Center for Education on Social Responsibility

About

CESR Stampede: A Week of Driving Values in Business

Ethics Are Discovered, Not Taught

Even routine decisions can have tremendous and often unseen potential to do harm or good—to colleagues, society, even the whole planet. Often, the most consequential decisions and actions seem routine at the time they’re made—just another day at the office.

That’s why CESR has re-defined ethics and social responsibility education. We make it personal. We don’t simply offer a class to teach rules handed down from philosophers or case studies about CEOs who lost their way.

We deliver an ongoing values development and self-discovery experience. It’s infused in all subject areas. It’s internalized by students through an ongoing process of action learning and unconventional classroom techniques. This applied approach is built into core curricula throughout the business school, highly unusual in academia.

Self-discovered values are more resilient than those that come from books. Once students discover their values, CESR illustrates how to protect and apply them. That requires critical thinking, every day. It requires constantly asking the right questions—stepping out of routine actions to anticipate consequences for colleagues, customers, organizations and society, and to create opportunities to do good.

Asking those questions is a constantly engaged risk management skill that’s highly valuable to business. Equally important, it’s a constantly-engaged mechanism for setting sights higher than compliance. And that often spurs creativity and innovation that creates social value as well as competitive advantage and financial returns for business.

Description

CESR is a curriculum initiative designed to prepare the students of tomorrow to meet the ethical business challenges of today. The current business world poses a highly competitive, globally connected environment which, to be successful, requires ample preparation. CESR is responsible for the infusion of values discussions throughout the required curriculum at the undergraduate level, and the offering of cutting-edge electives and social responsibility classes for MBA students.

The purpose of CESR

Key Offerings

BCOR 1010: “Introduction to Business”: a freshman-level course infused with discussions of values and the role of business in society
BCOR 3010: “Business Applications of Social Responsibility”: a course required of all juniors
CESR 4000: “Leadership Challenges: Exercises in Moral Courage”: an upper-division elective based on the visits of six high-level executives who present ethical dilemmas they have faced; students then present recommended resolutions to the executives
CESR 4005: “Business Solutions for the Developing World: Learning through Service”: an upper-division elective, which provides students the opportunity to develop proactive business strategies to make an impact on global poverty

Highlights

Establishing CESR as a center, now a defining program of the college
Expanding the CESR undergraduate program, which is unique among public universities
Establishing the Certificate in Socially Responsibility Enterprise (SRE)for undergraduate students
Continuing success of Introduction to Business, with four sections offered to business students and three summer sections for Arts and Sciences students
Continuing success of the junior-level-required BCOR3010 with 15 sections now offered
Continuing success of Leadership Challenges, which is rated the top course in the college in each of the three years it has been offered
Overseeing the development and implementation of the senior-level capstone classes in each division and infusing each with value discussions
Revising the MBA-level elective class on sustainability: “Topics in Sustainable Business”
Continuing success and expansion of the Leeds-wide Professional Mentorship Program, a two-year program beginning in Leeds students’ junior year
Hosting of the successful second annual Conscious Capitalism Conference

Conscious Capitalism Conference

The 4th Annual Conscious Capitalism Conference—Business Reinvented: Transforming Lives will take place Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at the beautiful Stadium Club on the CU Boulder campus. The Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR) at CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business hosts the conference which gathers business students from universities across our region, as well as attendees from the wider business community and non-profit arena, to learn how talented leaders have used the traditional tools of capitalism to serve social needs. The goal of the conference is to challenge and inspire tomorrow’s business leaders to fuse business fundamentals with service to the greater good.

This year, the conference is part of CESR Stampede: A Week of Driving Values in Business, a high-profile week of events featuring case competitions, classroom visits, speakers, panels and other special events related to CESR.

Registration

There are two types of tickets/registration. One is for students, faculty staff and guests of sponsoring institutions (CU, CSU, UNC, Regis University and UCCS and is no charge. The other ticket is for all others and the general public and is $50 which includes lunch and parking.

