On Friday, Net Impact released its 2013 Business as UNusual guide, the most current and comprehensive ranking of 108 of the world’s MBA programs with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability in their curricula, activities, career services and operations.
Presidio Graduate School came out on top in the Sustainability category, earning the #1 slot; in the other category, Social Impact, Presidio is #3, tied with Yale University. Way to go, Presidians! The Business as UNusual guide represents over 3,300 student voices from across the globe ranking their own programs, with 98 percent of Presidio students surveyed satisfied with the social and environmental themes in our curriculum and 94 percent satisfied with the extracurricular programming offered at Presidio.
The first student response number is important feedback for Presidio’s administration. We believe the curriculum we offer is one of the best in the world and is designed to prepare you for the impact careers you seek. We are always working to ensure our course content and program activities will best prepare you to be both skilled and enterprising leaders prepared to take on today’s (and tomorrow’s) most pressing sustainability challenges. Operational excellence and sustainability values; both/and.
The second number, regarding extracurriculars at Presidio, is evidence of our engaged student body and our students’ willingness to dive in, shake things up and make a difference in the world. As you know, clubs at Presidio are student-organized and student-led. What you get out of club membership is directly related to what you put in. Your energy and participation are impressive, and contagious.
This year’s Net Impact ranking is a testament to the quality and influence of our unique educational model, integrating sustainability throughout our curriculum and student experience. But our model is not meant to be proprietary; it’s meant to be open source. More and more programs are trying to do what we do. And that’s great. We imagine one day all management programs, and all education for that matter, will offer fully integrated curricula where sustainability principles and frameworks are the bedrock, not an add-on. Our students and alumni are helping further this by demonstrating the positive impact – financial, social and environmental — of incorporating sustainable management principles into each and every business and public administration decision.
Finally, kudos to our Net Impact Chapter leaders, Ayaka Emoto (C15) and Emma Allison (C17), who followed Bobby Coucoules (C14) and Inna Volynskaya (C13) in engaging with the student body around the good work of Net Impact. Your Net Impact chapter leaders, working with Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development Mitchell Friedman, are largely responsible for the school profile in the Net Impact guide. No small task. Many thanks. And congratulations!
