Sustainability at Booth

Student clubs allow Booth students to explore their interest in sustainability with a community of like-minded peers. Current student groups include the Business & Sustainability Club, Booth Energy, FEAD (Food, Environment, Agribusiness and Development) and Net Impact.

Booth students receive support to enter competitions focused on social impact and sustainability. In recent months, Booth students won the top prize in the NAPE/ TCU Energy Innovation Case Competition which challenged teams to recommend whether publicly traded US oil and gas companies should prioritize energy transition projects or double down on legacy businesses; took third place in the Smeal MBA Sustainability Competition at Penn State; and explored sustainable ventures in the Turner MIINT competition.

ESG/ Climate Change:

• Navigating the ESG landscape: Sustainability. Information and Analysis
  Introduces students to the emerging ESG landscape with a focus on using and analyzing information, disclosure, and sustainability reporting. It provides frameworks and tools to navigate corporate ESG information, and to make links between ESG information and performance and firm value.

• The Political Economy of Climate Change 
  Studies the activities and influence of various government entities on climate change, along with thinking through the roles of other actors that interact with the state. 

Corporate Social Responsibility:

• Corporate Social Responsibility Social Impact Practicum
  Centers around live consulting projects that allow students to consider the role of the firm in society by exploring the domains of corporate social responsibility (CSR), Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), and Sustainability.

• The Firm in the Non-Market Environment
  Focused on understanding the non-market environment for firms and discussing strategies in the light of regulatory, legal, political, and social constraints that they face. In addition, the course examines firms’ strategies in light of environmental, safety, or intellectual property concerns, and discusses lobbying strategies.

Booth hosts events inviting leaders in different sectors to share perspectives on issues of sustainability. Recent events include a student-only conversation on sustainability with Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio, Unpacking ESG, a three-part virtual series with global experts on business risks, metrics, and the role of shareholders, hosted jointly by the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State in partnership with the Financial Times; and an Innovating for Social Equity discussion where three Chicago-area CEOs shared their approach to anchoring economic growth. 

The Steven Tarrson Impact Investing Fund, is one of the largest student-run impact investing funds in the country. Chicago Booth students drive the full investment lifecycle. The fund made its first two investments in Harvest Thermal, which uses novel technology to transform home water tanks into thermal batteries, and in Kadeya, which is introducing an innovative solution to eliminate the need for single-use plastics in bottled water.

Executives in Residence at the Rustandy Center work closely with Booth students as coaches and mentors. Current EIRs and their areas of focus include:

• Cleantech: Sara Chamberlain, ’09, managing director at Earth Foundry.

• ESG: Liz Michaels, AB ’88, MBA ’06 (XP-75), co-head of Aperio (part of BlackRock)

• Impact Investing: Priya Parrish, ’09, partner and chief investment officer at Impact Engine; Brittany Henry, ’07, senior associate at Impact America Fund

• Social Entrepreneurship: Todd Connor, ’07, founder of Bunker Labs; David Ellis, cofounder and CEO of portfolio businesses at Flow Equity

• The John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge jumpstarts for-profit and nonprofit teams to develop ideas for innovative social startups. Recent student-led, sustainability-focused ventures coming out of the competition include LivingWaters Systems (rainwater catchment units for refugee camps), Alina Eneji (solar electricity in Haiti), and Demi (composting solutions for apartment buildings).

• The Tarrson Social Venture Fellowship provides $25,000 each in funding and other support to graduating university students or recent alumni who are committed to growing a startup that helps solve a social or environmental problem. Recent Tarrson Fellows are working to make composting mainstream for apartment buildings, to eliminate harmful waste while shipping perishables, and to increase battery efficiency.