More Information

More information about the 2013 Conference

More information about the 2012 Conference

More information about the 2011 Conference

Values, Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Sustainability

The purpose of CESR, founded in 2007, is to advance the Leeds School’s commitment to preparing future leaders to confront the social, environmental, and ethical challenges, as well as the economic issues, faced by modern business. This mission is consistent with the intent of the Leeds family endowment that named our school.

CESR promotes the discussion of values and the role of business in society throughout the curriculum. It designs required and elective courses that challenge students to evaluate business behavior along environmental, social, and ethical dimensions. These courses ask students to decide what type of business leaders they will seek to be and the nature of businesses they will run. CESR is responsible for the required, foundational courses on social responsibility at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has developed key modules for these courses dedicated to discussion of social and environmental sustainability. In addition, CESR works with other departments and programs to develop and deliver sustainability content across the curriculum.

Values-Driven Entrepreneurs Building a Sustainable World

The Leeds School of Business has a long-standing commitment to sustainable business practices that stretches back more than 20 years. The Leeds School believes that environmental stewardship and social responsibility are consistent with running a profitable business. Indeed, a central message underlying the entrepreneurial emphasis of the school is that enormous opportunities exist to “do well by doing good” in environmental, social, and ethical terms, all while maintaining and enhancing economic sustainability.

The Leeds School’s overarching goal with its sustainability initiatives is to educate and inspire students to become values-driven leaders who create sustainable businesses and develop new innovative models that transform how we do business in all sectors. It is noteworthy that a broad array of Leeds’ business partners, such as the natural and organic products industry in Boulder, the sustainable real estate development community, and the burgeoning Colorado renewable energy industry, have all contributed significantly to the realization of this goal. In addition, local and nationally-recognized, values-driven business leaders are woven into the Leeds educational experience; students regularly engage with such leaders in the classroom and the workplace through projects, speaking engagements, and internships.

Leeds students benefit from the wide array of sustainability activities at CU-Boulder, which nicely complement their sustainability-oriented coursework at the Leeds School. The CU campus was recently named the #1 US green campus by Sierra Magazine; is top-ranked as a sustainable campus by the Sustainable Endowments Institute; and was selected to be an Ashoka Changemaker campus for its interdisciplinary program on social entrepreneurship.

A Collaborative Approach

Sustainability is a collaborative effort at the Leeds School, combining the efforts of the Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR), the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Real Estate Center, as well as the efforts of individual faculty members and divisions. CESR focuses its efforts on promoting a discussion of values and on corporate social responsibility; the Deming Center specializes in environmental, food, and energy sustainability; and the Real Estate Center a leader in the integration of sustainable principles into into real estate and development. The Real Estate Center’s Initiative for Sustainable Development provides partnerships, advisory services, research and teaching. Together, these organizations and the faculty of the Leeds School offer a full spectrum of opportunity for students seeking to immerse themselves in learning about social and environmental challenges in business settings. Courses of study and experiential opportunities involving sustainability are available to graduate and undergraduate students alike.

The Undergraduate Program

Leeds offers a top-notch, innovative program that exposes undergraduates to issues of ethics, social responsibility and sustainability by integrating these topics into the entire undergraduate curriculum required of all students. In their foundational freshman course, Introduction to Business, students are introduced to concepts of corporate responsibility and sustainability. Business Applications of Social Responsibility follows in the junior year and a senior seminar caps the students’ exposure to both social and environmental sustainability. In addition to these core courses, students can take elective courses such as:

Leadership Challenges: Exercises in Moral Courage
Business Solutions to Global Poverty: Learning through Service
Finding Business Opportunities in a Resource-Challenged World
Sustainable Operations
Accounting/Finance Energy Seminar
The Business Role in Meeting Environmental Challenges
Microfinance

Students also have the opportunity to take related courses listed in the CU Boulder catalog and to engage in joint projects with engineering students who are engaged in the study of sustainability.

The MBA Program

The MBA core includes a course in ethics and corporate social responsibility, the Socially Responsible Enterprise, and students may create a sustainability portfolio with elective courses. MBA students can choose among the following sustainability-oriented electives offered within the Leeds School:

Sustainable Business
Survey of Best Practices in Sustainable Real Estate Development
Sustainable Venturing
Social Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets
Commercializing Renewable Energy Technologies
Microfinance

At both the undergraduate and MBA levels student teams have the opportunity to collaborate with business partners and students from other schools on the C.U. campus on real-world projects. In addition, they can choose from numerous other sustainability-oriented courses at CU Boulder for their elective courses. The Leeds School also offers a combined MBA/MS degree in partnership with the CU Environmental Studies program.

Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR)

CESR is responsible for the required, foundational courses on social responsibility at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has developed key modules for these courses dedicated to discussion of social and environmental sustainability. In addition, CESR works with other departments and programs to develop and deliver sustainability content across the curriculum.

The Deming Center for Entrepreneurship

The Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship was founded in 1995, and adopted the tagline of “Entrepreneurs pioneering a sustainable world” in 2005 to represent its commitment to sustainable entrepreneurship. Deming Center programs offer tomorrow's entrepreneurial leaders an entrée into the fast-changing world of sustainable business opportunities, with a focus on the growing fields of clean technology and renewable energy. Students build on a rigorous foundation of skills and a network of creative entrepreneurs to help them put their ideas into practice.

In addition to providing courses in sustainable business operations and sustainable entrepreneurship, the Deming Center is also developing case studies on sustainable businesses in fields such as natural products and clean technologies. These cases are being used in mainstream business courses and are available online for use by faculty at other business schools. Outside of the classroom, the Deming Center founded and runs the commercialization arm of RASEI, http://rasei.colorado.edu/ the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute run jointly by CU-Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory . The Center recently launched a series of RETool executive development workshops covering topics on renewable energy business, policy, and technology. http://leeds.colorado.edu/Deming/interior.aspx?id=8700 The Center also runs the Organic Business Initiative, an industry partnership with leaders in the natural and organic products business.

The Deming Center co-founded the annual Sustainable Opportunities Summit in 2006, and cohosts the event with CORE and the City of Denver. As part of the Summit, the Deming Center runs the Cleantech Venture Challenge that brings together student teams from around the world to share their venture-grade cleantech business plans.

CU Real Estate Center

The University of Colorado Real Estate Center was founded in 1996 to establish an academic program for real estate education and research. The program has been concerned with sustainable development since its earliest years. The Center recently created the Initiative for Sustainable Development specifically to promote best practices in sustainable land use and real estate development.

For undergraduates, the Center provides coursework in principles of real estate, real estate development, real estate finance, real estate law, and an academic internship. For MBA students, the Center provides coursework in real estate development, best practices in sustainable real estate development, real estate finance, real estate law, real estate economics, and project competition. The Real Estate Center is also actively involved in a variety of both academic and industry oriented research projects, including Vail Resorts research to develop a “green development standards” handbook and database. The Center links students with internship opportunities and provides networking and job placement assistance.

Teaching sustainability across traditional business school boundaries

In addition to their own specific offerings, CESR, the Deming Center, and the Real Estate Center have built bridges to establish collaborative initiatives that cross traditional business school boundaries. For example, CESR and the Deming Center coordinate efforts on “values-driven entrepreneurship” to support not only social entrepreneurship but also the integration of values and sustainability principles into business models and practices. In 2010 CESR along with ICOSA Magazine, in collaboration with the Deming Center, cohosted a conference for business students in local universities on Conscious Capitalism.

The CU Real Estate Center’s 2009 conference on Climate Change and the New Frontiers of Urban Development was also cosponsored by the Deming Center. All three groups offer mentoring programs and share resources and ideas, preparing students for employment in the rapidly expanding field of sustainable business.

Opportunities for Student Involvement

Beyond the classroom, Leeds students can become involved in sustainability initiatives in a wide variety of ways. Examples include:

Events

Cleantech Venture Challenge
Sustainable Opportunities Summit
Net Impact Case Competition
Naturally Boulder networking nights

Student groups

CU Energy Club
Net Impact Club

Other activities

Mentoring and internships in sustainability-oriented firms
Case studies and consulting projects for sustainable businesses and social ventures

Career Development

Leeds students frequently channel their values and passions into their career planning and development. Below are job opportunities and resources for the burgeoning fields of social responsibility and social change, as well as environmentally- and sustainability-oriented jobs and internships.

The Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR) is dedicated to developing socially conscious values driven business leaders, by infusing discussions of ethics and social responsibility throughout the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. CESR delivers leading-edge courses on moral courage, leadership, social entrepreneurship and social responsibility, making critical thinking about values an intensive and ongoing part of the Leeds’ educational experience in ways that no other business school does.

The ways by which thoughtful Leeds students approach decision making make them more comfortable with what they see when they look in the mirror (and less likely to make decisions that have serious consequences for themselves and their communities), more attractive to potential employers, and, most importantly, better business leaders. For more information about CESR's approach to developing extraordinary business leaders contact the Center for Education on Social Responsibility.

Internship

Development Intern

Elephant Energy is seeking a dynamic, hard-working and talented individual to join our Development team. The responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Develop donor outreach and stewardship plan to locate new donors and cultivate and retain long-term relationships;
Improve and manage individual donor database;
Create an annual giving fundraising program with support of the Board of Directors toward cultivation efforts;
Work with marketing team to strategize and implement a variety of communications to elicit new supporters and community partners; and
Engage with donors and author donor communications.

Please send a resume and cover letter to jobs@elephantenergy.org. Please indicate in the email subject and in the cover letter which position you are seeking. This position will remain open until filled.

More Info

Internship

Unreasonable Events Guru

Your mission: To ensure all the summer Unreasonable events go off with a bang! They should not only run smoothly but achieve their desired aims which include inspiring the community, showcasing Unreasonable ventures to potential investors and enabling serendipitous connections.

Submit your complete application, including your resume, contact information for two references, and your Unreasonable Challenge in an email to Verity Noble at verity@unreasonableinstitute.org. The deadline for applying to this position is May 2nd at Noon Mountain Time.

More Info

Internship

Social Venture Partners

Social Venture Partners Boulder County (SVP) engages donors, community members and nonprofits workgin side-by-side to address Boulder County’s needs. We help individuals make a greater impact with their giving, fund and strengthen nonprofits, and equip our community to tackle our greatest social challenges – together. Started in 2000, we have since supported 18 Boulder County non-profits with over $1.2 million in cash grants and $1.8 million of pro bono management consulting and education.

SVP currently invests cash and consulting in Boulder County non-profits working to address Early Child Care & Development, Aging & Seniors, Health Care Access, Homelessness & Housing, and Social Enterprise. SVP also provides educational and professional development opportunities for local non-profits, their staff and volunteers through programs such as how-to white papers, board member conferences, an online Q&A effort called Ask an Expert, and workshops.

Community Outreach & Event Coordinator

Ensure the successful execution of a conference serving 200 volunteers and non-profits called Boulder County Board Match. Assist in the marketing, outreach, and coordination of the event. And, further the mission of SVP through day-to-day facilitation of educational events for givers, capacity building projects, communications, marketing and administrative functions. Specific job responsibilities may be negotiated based on the interests of the intern and the needs of SVP. This is an excellent means to learn the full picture of a local philanthropic organization in action.

Writer/Editor

Ensure the successful execution of communications materials for SVP and its programs:

Craft stories, educational materials, website content, and more.
Edit educational materials produced by SVP Partners for nonprofits.
Maintain related administrative functions.

Specific job responsibilities may be negotiated based on the interests of the intern. This is an excellent means to learn the full picture of a local philanthropic organization in action.

Successful Candidates

Are self-motivated and energetic.
Enjoy an entrepreneurial and professional environment.
Are organized, able to handle multiple tasks at one time.
Will represent SVP Boulder County with integrity and professionalism.
Have strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
Are intellectually curious, have a sense of humor and like interacting with diverse peoples.

SVP can offer a monthly stipend and accommodate interns for anywhere between 10-20 hours per week. Please submit resume and letter of interest to Jennie Arbogash, executive director, at jennie@svpbouldercounty.org by April 30, 2013.

Internship

Programming Intern

AfricAid, a nonprofit organization that supports girls education in Africa, is seeking an unpaid intern to assist in the ongoing development and implementation of its communications efforts.

