Category: Uncategorized

This post was written by Andria Denome ’18

“Whatever lazy or narcissistic things you’ve been hearing about today’s Millennials, that’s not Andria” is what Jocelyn said in her introduction of me to Dennis DeLeo.

Dennis, affectionately known throughout Rochester, NY as Denny, is the co-founder of Trillium Group Venture Capital and Private Equity and more recently of the Venture Jobs Foundation. Trillium was the first VC firm in Rochester, born after Denny and a Kodak colleague saw an unmet need. Venture Jobs Foundation (VJF) emerged in a similar way after Denny saw that the poorest neighborhoods in Rochester were teeming with the entrepreneurial spirit to revitalize the community but they lacked capital. VJF is an impact investing organization with the mission of bringing jobs and resources to low income neighborhoods via small business.

I read about Denny in several articles and I knew that it would be amazing to learn more about his career and leadership path. Plus, conducting informational interviews is a requirement for The Sustainable Innovation MBA Career Launch curriculum and I had a looming deadline.

Although we are constantly barraged with pro-networking encouragement at the Grossman School of Business, I struggle to conceptualize its impact. Coming into the program directly out of undergraduate studies, I have never really been in the job market with that extra level of pressure. What’s even harder is asking my mom to connect me with her friend, Jocelyn, to connect me with a very accomplished VC that she went to Harvard with decades ago, with whom she may or may not keep in touch, just for the opportunity to chat, on the outside-chance he would be willing to share his hard-won experience.

I was skeptical, but that is exactly what I did. The result was a flood of support, advice and praise. Jocelyn’s warm introduction really tipped the scales in my favor, as Denny said, “I know Jocelyn very well and I know she would not send a student my way if they weren’t promising.” I have a new appreciation for networking and the utilization of my close network.

Below are some of the key points from my conversation with Denny.

• Were did vision for VJF come from? What is the Foundation working on now?

VJF is only five years old but they are already added many programs to boost the Rochester economy, specifically in disadvantaged neighborhoods. They have created two programs to plant and nurture the seeds of entrepreneurship earlier than the micro-lending level via a pipeline program. First, they created Jobs Kitchen which is a business accelerator program that local entrepreneurs can apply to join. From there Denny and his team thought, “what else can we do to jumpstart entrepreneurship?” and the answer was Jobs Kitchen Academy. Jobs Kitchen Academy is a program to teach teens in about entrepreneurship with hands on learning, unique curriculum, and local leaders. The Academy is a supplement to their school work and won’t have homework so it will be manageable for teens already balancing school, a job, and/or sports.

• What advice do you have for someone looking to explore a career entrepreneurial impact investing?

Denny recommended devoting one to three years to working in startups. When you’re young there is a much lower risk because you have fewer financial obligations. Don’t be afraid to fail but be prepared to rebound quickly.

We then side-stepped into the topic of general early-career advice: Build your reputation carefully, early, and with supervisors of influence. Whenever given the chance, express yourself clearly and articulate and demonstrate your skillset. Also, it is very important take initiative and always deliver more than asked for. However, beware of the pitfall of becoming a lone wolf, nobody likes a know-it-all that keeps their team in the dark to make themselves look better. Use your team to do more and become a leader in the process.

• What are some of practices you have that you think make you an effective leader?

Denny does well delegating and challenging his employees. He explained that it is not productive to belittle them by over-explaining, if they have questions they will ask. Denny also works everyday to be approachable, available around the office, and actively building relationships by listening and showing compassion.

Sap!, a Vermont maple water beverage producer co-founded and led by entrepreneur Chas Smith ’15, will appear on Shark Tank, the popular venture capital/entrepreneur pitch program on the ABC television network. Sap! will make their pitch on Sunday, January 28 at 10 p.m. EST.

Shark Tank features several “multi-millionaire tycoons” looking to discover and invest in the best businesses and products America has to offer. The “sharks” include Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran.

Sap! was launched by Chas, his cousin Nikita (who appears with Chas on the broadcast), and his father Charlie, and took flight while Chas was working toward his MBA here at UVM. Their company is fueled by their passion for the maple and birch industry, their dedication to Vermont and the working landscape, and their excitement to build a company that embodies these values.

Sap! bills its products as non-alcoholic beverages made from 100 percent natural maple syrup and healthy alternatives to sugar-sweetened drinks. Sap! products can be found in Vermont, throughout New England, New York City, and worldwide on Amazon.

