草榴社区

Bringing together a commitment to lifelong learning with a passion for sustainability, 草榴社区 announces the launch of SEED鈥擲ustainable Enterprise Executive Education & Development. Combining the leadership expertise of faculty from the highly ranked 草榴社区 School of Business with the technical knowledge of professors in the College of Engineering鈥檚 first-of-its-kind Sustainable Engineering program, SEED is for experienced professionals interested in creating value by designing and incorporating sustainability practices into their business environments.

鈥淭he time is ripe for this program,鈥� says SEED Director Victoria Minerva 鈥�13 MSSE, 鈥�17 MBA. 鈥淎s we look at 2021 as the year of 鈥榖uilding back better,鈥� business leaders are being called to develop appropriate and effective strategies that address global challenges of sustainability.鈥�

Through five mini-courses, the SEED program promises to teach business and technical leaders how to maximize resources while designing robust sustainability programs that fuel productivity, innovation and profits within their organizations. Recognizing the challenges presented by the COVID era of shrinking resources and budgets, SEED will provide participants with tangible tools to drive growth, enhance reputation, reduce risks and cut costs looking through a sustainable enterprise lens.

鈥淒ebating whether to incorporate sustainability into your business strategy is no longer an option,鈥� explains SEED faculty lead Karl Schmidt who spent 28 years as an executive in environmental affairs, process excellence and global supply chain management at Johnson & Johnson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 no longer about being a nice thing to do for the environment; today sustainability is vital to an organization鈥檚 long-term success.鈥� Joining Schmidt in the virtual classroom are experienced business leaders Dr. Kathleen Iacocca and Theresa DeVries Narzikul, along with sustainable engineering expert William Lorenz.

SEED鈥檚 five online courses can be taken individually or as a series, which earns the participant a certificate at completion. The program begins on March 31, 2021, with 鈥淯nderstanding Sustainability and Making its Business Case.鈥� The remaining four courses are:

• Tackling Sustainability Frameworks with a Systems Mindset
• Designing Resilient Value Chains
• Developing Sustainability Strategy and Integrating Reporting
• Leaders as Drivers for Sustainability Engagement and Enterprise Transformation
  

Each course in the series meets three times over a period of two weeks for two hours per session.

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to offer SEED at this pivotal time,鈥� says Minerva. 鈥淎nd we look forward to learning from our participants, whom we encourage to bring their business challenges to class. The insights shared across industry sectors will be invaluable to everyone in the program.鈥