The Programming Intern will work under the direction of the Executive Director. This position will require 4-8 hours per week. An internship with AfricAid will provide significant experience in the day-to-day operation of an international non-profit organization. Successful candidates may receive academic credit upon completion of an internship.

Dates: Ongoing. Start and end dates flexible.

Location: 1444 Wazee Street, Suite 135, Denver

Application Deadline: May 1, 2013

More Info

Incubator

Watson University

Watson University is convening 20 student leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to Boulder for the Fall semester. Each Watson Scholar will accelerate their ideas and explore their passions alongside leading entrepreneurs, practitioners, and mentors from around the world and complete award-winning training in the skills of creativity, resilience, teamwork, leadership and empathy. Applications to Watson are currently open and due on April 15, 2013.

Watson University is a semester-long incubator for students that includes:

Fifteen short Master Courses taught by a network of leading practitioners ranging from a leader of the Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Ban-Landmines, to a Time Magazine Hero of the Planet, and transformative social entrepreneurs.
Award-winning training in leadership, creativity, resilience, grit, teamwork, and empathy inspired by Transformative Action Institute.
The Watson Lab, where students receive mentorship and build partnerships to explore their passions and pilot, prototype, and scale ideas to make the world a better place.
A semester’s worth of academic credit.

More Info

Internship

Summer Internship at TerraFrame

TerraFrame has spent nearly $2 million developing their unique mobile and geographical information system (GIS) software that overcomes the information technology infrastructure challenges endemic in developing countries. TerraFrame is currently seeking assistance to identify a business model that will allow this technology to see widespread distribution and best promote the public good, including possibly making the software open source and donating it to a nonprofit entity. TerraFrame's mobile technology is ideally suited for, and targeted to, developing economies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Their founder/CTO, Nathan MacEachern, recognizes that he needs business assistance in developing a business model to bring this technology to market. He is seeking a couple of students to work this summer as interns to develop a business model that will launch TerraFrame into the market. For their effort, Nathan and his business partner, Rich Hoops, can afford a small stipend and also offer the possibility of the project extending into longer term employment.

If you are interested in considering this project, please contact Rich Hoops at rich.hoops@gmail.com.

Resources

idealist.org: The world’s best place to find volunteer opportunities, nonprofit jobs, internships, and organizations working to change the world since 1995.
devnetjobs.org: A comprehensive list of jobs, careers, internships and consultancies in international development, NGOs, non-profits and funding agencies.
Microfinance Gateway: an excellent database for jobs and internships in microfinance.
Acumen Fund: Acumen Fund believes that talent is one of the key needs in the social enterprise sector—individuals with the skill and will to effect change in developing markets.
Acumen also has a fellows program. The Acumen Fund Fellows Program’s mission is to build a corps of next generation social sector leaders by fusing operational and financial skills with moral imagination to create solutions to global poverty and fill the talent gap.
The Kiva Fellows Program. Since 2007, the Kiva Fellows Program has offered over 400 individuals a rare opportunity to put their skills to work in support of global microfinance.
Drishtee, a social enterprise focused exclusively on rural India, has an excellent volunteer program that provides invaluable hands-on experience.
MBAs Without Borders: Since 1990 CDC Development Solutions has matched talented and experienced MBA graduates with skill-based volunteer assignments in emerging markets around the world. Over this time over 1,000 highly skilled MBAs have strengthened and supported more than 4,000 enterprises, entrepreneurs, governments, and NGOs.
Ashoka: Ashoka’s vision is to build an Everyone a Changemaker^TM world. And, consistent with their theory of change, Ashoka hires collegial, conceptual entrepreneurs determined to realize that vision.
Opportunity Finance Network: Opportunity Finance Network is the leading network of private financial intermediaries identifying and investing in opportunities to benefit low-income and low-wealth people in the U.S. Opportunity Finance Network financing delivers both sound financial returns and real changes for people and communities.
Weinreb Group: Sustainability Recruiting is an executive-retained search firm focusing on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) searches.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an innovative and independent U.S. foreign aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty.
USAID works with many different kinds of organizations to find creative ways to meet challenges around the world and achieve development goals.
USAJOBS is the U.S. Government’s official system/program for Federal jobs and employment information.
CDC Development Solutions is an equal opportunity employer with a growing international team of talented people dedicated to support private sector development and economic growth in emerging markets worldwide.
ThinkImpact offers programs for students to live and work in rural Africa where they design market based solutions to poverty with the people who live at the base of the pyramid.
Investing Answers: 10 Green-Collar Jobs With $80,000+ Salaries
Sierra Club: Clean Tech Booming with Good Paying Jobs (July 13, 2011)
Wall Street Journal: Sustainability Jobs Get Green Light at Large Firms (July 11, 2011)
Katie Kross: Profession and Purpose: A Resource Guide for MBA Careers in Sustainability (2009)
New York Times: Some Ways to Get Started as a Social Entrepreneur (June 22, 2011)
Ethical Corporation: CEO interview: Peter Bakker, TNT - Be responsible throughout your business (May 30, 2011)
The Nation: The Rise of Benefit Corporations (June 27, 2011)
Vault: A CSR Executive's Career Path (May 6, 2011)
iOnPoverty is a video portal that provides advice from established social entrepreneurs to graduates and job seekers.

