Lead The Change

A Behind-the-Scenes Account of McDonald's Sustainability Journey: An Interview with Bob Langert

Starting in the 1980s, McDonald’s was repeatedly challenged on hot-button social and environmental issues by powerful NGOs. It spent over a decade in defensive mode, as groups like Greenpeace and PETA demanded that the company rethink its approach to issues like packaging, animal welfare, deforestation, and nutrition. 

Eventually, though, the mega brand shifted to strategically solving issues with NGO partners. As it integrated sustainability into its core mission, it began to rebuild brand health with consumers.

Former McDonald’s VP of Sustainability Bob Langert recounts the company’s sustainability journey in his new book, The Battle to Do Good. It’s an insider’s view of the company’s highs and lows, as well as a guide to making business stronger and more relevant.

Bard MBA alum Ben Volk spoke with Langert about the company’s toughest challenges, how McDonald’s made the shift to integrating sustainability, and where it can continue to lead by example.

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Waste-less School Supplies: Wisdom Supply Co.’s Mission to Reduce Plastic Waste, An Interview with Founder, Heather Itzla

Unless you have school-age children, you may not realize that we’ve just come through the second biggest shopping season of the year. According to Deloitte’s July 2019 Back-to-School Survey, US shoppers will have spent $27.8 billion, or $519 per student, on everything from clothing to calculators. Of that, $6.1 billion will have gone to purchasing school supplies.

Heather Itzla reads that last figure and thinks plastic waste. Realizing how back-to-school shopping encourages the rote purchase of disposable plastics, Itzla and partner Nicole Kozlowski founded Wisdom Supply Co. to provide affordable, zero-waste alternatives to most school supplies.

The company’s paper-covered binders are 100% recyclable. Its refillable dry erase markers feature aluminum barrels and replaceable nibs. Its highlighters are made of wood and wax. Plus, Wisdom Supply Co. has been a B Corp since its 2017 launch.

Impact Report producer Katie Ellman spoke with Itzla about the company’s origin story, how it designs its products, and why affordability is a key component of its mission.

The Impact Report brings together students and faculty in Bard’s MBA in Sustainability program with leaders in business, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

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Rethinking Wealth & Investing for Impact: A conversation with Matthew Weatherley-White,Co-Founder of Caprock

The principal architect of Caprock’s Impact Investing Platform and the creator of the now-independent impact reporting platform iPAR,Matthew is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in the discipline, most recently being honored as an Industry Pioneer. In addition to keynoting conferences and lecturing at leading business schools around the world, he serves as a strategic advisor to several Impact Investing funds, and has appeared in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance TV, International Business Daily, Bloomberg Business Week, Journal of Philanthropy, Forbes, Conscious Company, The New York Times, Financial Times and many more. More recently, he successfully shepherded two pieces of legislation through the Idaho Statehouse, the first authorizing Pay For Success Contracting and the second awarding legal status to businesses structured as Benefit Corporations.

Prior to co-founding Caprock, Matthew was a partner in The Owyhee Group, a boutique advisory team within Smith Barney. During his thirteen years with the company, he was a member of Citigroup’s elite Leadership Development Program and helped craft the firm’s Private Wealth Management platform. Matthew graduated from Dartmouth College, has competed internationally in five different sports and continues to serve as a Director for the Lee Pesky Learning Center, an organization he helped launch 20 years ago. 

Bard MBA’s Emma Jenkinsspoke with Matthew in the fall of 2018 about his career journey, investing for impact and the advice he would give to someone just starting out in the field.  

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The Blue, Green and Orange Economies Merge in St. Lucia’s Sustainable Development Agenda: A Conversation with Dr. Gale Rigobert

Dr. Gale TC Rigobert made history in 2014 by becoming the youngest and first female Leader of the Opposition in St. Lucia. Then in 2016, when her United Workers Party won the federal election, she was appointed Minister of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development for the Eastern Caribbean island nation.

Passionate about the ways in which policy, education and innovation intersect in sustainable development, Rigobert works to leverage business to protect the wellbeing of St. Lucians.  As she remarks, for St. Lucia, sustainable development is about “the urgent need for survival.”

Bard MBA student Jesse Gerstin spoke with Rigobert about the role of the private sector in sustainable development and her approach to “people-centered” engagement.

The Impact Report brings together students and faculty in Bard’s MBA in Sustainability program with leaders in business, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

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Building a Brighter, More Equitable World: A Conversation with Dory Trimble of the Honnold Foundation

“There’s no point supporting environmental causes that don’t support standards of living to help people.” Adventure rock climber Alex Honnold came to that realization in 2010, when he traveled to Chad on an expedition. Struck by local communities’ lack of access to power, Honnold began to think about how he could impact global inquality while addressing climate change. 

Two years later, when Honnold and fellow climber Maury Birdwell founded the Honnold Foundation, they came to another realization: solar power is the solution. Today, the Foundation addresses inequality by supporting solar energy initiatives worldwide. It awards grants to bold and ethical organizations driving innovation in the solar industry.

Bard MBA alum Sam Monkarsh spoke with Honnold Foundation Executive Director Dory Trimble about the Foundation’s mission, how the organization has evolved, and why it focuses on solar. 

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