Lead The Change

Cooperating to Bring the Good: A Conversation with Jonathan Reinbold 

In 1988, a handful of Midwest family farmers fed up with the state of American agriculture gathered at the Viroqua, WI courthouse to talk about doing farming differently. Thirty years later, the farmer-owned cooperative they started, Organic Valley, represents more than 2,000 farmers in 34 US states and achieved $1.1 billion in 2018 sales.

Building on its founding mission of saving family farms through organic farming, Organic Valley has embraced a wide range of sustainability initiatives. It has committed to switching all of its remaining fossil fuel-based electricity to renewables by this year. It keeps the distance its milk travels as short as possible via a regional distribution model that includes a biofuel-powered fleet. And its Grassmilk products use dairy from 100% grass-fed cows, promoting animal and soil health, and sequestering C02.

Bard MBA alum Ben Volk spoke with Organic Valley’s then Senior Manager of Sustainabiltiy Jonathan Reinbold in the fall of 2018. They talked about the company’s cooperative business model, its new community solar initiative, and the future of the industry as a whole.

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Canvas is on a mission to create a world of superhealthy people: A conversation with founder, Sarah Pool.

Sarah is the Co-Founder & CEO of Canvas, a healthy beverage company committed to improving individual and global health through functional nutrition and innovative technology applications. Sarah is the former Founder/CEO of Pacific Superfood Snacks, later acquired by Made In Nature. Sarah is a graduate of UC-Berkeley (M.A., B.A.).

Canvas is creating a new category of functional health beverages for improving the microbiome. Utilizing plants and science, our beverages are designed to optimize digestion and overall well-being.

Canvas is driven by a dynamic, intelligent, and passionate team committed to improving individual and global health through functional nutrition, innovative technology applications, and better food systems.

Their mission is to create a world of superhealthy people.

Partnering with VX Ventures and InBev, Canvas is using new technology to utilize spent brewers grain in their beverages.  This process will prevent billions of pounds of grain from being discarded each year and will provide a nutritious drink option to people worldwide.  

Bard MBA Alum Alexander Lykins spoke with Sarah in Fall 2018 about entrepreneurship in the food industry and how upcycling spent brewers grain is a game changer for the industry.

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Investing in Peace Through Innovation: A Conversation with Shiva Sarram of the Blossom Hill Foundation

A world where conflict-affected children thrive. The vision of the Blossom Hill Foundation drives its mission to invest in solution-driven initiatives for refugees and internally displaced communities.

Over the last nine years, the Foundation has supported almost 56,000 war-affected children in 10 countries by funding breakthrough ideas through its Fellowship program. It invests in products like apps that teach literacy, projects such as STEM education centers near refugee camps, and programs like art, music and sports therapy that help refugee children develop critical life skills.

Fellowships offer up to $50,000 per year to fund innovative projects. Fellows must demonstrate their commitment to social change, as well as the need for and potential impact of their idea.

Bard MBA student Esra Elshafey spoke with Blossom Hill founder Shiva Sarram about the work of some of its current fellows and how the Foundation measures impact. Sarram was born and raised in Tehran during the devastating Iran-Irag war and has resided in the US since the early 1980s. Her passion for war-affected children as well as her education in economic development led her to the Blossom Hill vision.  

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SUSTAINABILITY IN SPORTS: Conversations with Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, Rocky Harris and Kaitlin Sandeno

According to Forbes the sports industry’s projected worth is to grow to over $70 billion this year.   In January 2019, the New York Yankees became the first sports team in history to create the position of Environmental Science Advisor to its staff.  The legendary sports franchise chose Dr. Allen Hershkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council, ex-President of the Green Sports Alliance and Founding Director of Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI) for this role.  

Bard MBA student Alexandra Criscuolo, an athlete in her own right, spoke with Dr. Hershkowitz, Rocky Harris, CEO of USA Triathlon and Olympic gold medalist in swimming, Kaitlin Sandeno about sustainability in sports and how the field is primed to move fans and society toward a more sustainable future beyond the sporting arena.

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Taking the Trash Out of Takeout: Durham, NC’s GreenToGo

Imagine checking out a takeout container like you would a library book. Instead of a Styrofoam clamshell that you have to throw out, you’d get a reusable box that you’d return for cleaning and redistribution to another diner.

That’s the idea behind Durham, NC’s GreenToGo reusable takeout container service, which operates in local restaurants. Members use the GreenToGo mobile app to check out a reusable box for their takeout or leftovers from participating restaurant. Once they’re done with the box, they drop it back off, and it gets sanitized and returned, ready for the next customer.

GreenToGo's mission is to disrupt the status quo of our take-and-trash economy, and to inspire and proliferate the circular economy everywhere. Since its launch in 2017, its containers have been used over 2,000 times, and it’s been featured in Fast Company and on the PBS NewsHour.

Bard MBA alum Amy Campbell Bogie spoke with GreenToGo Founder Crystal Dreisbach about the heartfelt letter that launched the service, the factors that have contributed to its success, and being a solutionary.

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