Lead The Change

#106: Michael Vandenbergh

Beyond Politics-The Private Sector Steps Up on Climate Change: A Conversation with Michael Vandenbergh

Michael Vandenbergh points out that 70% of us think that companies should be doing more on climate change. The good news, as he also points in his new book, is that the private sector is rising to that challenge.

Beyond Politics: The Private Governance Response to Climate Change makes the case that the private sector can fill the environmental gap created by partisan politics. Vandenbergh and co-author Jonathan Gilligan highlight the emissions reduction initiatives of prominent firms like Hewlett Packard and Mars, Inc., and they call for further corporate action on a low-carbon future.

Vandenbergh, the David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law at Vanderbilt University and director of its Climate Change Research Network, figures that the private sector can eliminate a billion tons of carbon emissions each year over the next decade. As he says, it’s a number that would matter.

The Bard MBA’s Sarah Hutcherson spoke with Vandenbergh about his his work and Beyond Politics for the Impact Report.

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ImpactReportPodcast.com

#105: Casey Grey

“Conscious” Construction Builds Better Homes: A Conversation With Casey Grey of the Conscious Builder

Casey Grey argues that you may not be able to build or renovate a home 100% sustainably, but
that you can do it 100% consciously.

Through his company, The Conscious Builder, Grey advocates making “conscious” construction
decisions to create a positive, lasting change. He and his team focus on building and renovating
homes that are cheaper to operate, better for the environment, more comfortable, and healthier
for the families who live in them.

And Grey practices what he preaches. His own home is net zero, producing at least as much
energy as it consumes, and is built to the energy efficiency standards of the Passive House
Institute—although, as he explained to the Bard MBA’s Sven Thiessen, it also features a big rain
showerhead in the master bathroom.

Thiessen spoke with Grey for The Impact Report about the costs of sustainable versus traditional
construction, how he’s grown the company, and what he sees as the future of the industry.

Impactreportpodcast.com

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#104 Luke Truman

How Allagash Brews Sustainable Practices into its Operations: A Conversation With Luke Truman 

The grain is just one way it's closing the loop. Portland’s Allagash Brewing Company has committed to purchasing 1 million pounds of Maine-grown and -processed grain by 2021. And three days a week, a local farmer stops by the brewery to pick up spent grain, which he uses as feed for his cows.

Allagash demonstrates that same commitment to sustainability throughout its operations. From the cold Maine air that it uses to cool its largest refrigerated space, to the waste carbon dioxide (CO2) it captures from the brewing process and repurposes to keep head pressure on its tanks, the company sees sustainability potential in every aspect of its processes.

The Bard MBA's Carolyn Pincus spoke recently with Allagash's sustainability lead, Luke Truman, about the brewery’s many initiatives — and about how the company manages its relationship with industry regulators. Born and raised in Wyoming, Truman's been handling sustainability work at Allagash for over five years, and running the program for 2.5 years. 

Impactreportpodcast.com

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#103 Anne de Carbuccia

 

Making Art, Making Change: A Conversation With Anne de Carbuccia

“I wish to illuminate the damage, the breakage, the fragmentation. Somehow, if I can make it beautiful, I can make it one again.”

Anne de Carbuccia is a French-American environmental artist working to document the effects of climate change. She first became interested in the era of human beings as a geological force, the Anthropocene, while studying Art History and Anthropology at Columbia University.

De Carbuccia has spent the past five years traveling to the most extreme places on earth, creating photographs that capture human-caused threats to the environment, including water scarcity, pollution, and species extinction. In 2014, she established the Time Shrine Foundation to raise awareness and protect vulnerable species, environments and cultures. Her permanent One Planet One Future exhibitions in New York and Milan serve as centers for education, collaboration and community and are free and open to the public.

Sustainability strategist, media expert and Bard MBA alum Amy Kalafa, spoke with Anne de Carbuccia in January about her work for the Impact Report.

 

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impactreportpodcast.com

#102 Tom Szaky

Eliminating the Idea of Waste - A conversation with Tom Szaky, CEO & Founder of TerraCycle

 

"Why does waste even exist?" That’s the question at the heart of TerraCycle’s own existence. Since 2001, the company has been taking hard-to-recycle waste and turning it into raw material for use in new products. It operates in over 20 countries and engages over 60 million people.

2017 marked a period of significant growth for the relentlessly innovative company. TerraCycle had its first acquisition, placing it on the path to going public. It’s leveraging the JOBS Act to crowdsource for equity. And it’s partnering with major organizations such as Proctor & Gamble (P&G), Mars, Nestlé and Unilever to generate ultra-durable packaging forms that’ll be owned by the manufacturer and merely loaned to the consumer.

