Read about the highlights of the 2023-24 HBA Sustainability Certificate classes fall events – the Live Case and Annual Field Day.
The HBA Sustainability Certificate has had a sensational kick-off. With this year’s theme, The Future We Make, guiding programming, HBA2 and HBA3 students have begun their immersion in the world of sustainability.
Live Case Event
The first event kicked off with Ivey professors Krista Pettit and Mazi Raz sharing about ‘future-making’ and the theory behind how students can begin to create their own futures. This cohort’s live case was on Microsoft and presented by two of their own – EMBA alumnus Pat Lo and current EMBA student Yasmine Abdelhady. The guests talked about Microsoft’s bold ambitions to be carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030. The group also discussed harnessing AI for sustainable progress and the balancing act that corporate sustainability is. Caroline Williams, ‘Head Rebel’ and Founder of Do Good Only, closed the afternoon with a story about her journey bringing accessibility, equity and ethics to the tech sector.
Field Day
The Certificate’s second day of events opened with a presentation from Mark Fisher, President and CEO of the Council of the Great Lakes Region. Mark discussed the work that his organization is doing to encourage collaboration to protect one of the world’s most critical freshwater resources, the Great Lakes. He also shared about the complexities of running a binational, multi-stakeholder organization. Next, students heard from Robin Teigland on the role of serendipity in the circular economy.
The group boarded the bus to visit the TerraOptima Labs headquarters. Founded by HBA ‘21 alumni Will Wang and Dan Nejman, TerraOptima is leveraging nature and technology to transform food waste into enhanced soils, and to grow more food, more sustainably. Through experimentation at the headquarters, students were exposed to the sheer power of worms and oyster mushrooms as catalysts for a sustainable future. Will and Dan shared how they turned their entrepreneurial drive into a thriving, impactful venture.
Upon return to the classroom, students heard from Heather Hachigian on ‘system hijacking’ and Piper Scott-Fiddler and Samantha Sage Martin-Ferris regarding their Lifegiver Box, a culturally inclusive innovation that won Western’s World Challenge Challenge. Students were also introduced to BIOSCAN, a data-driven biodiversity solution, by Paul Hebert, the developer of DNA barcoding.
Students snacked on Ivey-founded Zentein bars and listened to alumni Will Wang, Theresa Ebden, and Melanie Issett cap off the day with a careers panel where they got into the nitty-gritty of life after Ivey. This group has worked in a variety of sectors, including entrepreneurship, strategy, ESG, and research and had diverse experiences to share. The panellists left the students with simple challenges to embed sustainability into their lives. Melanie encouraged the group to track their personal ESG data while Will pushed students to “grow something themselves,” whether it be a plant, vegetable, or otherwise.
Interested in being a part of the Certificate in your HBA 2/3 year? Click here for more information.
