the natural and organic industry and graduate ready to make an impact. Explore whether making a difference in the world through a career in the natural and organic industry is right for you through these fall events: Natural & Organic Industry Bootcamp, Food Safety Workshop and Natural & Organic Case Competition.

Grace Dennis, 2nd year MBA Pathway student, and incoming Co-President of both the Net Impact and Organics + Naturals clubs, says that “The Natural and Organic Bootcamp was a great way for me to dive into the industry in the early weeks of my MBA program. The detailed industry overview and varied speakers allowed me to gain a better understanding of the industry as a whole and different options for career paths. The connections I made with speakers during the Bootcamp helped guide my career exploration during the first year of the MBA program and helped me ultimately land an internship. I can't recommend the bootcamp enough to any student interested in learning more about the Natural and Organic industry.”

We encourage all students interested in the Natural & Organic Pathway to contact Justine Roberts and set up a time to meet.

New for Undergraduates

CESR and the Office of Diversity Affairs (ODA) are excited to present a new collaborative event called How to Make an Impact in Your Community: Panel + Workshop. Students will have the opportunity to learn from professionals who are making a difference in their communities and discover how they can make a positive impact by leveraging business skills. Developed with input from students who were asking for events that allow them to put what they learn in the classroom into action, this unique event will include time to work with panelists in small groups.

Community Programming

CESR programs are not just for students. This fall we are launching a new 3-part series in partnership with Schneider Electric and NREL titled “Exploring our Energy Future” which looks at the challenges and opportunities of renewable energy. These events are open to alumni and community members.

CESR is also thrilled to be one of the founding members of the Changemakers Coalition of Colorado (CCC), a new cross-sector partnership of the State’s foremost organizations working to support responsible and sustainable business in the front range. This September, the Changemakers Coalition is launching new programming focused on the activation of the responsible and sustainable business community. Our launch event is free but there are limited spaces available and we encourage you to register early.

Learn more about our upcoming season and register for events on our website.

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Introducing Clare Wang, CESR Research Director

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 04:58:14 +0000

Introducing Clare Wang, CESR Research Director Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/10/2020 - 22:58

Justine Roberts

We are pleased to welcome Clare Wang, associate professor of accounting at Leeds, as CESR’s new Research Director. In this role, she will collaborate with the CESR team to help build stronger connections with faculty across divisions at Leeds, and will support the development of thought leadership in our three focus areas: Business Solutions to Environmental Challenges, Diversity and Inclusion, and Ethical Leadership. Wang is deeply interested in this role not only because thought leadership on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is of strategic importance for Leeds, but also because understanding the significance of Environmental, Social and Governance considerations (ESG) as measures of sustainability and social impact is critical in today’s business world. Wang points to the Business Roundtable August 2019 statement where prominent CEOs committed to serving the interests of all stakeholders and not just shareholders, as an inflection point. She sees the unprecedented events of 2020 as having further underscored the role CSR will continue to play as business leaders confront the most pressing challenges of our times. All that is to say she is very interested in this area.

While many people think accounting is about your tax returns or company financial statements, Wang says on a more fundamental level, accounting is really about how meaningful information is measured and communicated. She describes accounting as a skill set that helps business leaders solve problems and make decisions, and she points out that increasingly, measures of accountability that may not necessarily show up on standard financial statements have taken on much greater importance.

One area Wang has researched is impact investing. She is interested in whether investors’ behavior is affected by business commitments to CSR. To analyze this, Wang has investigated the relation between certain measures of firms’ ESG performance and their financial performance. Another recent research project has been looking at how individual investors react to firms’ ESG-related press releases. Her research raises questions about how companies can most effectively communicate their social impact to help put CSR front and center in investors' minds. It also underscores that CSR/ESG investment is ultimately about communicating a commitment to values beyond what may show up in the bottom line. Ultimately, Wang’s research helps us understand where we are today, and how to get where we need to go.

Wang says, of anywhere she has been, Leeds’ long-standing commitment to ESG stands out as forward thinking. She sees the position of CESR Research Director as an exciting way to support valuable research in this area being done across various disciplines by her colleagues.

Wang is also excited to get faculty more involved with CESR, and help raise the visibility and recognition of the important research her colleagues are doing. One easy way for faculty to engage with CESR is through the newsletter. She wants all division chairs to know that if there are faculty working on anything related to the mission of CESR to be in touch with her and with CESR so that we can provide resources and promote the research.

Learn more about research from Leeds faculty members we’ve profiled in past articles including Sabrina Volpone and Peter McGraw.

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CESR Ethical Leadership

High Impact Business Leaders Inspire Leeds Students to Make a Difference

Meet this year’s CESR Explores guest speakers

Cullin Schwarz, DoneGood

Laura McCord and Christine Mondry, KeHE

Dr. Ryan Ross, the Colorado Community College System and Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado

Amy Haddon, Schneider Electric

SRE Certificate Helps Leeds Undergrad Students Prepare for Careers in Ethical Business

Carmen Rodriguez Garcia BSRelEst ‘21

Jacob Hahn BSBusAcct ‘21

��������Ƶ Boulder MBA Competition Leads to Real Social Impact

Meeting with State leaders

What it took to win

The Changemakers Series: Exploring how Business Leaders Drive Change

Case Competition Winners Deliver Equitable Vaccine Distribution Answers for Colorado Governments

How to Make an Impact in Your Community

Natural and Organic Case Competition 2020 Goes Regional

Exploring the Future of Energy Launch Event

Announcing CESR’s Fall 2020 Programs

CESR’s New Rewards Program

Natural & Organic MBA Pathway

New for Undergraduates

Community Programming

Introducing Clare Wang, CESR Research Director

��Ƶ Boulder MBA Competition Leads to Real Social Impact