Student Experience

Last spring, while preparing for a business case challenge, I learned about a new investment approach that blends social and environmental impact with financial return–Impact Investing.  I happened to be part of a team that was trying to help scale Habitat for Humanity to help serve 50 million people in 10 years, and we were …

Mara Slade has always been concerned about the environment. She cared about sustainability and even had a couple of Paul Hawken books lying around. But after immersing herself in an MBA program with a deeply embedded systems sustainability focus, Slade considers herself “totally transformed.” “I’ve been exposed to so many great thinkers,” she says. “Really, …

“Action is at the heart of sustainability,” says one Presidio Graduate School student who has been moved from thinking about sustainability to acting on it. “It’s all good and well to talk about it, but doing something is more important,” Karin Meyer says. As Meyer prepares to finish her sixth semester and graduate from the …

This weekend at Presidio Graduate School, fire was reinvented – the era of taking immediate and long-term action toward climate stabilization (CS) is well upon us. On a foggy Saturday in the Presidio, a multigenerational, multicultural, and multidisciplinary group of 17 students, practitioners, academics and activists discussed the current state of climate and reviewed different …

In 2004, Darcie Renn was a volunteer with the Peace Corps and teaching Chinese University students about a new policy tool called cap and trade.  At the time, it was only an idea. Now, Darcie will be at the forefront of helping California implement the second-largest cap and trade program in the world. The Presidio …

More professionals are recognizing that the future requires collaboration between the public and private sectors, and that’s why students are choosing the Dual MBA/MPA Degree program at Presidio Graduate School, says Arif Hasyim. “I have worked in corporations and NGOs in relation to climate change and clean development. I collaborated with government agencies. To create …

Sustainability work (and life) is full of vexing questions for which we have incomplete data but need to make decisions about today. As a consumer, do I hand wash or machine wash my dishes? As a manager, do I focus on the material of a product, or the energy it uses during its life? I …

Sustainability careers consultant Katie Kross joined us at our HUB offices on March 7th and 8th for a series of sessions with Presidio students and alumni looking to further their understanding of how to find meaningful careers that employ their degrees.  An MBA graduate of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and author of Profession and Purpose: …

  Our team (made up of Presidio MBA candidates Sarah Cabell, Mara Slade, Megan McDonald, David Stripling and Shaun Webb) walked into the Friday afternoon registration and information session a little nervous. Not because we were overwhelmed by the craziness of it all or the diversity of people and schools from all over the world. …

Over the fall semester, I interned with New Island Capital Management, an impact investing firm dedicated to helping its clients find ways to achieve financial returns while transforming the way natural resources are used, businesses are built and communities thrive. Thanks to generous support from the Fink Foundation, I was given the opportunity to support …