Welcome to a new and exciting academic year at the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business!
Right out of the gate, in the last month alone: We hosted the eighth Carbon Reduction Challenge Final Expo, selected 30 new Undergraduate Ambassadors and Graduate Fellows (out of a record-high number of applications), celebrated the Scheller Net Impact MBA Chapter’s well-deserved “Graduate Chapter of the Year” designation, applauded Professor Robbie Moon’s timely new class on accounting and reporting for sustainable business (an outcome of our new educational innovation program), kicked off the 20th semester of the Sustainable Business Consulting Practicum (featuring projects hosted by Drawdown Georgia Business Compact members), contributed to the joint Georgia Tech - Oak Ridge National Laboratory publication on Southeastern decarbonization, and submitted a 100&Change MacArthur Foundation grant proposal on reducing energy insecurity in low-income households in partnership with multiple NGOs (a Drawdown Georgia-inspired collaboration). That’s quite a long sentence – but there’s more to come!
We are especially excited about launching a USDA grant-funded program, Georgia RISE: Resilience, Inclusion, Sustainability, and Equity in Emerging Forest Markets. Its goal is to create a Georgia-based voluntary carbon market that facilitates both investments from the private sector (such as members of the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact) and the participation of underserved forest landowners. This is a collaboration with the Georgia Forestry Foundation (lead organization), the University of Georgia, and other partners.
Receiving the RISE grant is a milestone for the Compact. This grant represents what the Compact was established to do: leverage the collective impact of the Georgia business community to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the state through a just, prosperous, and sustainable transition.
In the same vein, we will: continue to facilitate the work of the Compact’s clean electricity working group on collective renewable energy procurement mechanisms, organize a multi-stakeholder workshop on the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable aviation fuels (in collaboration with the Strategic Energy Institute and the School of Public Policy), and facilitate other emerging Compact projects that have the potential to receive state or federal investment as part of the historic cleantech investment boom in Georgia.
On the student success side, we are developing international engagement opportunities and will continue to expand the reach and impact of SUSTAIN-X, a program that mentors students interested in and passionate about creating startups with environmental and social impact.
With this work, we are delighted to be contributing to all areas of Scheller College’s BRICKS (Bridge, Ready, Insight, Connect, KNext, and Strong) initiatives and to the Education, Commercialization, and Research priorities of the Georgia Tech Sustainability Next Strategic Plan.
We are also excited that the Georgia Tech Transforming Tomorrow Campaign features Sustainability as one of its themes – please reach out to us if you would like to learn more about how you can help us meet our Campaign goals!
We also always welcome your excellent ideas and offers of involvement with our programs. We could not do our work without the support of our friends in the sustainability community at Georgia Tech, in the region, and beyond!
With gratitude,
Michael Oxman
Managing Director
Beril Toktay
Faculty Director