Presidian Blog
Our Ongoing Equity and Social Justice Journey
Last year, Presidio Graduate School (PGS) announced its Initiative for Equity & Social Justice with a mission to leverage the PGS student body, faculty, and partnerships to collaborate and create thought leadership, research, and programs on equity and social justice. While we could not have predicted the events of 2020, much of which put racial …
Using Radical Alignment to Design Sustainability-Focused Organizations
PGS alum and bestselling author Bob Gower helps organizations design and build future-ready systems. He is an authority on lean, agile, and responsive organization design, and has worked with Ford, Spotify, GE, and many others. He teaches communication skills alongside his wife, Alexandra Jamieson. Bob is the author of Agile Business, and Bob and Alexandra …
How Big Business and Environmentalists Align in This Crisis
Big business and environmentalists are often pitted against each other. While distrust and resentment may often exist between the two groups, there is actually an abundance of win-win solutions that improve financial performance through better environmental practices—many of which have been demonstrated in these uncertain times. The old Milton Friedman adage states that “the social …
Alumnus Eric Raymond: Building Equity in the Outdoors with Innovative Leadership
Main image of Jimmy Chin, Team Athlete & Academy Award-Winning Director. Photo by Savannah Cummins. In our Changemakers in Action series, we meet dedicated sustainability and social justice leaders and learn how they are bringing about positive change. Today, we’re sharing our conversation with PGS alum Eric Raymond, who leads social impact and advocacy for …
Why All Business Schools Should Mainstream Sustainability
The idea of mainstreaming sustainability has entered into my psyche over the past decade or more. I think about it when I remember graphs presented at board meetings at the Rocky Mountain Institute—bringing a certain practice to scale until it reaches a tipping point and becomes adopted by a particular industry or society as a …
Embedding Agriculture in Nature Is Beneficial for Biodiversity and Business
Since the publication of Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” and Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” our skies have become increasingly silent; our oceans, lakes, and rivers are increasingly empty. Research suggests we are fast approaching the disastrous effects of this sixth extinction, geologically referred to as the Anthropocene. By embedding agriculture in nature, however, we …
Achieving Racial Equity Is Integral to Sustainability
We are observing that sustainability and impact professionals are starting to address racial justice as a part of their work more consistently. Today, we hear from guest blogger Alice Korngold, author, thought leader and President & CEO of Korngold Consulting, who shares her perspectives on why racial equity is fundamental to achieving sustainability. The 2030 …
Philanthropy and Racial Equity: Shifting Focus
As part of the ongoing work we are doing at Presidio Graduate School (PGS) in the area of equity and social justice, we are hosting an event where we will explore the intersection of racial equity and philanthropy. Corporations and foundations have recently pledged billions of dollars to combat racial equity and justice issues. The …
Sitting at the Intersection of Inclusion and Impact
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Melynnie Rizvi who is Deputy General Counsel and Senior Director of Employment, Inclusion, and Impact at SurveyMonkey. Melynnie holds a powerful role which includes leading both diversity and sustainability. We talked about her journey in this work and some of the important things she …
Climate Change in Every Course at Presidio Graduate School
As COVID-19 rages around the world and antiracists agitate against police brutality, climate change remains the existential threat in the background. It may not always be the breaking news story or the latest viral video, as has been the case with the recent series of devastating wildfires on the West Coast, but its disastrous impacts …