This post was written by Randy Baron ’18

The Sustainable Innovation MBA program has created an environment where I can become the best version of myself. I am surrounded by a passionate and supportive group of teachers and students that challenge my viewpoints and help me move out of my comfort zone.

There is a diverse group of students in the cohort from many different walks of life. Students of the current cohort have experience in non-profit, law, engineering, science, education, agriculture etc. This diversity allows us to creatively solve problems and attack challenges from different angles. Throughout the program all of our professors have been stressing the importance of living a balanced lifestyle and focusing on mindfulness. This has been key to my personal development so far throughout the program.

One of my favorite aspects of The Sustainable Innovation MBA program is the collaborative nature. We get to work with four different groups of 3 to 4 students throughout the year. I find this valuable because it allows me to gain experience working with different types of people, network with my fellow classmates, and practice my leadership skills. Traditional MBA programs are more competitive and don’t encourage as much collaboration. In addition to collaboration with students there is also collaboration with thought leaders and change agents from all over the globe. This world-wide network is what makes The Sustainable Innovation MBA program the #1 Green MBA in America.

Another aspect of The Sustainable Innovation MBA program that I really enjoy is the focus on finding and developing passion. In our Leadership Seminar class with Joe Fusco we have learned that passion is one of the keys to great leadership. Life is filled with problems and, instead of fighting them and fearing them, we need to embrace them. Leaders love problems. A person needs to find problems that they enjoy solving every day. Another key aspect of leadership is being committed. A leader should be so passionate about their job that they wouldn’t quit even if they won the lottery. In order to find and develop this passion The Sustainable Innovation MBA program has created a career launch program where we get to listen to successful CEO’s, set SMART goals, refine our mission and vision, job shadow, attend career counseling sessions as well as attend conferences about sustainability.

I feel lucky and happy every single day to be a part of The Sustainable Innovation MBA program. I find learning about entrepreneurship, sustainability, and innovation fascinating. During one of the Sustainability Toolkit sessions we had the privilege of listening to Sherwood Smith, the Senior Executive Director for Engagement & Professional Development at UVM, talk to us about privilege/bias. This Toolkit Session inspired me to refine my personal vision. My vision is to see people of all ages and cultures come together unified and empowered by sharing the belief that they hold the power to solve the world’s greatest social and environmental problems on an individual level.

We believe business can change the world and, capitalism — disrupted and reinvented — is a force for the economic, environmental, and social change necessary to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

Out of this belief, The Sustainable Innovation MBA was created to build the next generation of business leaders who will build, disrupt, innovate, and reinvent sustainable business and enterprises in a world that demands it.

Related Post: “Now, More Than Ever”

With each new cohort arriving on campus we are struck by two things: first, the diversity of experiences and backgrounds in our students, often reaching beyond business, and second, that these students have passionately and intentionally chosen business as a vehicle to change the world.

So, we were pleased — but not surprised — to find this interesting take on the growing attraction among millennials to enter the business world as agents of change. In an article in GreenBiz entitled, “Is business the new destination for millennial activists?“:

“According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 76 percent of millennials view business positively and believe that it has a positive impact on society. The widespread criticism of big business, once so intrinsic to college campuses, is also on the decline with a 16 percent drop since 2015.

“Talented and passionate young people who almost certainly would have gone into the nonprofit or public sector just a generation ago are now more likely to join a mission-driven business.”

The University of Vermont’s one-year Sustainable Innovation MBA was designed from the ground up to challenge the traditional MBA. We enlisted some of the greatest leaders in the field to design and shape our program.

The result? We’ve fundamentally reinvented business education and the MBA degree to address directly the core challenges we face– environment, ethics, poverty and inequality—through the lens of enterprise and entrepreneurship.  In just twelve months, you receive an accredited MBA degree, which includes not only the basic MBA toolkit, but also the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to transform today’s business and create tomorrow’s truly mission-driven, inclusive, and sustainable enterprises.

If you, too, believe in the power of business to change the world, won’t you join us?

Photo: Lisa Carver, KuliKuli Foods.

This post was written by Shari Siegel ’18

L. Hunter Lovins, the dynamic President and Founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, recently spent the day with The Sustainable Innovation MBA Class of 2018. Sporting her signature Stetson hat, Ms. Lovins shared the story of the evolution of her career as a pioneer in sustainable development, and using market-based solutions to forge a better future for ourselves and the planet.

