Presidian Blog
HIP Investor CEO R. Paul Herman teaches how to be an impact investor
HIP Investor’s CEO R. Paul Herman has an inspiring message for young people: you don’t have to choose; you can do good and make money. It’s this message Mr. Herman recently underscored when teaching a PresidioPRO Master Class on Impact Investing April 16. Paul is an internationally recognized expert in impact investing. In 2004, he …
How to Help the GDP Grow Up
Presidio Graduate School hosted a symposium ‘Outgrowing GDP: A New Approach to America’s Accounting System’ at Bloomberg LP yesterday, off Pier 3 near the Ferry Building. The half-day event included a mixed panel of current and former students and professors, each with a unique area of study relating to this country’s preferred financial barometer, GDP. …
Closing the Gender Gap through Summer Camp
Phenomenally underrepresented behind the camera, women make up only about 20% of key roles in the motion picture and television industry. This translates to roughly 4.8 males working behind-the-scenes to every one female. Sadly, in media aimed at children the gender gap is even worse. From 2006 to 2009, not one female character was depicted …
Outgrowing GDP: An Imperfect Measure Misses What Matters
In sports, it’s easy to figure out whether a team is ahead or behind: You just need to look at points, runs or goals scored. If only another score keeping measure—the one used to determine a country’s economic well-being—gave us such clear results. Instead, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) provides a “score” that’s inaccurate or incomplete …
Work Placements Change MBA Candidate’s Thinking
Mara Slade has always been concerned about the environment. She cared about sustainability and even had a couple of Paul Hawken books lying around. But after immersing herself in an MBA program with a deeply embedded systems sustainability focus, Slade considers herself “totally transformed.” “I’ve been exposed to so many great thinkers,” she says. “Really, …
MPA Program offers chance to move from reflection to action
“Action is at the heart of sustainability,” says one Presidio Graduate School student who has been moved from thinking about sustainability to acting on it. “It’s all good and well to talk about it, but doing something is more important,” Karin Meyer says. As Meyer prepares to finish her sixth semester and graduate from the …
Climate Stabilization: Jumpstarting a Movement
This weekend at Presidio Graduate School, fire was reinvented – the era of taking immediate and long-term action toward climate stabilization (CS) is well upon us. On a foggy Saturday in the Presidio, a multigenerational, multicultural, and multidisciplinary group of 17 students, practitioners, academics and activists discussed the current state of climate and reviewed different …
Darcie Renn Named Packard Environment Fellow
In 2004, Darcie Renn was a volunteer with the Peace Corps and teaching Chinese University students about a new policy tool called cap and trade. At the time, it was only an idea. Now, Darcie will be at the forefront of helping California implement the second-largest cap and trade program in the world. The Presidio …
Why Pay Attention to Life Cycle Assessment?
Sustainability work (and life) is full of vexing questions for which we have incomplete data but need to make decisions about today. As a consumer, do I hand wash or machine wash my dishes? As a manager, do I focus on the material of a product, or the energy it uses during its life? I …
Impact investing panel is mobilizing mainstream capital and more!
Impact Investing – More to the Story! On March 20th, Presidio Presents featured a panel of entrepreneurs at the leading edge of impact investing in conversation with Presidio President and CEO, William Shutkin. Prior to attending, I assumed the panel would indicate that traditional philanthropy and government resources alone will be unable to fully address …