Sustainability in the Mason School of Business
On Friday, I attended the Mason School of Business’s staff & faculty lunch christening the new Miller Hall and the new semester. The main focus of the event was sustainability at Mason, and it was fantastic to see such dedication from the school’s administration not just to celebrate their new environmentally-friendly (and absolutely gorgeous!) work space, but to advocate for sustainability making its way into every member of the business school’s daily work and routine. Dean Larry Pulley pushed for each person in the room to pick one thing to make more sustainable in their daily lives; his own was deciding not to print the meeting’s agenda for everyone in the room!
Chris Adkins, the director of Mason’s undergraduate program, finished the event with the announcement that Adam Werbach, the CEO of global sustainability marketing firm Saatchi & Saatchi S, will be speaking at W&M in the coming weeks. He also laid out his plan for more fully incorporating sustainability into Mason’s curriculum, research, and everyday activities, including the adoption of Saatchi’s Do One Thing (D.O.T.) initiative for all undergraduate business majors.
Sounds like it’s going to be a great year for sustainability in Mason! I’ll keep you updated with their progress and the events they’ll be hosting over the coming months. In the meantime, I highly recommend Adam Werbach’s new book, Strategy for Sustainability. It’s a great overview of organizational/institutional long-term planning for sustainability, and an excellent primer to making sure that your business or group is heading along a sustainable path.