Student and Alumni Accomplishments

Brianne Beemer

5th year Senior
Leeds School of Business—SRE Certificate
School of Art and Science—Speech Language Hearing Sciences

I helped start a small kayak tourism business on Laguna del Limon outside Miches, Dominica Republic in 2011. With the help of fellow University of Colorado student Matthew Biegner and Peace Corp volunteer Evan Poirson, we were able to start a small business to protect a community from exploitation of foreign reign over beaches and alleviate stress off the ecosystem. International buyers for beachfront resorts are purchasing the beautiful beaches surrounding Laguna Lemon. The community relies solely on inefficient fishing practices to supply income for residents. The lagoon has been subject to over fishing and dramatic falls in the unique fish population. By starting a kayak tourism business, we could alleviate pressure from the environment and capitalize on the natural beauty of northern Dominican Republic. The lagoon has exotic fish species, renowned bird watching and pure unoccupied beaches.

My role in this community was to teach residents basic business principles to allow them to run their own company. The vision was/is to provide small tours of the pristine lagoon to tourists. The lagoon is less than an hour drive from popular destination Punta Cana and allows visitors to see unique fish and fowl and get an authentic taste of the Dominican Republic (literally as local women prepare the lunch time meal). Local women see opportunities for ways they can contribute to the predominantly male oriented culture. Women prepare meals for visitors, sell hand-made purses and manage parts of the company while maintaining feminine rolls. Additional income for the women’s efforts will help raise the city out of poverty. My experience in the Dominican Republic was a way to apply my education in a third world area.

Executive Partners

CESR Executive Partners for Better Business Leaders Tomorrow recruits executives to volunteer their time and skills to work with students at the Leeds School of Business and support CESR financially.

Executive Partners Engage with Leeds School Students

Executive Partners choose their level of involvement. Their volunteer time might be spent mentoring students on class projects, speaking to groups or classes, judging business case competitions, hosting interns or working with students one-on-one through the Professional Mentorship Program.

Executive Partners Support CESR Financially

In addition, each Executive Partner gives over $2000 per year to support CESR. Contributions fund the development of new courses, curriculum design and improvement for undergraduate and graduate classes, salaries for instructors, and the creation of corporate case studies focused on social responsibility. Donations also enable students to visit project sites in the U.S. and abroad to further enhance the consulting work undertaken through social venture and entrepreneurship courses.

EPs Speak About Their Inspiration

Cindy Lindsay

“CU students face an ever more competitive and complex world when they graduate. CESR equips them with business skills that provide a strong base for ethical decision making with an understanding of economic and business consequences. My personal philosophy is to balance business with social responsibility, so I am very happy to be a small part of this exceptional curriculum. The creation of the CESR Executive Partners Program adds a critical component for CESR students. EPs mentor and coach CESR students which makes a tremendous difference in their academic career; but, more importantly, it gives them an opportunity to see people and processes of the working world that would otherwise be unavailable to them.”

Cindy is the Board Liaison to the EP Program.

