Sustainability

We can all make a meaningful difference when it comes to striving towards racial equity and justice; sometimes it just means we need to be more intentional. Hear from Laura Clise, social entrepreneur, and Founder and CEO of Intentionalist, on how investing in small businesses in our communities and supporting local businesses of color can …

Amongst the many dramatic challenges global businesses faced in 2020, one that had been simmering for years bubbled up and promised to stay at a high boil in 2021 is ESG: Environment, Social, Governance. Signs that ESG expectations were becoming more ubiquitous included the establishment of global ESG standards published by the World Economic Forum’s …

What a year 2020 was! The COVID-19 pandemic underscored inequities within our healthcare systems, the murders of unarmed Black men and women further illuminated anti-Black violence, and the political divide widened in the U.S. as health recommendations became politicized and evidence of voter suppression and gerrymandering surfaced. Many organizations and workers have strived to maintain …

PGS alum and bestselling author Bob Gower helps organizations design and build future-ready systems. He is an authority on lean, agile, and responsive organization design, and has worked with Ford, Spotify, GE, and many others. He teaches communication skills alongside his wife, Alexandra Jamieson. Bob is the author of Agile Business, and Bob and Alexandra …

In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that, by 2035, sales of all new passenger vehicles will be zero-emission—significantly reducing demand for fossil fuels in California’s fight against climate change. Some Californians are thrilled: “Electric vehicles are great to drive, make neighborhoods cleaner and quieter, and help keep fossil fuels in the ground.” Others resist …

Main image of Jimmy Chin, Team Athlete & Academy Award-Winning Director. Photo by Savannah Cummins. In our Changemakers in Action series, we meet dedicated sustainability and social justice leaders and learn how they are bringing about positive change. Today, we’re sharing our conversation with PGS alum Eric Raymond, who leads social impact and advocacy for …

The idea of mainstreaming sustainability has entered into my psyche over the past decade or more. I think about it when I remember graphs presented at board meetings at the Rocky Mountain Institute—bringing a certain practice to scale until it reaches a tipping point and becomes adopted by a particular industry or society as a …

Since the publication of Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” and Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” our skies have become increasingly silent; our oceans, lakes, and rivers are increasingly empty. Research suggests we are fast approaching the disastrous effects of this sixth extinction, geologically referred to as the Anthropocene. By embedding agriculture in nature, however, we …

Last year I ran into Molly Moore, who graduated with her MBA from Presidio Graduate School in 2014, at a conference where I spoke on a panel. She told me about SUPER, the first single-use plastic reduction tool and certification for businesses, offering Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers of certification, which she cofounded with Manuel Maqueda. I …

Businesses are on notice. Corporations’ excessive exploitation of Earth’s resources and degradation of its carrying capacity are continuing unabated in the second decade of the 21st century. The United Nations Global Compact warns that “despite progress made in many areas, we are not on track to deliver on the [Sustainable Development Goals] by 2030. All companies must define a …