Ms. Lovins first came to prominence as one of the co-authors of the book Natural Capitalism, which was later summarized in the Harvard Business Review. It was the first major publication to posit that the value of the “services” provided by the earth’s ecosystem (such as forests that provide water storage and habitats) were not being accounted for when assessing the costs of natural resources extraction or other economic activity. She and her co-authors, Amory Lovins and Paul Hawken, argued persuasively that the companies that incorporated this insight into their own business plans would improve both the health of the planet and their own bottom lines.

Continue reading “Innovator in Residence: Hunter Lovins”

This post was written by Bianca Mohn, SEMBA ’16

When we hear the words “climate change,” so often what comes to mind is negative. Images of dry, barren fields, polar bears desperately clinging to melting ice caps, Donald Trump as he fiercely denies its existence – you get the picture. These associations are well ingrained in our conceptualization of climate change as an overwhelming monster of destruction that we would rather not think about. This mindset carries over to the corporate world with businesses not addressing climate change in their strategic planning, preferring instead to focus on other “more pressing” priorities.

Climate change is terrifying in the big picture. But it does us no good to run away in fear of the changes and to avoid addressing it all together. We need a new way of thinking about climate change, a mindset that recognizes the challenges yet is motivated to act. What if, for instance, climate change was viewed as an opportunity rather than as a threat? What if companies included climate change in their strategic planning as a way to increase their performance and not just as a risk assessment?

Some companies are already embracing this new way of thinking about climate change. For five months I worked as a sustainability strategy consultant for Interface Inc., a global carpet manufacturer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Interface has a long history of sustainable thinking that began when the founder Ray Anderson had an epiphany on how business can make a positive impact in 1994. He challenged his company to “Be the first company that, by its deeds, shows the entire world what sustainability is in all its dimensions: people, process, product, place and profits – and in doing so, become restorative through the power of influence.” Since then Interface has been working towards its Mission Zero goals to have a net zero impact on the environment by 2020. Interface is poised to meet its 2020 goals, and is now working on the next chapter of its sustainability agenda.

Here is where the new thinking on climate change comes in. Interface has announced a new initiative called Climate Take Back, an ambitious strategy to work towards reversing climate change by 2050. Climate Take Back has four platforms – “Live Zero” to continue operating with a zero net impact on the environment, “Love Carbon” to use carbon as a resource to build and to create, “Let Nature Cool” to let nature do its job without any interference from the company, and “Lead the Industrial Re-revolution” to inspire other companies to create new business models. As the sustainability strategy consultant, I created frameworks to help Interface identify the goals for each platform, articulate what success looks like for Climate Take Back overall and for the four platforms, and delivered recommendations for key strategies, metrics, timelines, stakeholders, external partners, and how to engage employees. In everything, the question was how climate change will provide opportunities for Interface to improve its products, operations, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, profits, and external relationships.

What I learned through this experience is that there are so many opportunities around climate change that other companies are overlooking. Take carbon, for instance. The rhetoric around carbon emissions is usually focused on the increasingly dangerous levels of CO2 and the rising global temperatures. The Scientific American featured an article by Scott Waldman in March 2017 which featured the headline “Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Hits Record Levels” followed by “It marks five consecutive years of CO2 increases of at least 2 parts per million, an unprecedented rate of growth.” Fear is a natural reaction to reading this, followed by a sense that the problem is too enormous to even begin to tackle. Intimidating as these facts may be, we need the science and facts, particularly in the post-fact world that we seem to be living in. But we also need hope, creativity, and resourcefulness. We need more companies like Interface who look at rising CO2 levels and resolve to make their products out of carbon neutral and carbon negative materials by 2050. We need business leaders to recognize that social and environmental effects of climate change will inevitably impact their businesses, and that now is the time to innovate around the challenges and opportunities that climate change will bring.

We also need to educate future business leaders to look at climate change through the lens of opportunity. I graduated with a MBA focused in sustainability from the University of Vermont’s Sustainable Entrepreneurship MBA (SEMBA) program. The program integrated sustainability into every class, from marketing to finance to operations. This program teaches students how to look at world issues such as climate change, poverty, inequality and ethics, and to see how business can make a positive impact. This mindset should not be exclusive to niche educational experiences, but instead the type of thinking that all business students should be trained in. Companies should then be eager to recruit and hire these types of thinkers to form creative and innovative teams.

At the end of the day, climate change is the future and context of opportunity. What is needed is less of “climate change is not my problem and I can’t do anything to fix it” thinking and more of “what can I do and what can my company do to maximize the opportunities from climate change by making a positive impact?” When individuals and companies redefine a threat as an opportunity, it makes space for innovation, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and connection. If we can work towards this with climate change, then our world will be a healthier and happier place to be.