In December 2017, Bard MBA’s Alistair Hall spoke with Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, about the company’s plans for growth and all the ways in which it continues to work toward eliminating the idea of waste in our world.

impactreportpodcast.com

 

 

#101 Dan Zarrilli

New York City Takes on Big Oil - A conversation with Dan Zarrilli, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of New York. 

On January 10^th, New York City became the first major US city to announce that the City’s $189 billion pension funds would divest City funds from fossil fuel reserve owners within five years.  Currently, the City’s five pension funds hold approximately $5 billion in securities from over 190 fossil fuel companies.

To learn more about this, Bard MBA’s, Cindy Wasser spoke with Dan Zarrilli, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of New York.

You can learn more about this and other steps New York City is taking to mitigate Climate Change by visiting www1.nyc.gov

impactreportpodcast.com

S05 EP 08: Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power

Vermont’s Green Mountain Power obsesses on its customers. Under the leadership of CEO Mary Powell, it has radically restructured, positioning itself as an energy transformation company focused on meeting the needs of consumers with integrated, cutting-edge services that help them use less energy and save money.

In the process, the utility has become the first to help its ratepayers go off the grid, the first to offer residential solar customers the Tesla Powerwall battery and the first and only utility to achieve B Corp certification. And consumers have responded. Green Mountain Power has grown from serving 88,000 customers in 2008 to serving over 260,000 today, with revenues of more than $640 million and $2 billion in assets.

Last month, the Bard MBA’s Meghan Altman talked with Powell about the company’s transformative vision and where she sees the future of the energy system.

Powell has served as president and CEO of Green Mountain Power since 2008 and she’s been the backbone of its comprehensive restructuring and service quality improvement. In 2014, Powell was recognized by POWER-GEN as the Woman of the Year. In 2016, Fast Company named her one of the 100 most creative people in business and in 2017 CEO Connection designated her one of the top 25 most influential women of the mid-market.

S05 EP 07: Thomas Singer, The Conference Board

Transitioning to the Circular Economy: Thomas Singer Profiles Seven Companies Making the Shift

Thomas Singer felt that there was already plenty of good writing about the theory behind the circular economy. So, when he and his Conference Board colleagues thought about what they wanted to contribute to the conversation, they focused on case studies: “real, practical examples of companies that have been involved in these types of initiatives.”

The resulting 2017 report, Business Transformation and the Circular Economy: A Candid Look at Risks and Rewards, profiles the strategies and successes of seven companies at the forefront of the transition to an economy based on recovery, reunse and regeneration.

Bard MBA student Carolyn Pincus spoke recently with Singer about his work and what he learned about why companies like Philips and Waste Management are increasingly pursuing circular economy initiatives.

Thomas Singer is a Principle Researcher in corporate leadership at the Conference Board. His work focuses on CSR and sustainability issues, and he’s the author of numerous other publications, including the comprehensive sustainability benchmarking report, Sustainability Practices.

 

S05 EP 06: Kim Falkenhayn, Okabashi Shoes

When “Made in America” Means “Made Sustainably”

Currently, fewer than 2% of shoes worn in the United States are made here. Most are
manufactured overseas by a labor force that works in conditions that would not be acceptable for
American workers.
In contrast, Okabashi, a family-owned and operated footwear manufacturer, makes all of its
shoes in America, employing more than 200 people at its factory and headquarters in Buford,
GA. As a result, its flip flops, sandals and clogs travel almost 10,000 fewer miles than the
average imported shoe, substantially reducing their carbon footprint.
The Bard MBA’s Cory Skuldt recently spoke with Kim Falkenhayn, the company’s President,
about the challenges and opportunities presented by Okabashi’s commitment both to local
manufacturing and to closed-loop recycling.

S05 EP 05: Nick Silver, Author & Co-Founder of Climate Bonds Initiative

Using Finance to Shatter the Fossil Fuel Economy

Nick Silver — actuary, economist and onetime mainstream finance professional — understands the consequences of the financial system continuing in its current form. Which is why his new book, "Finance, Society and Sustainability: How to Make the Financial System Work for the Economy, People and Planet," argues that to avoid collateral damage to the economy, society and the environment, we need to re-engineer the system.

Silver is also the managing director of Callund Consulting, a specialist consultancy that advises developing country governments on social insurance. He has advised the U.N., U.K. and EU on carbon markets, climate finance in developing countries and managing risk from climate change. 

Bard MBA faculty member Kathy Hipple spoke recently with Silver about his background in finance and how it led him to write his book. Their conversation explores both the book and Silver's work with Climate Bonds Initiative, which Silver co-founded to mobilize the $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.