Rich Hoops

“The fun of working with the students is what draws me to CESR’s Executive Partners Program. I mentored two student teams last year in Francy Milner’s undergraduate class, Business Solutions for the Developing World: LearningThrough Service.In one case there was an NGO in Kenya who wanted to explore the opportunity to establish a voluntourism program where customers pay to volunteer. My experience in international development and passion for social entrepreneurship led me to CESR. I am mentoring teams again this fall. Students today are passionate about making a difference and are eager to learn through “real world” experiences and mentorship. Whatever help I can provide, being a part of the Executive Partners Program is really rewarding”.

Join Us

If you are interested in serving as an Executive Partner please contact Cindy Lindsay, the Board Liaison to the Executive Partners Program, for more information.

Contact:

Cindy Lindsay
FLS Associates
office: 303.954.8525
cindy.lindsay@flsassociates.com

Current Participating Executive Partners

Cindy Lindsay

Cindy Lindsay is a principal and founder of FLS Associates, a consulting firm that provides strategic business and operational planning to technology start-ups to assist them in structuring their ideas and products into businesses that attract significant venture funding.

Rich Hoops

Rich Hoops began his 14-year career in the personal computer industry in 1986 with Tandy Corporation. In early 1989, he was recruited to Austin, Texas to join Dell Computer Corporation embarking on an exciting 11 year career with Dell where he held a variety of senior management and executive positions in sales, marketing and business development contributing to Dell’s ascent from a small direct marketing company to one of the world’s largest and most successful PC Company.

After leaving, Dell in 2000, Rich founded, and served as CEO of Outdoor Intelligence, a startup focused on delivering digital map information and data to the recreational fishing industry. In the fall of 2001, while still running his new company, Rich became involved with Social Venture Partners, a nonprofit organization whose partners invest both time and money in the development of small, innovative area nonprofits.

After transitioning out of his start-up in 2002, Rich has dedicated more and more of his time towards assisting area nonprofits in building operational/organizational capacity through strategic consulting and general business coaching. Rich continues to serve on the Board of SVP where he served as Board Chair from 2004-2006. Rich has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from the University of Chicago with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship and Organizational Strategy. He and his wife, Traci, have four daughters and live in Boulder, CO.

Larry Meadows

Larry Meadows is CEO of American Exteriors, LLC. American Exteriors manufactures and sells replacement windows, siding, and other products that improve the energy efficiency and appearance of an existing home. Incorporated in 1993, American Exteriors offers a replacement process that begins with in-home consultation and ends with the certified installation of a custom manufactured product.

W. Douglas Jackson, Ph.D., J.D.

Dr. Douglas Jackson is president and CEO of Project C.U.R.E. Since joining the organization in 1997, Jackson has led efforts to expand the organization’s work both in the United States and internationally. Currently the largest organization of its kind in the world, Project C.U.R.E. delivers on average two 40-ft. cargo containers of donated medical relief every week from four U.S.-based distribution centers and has worked in more than 120 countries in its 22-year history.

Prior to joining Project C.U.R.E., Jackson was the provost at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colo., and previously the director of the Fermanian Business Center at Point Loma University in San Diego, Calif. Jackson’s experience also includes working as an attorney, law clerk, judge’s clerk and assistant court administrator. Dr. Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwest Nazarene University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a doctorate in business administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

In the community, Jackson is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and the past president of the Denver Rotary Club #31. He is currently active in the work of two other nonprofit organizations: Institute for International Education and Leader’s Challenge.

J. Scott Pusey

J. Scott Pusey is the Vice President of Safety Environment and Risk Management for Johns Manville, a leading global building materials manufacturer with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Scott has 21 years of diverse experience in risk management, compliance and legal roles.

In his current executive leadership role that he has held since 2004, Scott leads various functions for Johns Manville which has more than 40 manufacturing locations in the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Slovakia and China. These functions include Insurance, Health, Safety & Environment, Workers’ Compensation, Product Safety, Real Estate and Corporate Security. Scott also leads the Sustainability strategy for Johns Manville. A major area of specific interest for Scott is Enterprise Risk Management. Scott has also had roles in Finance Planning and Analysis and as a full time process improvement leader in the company’s Six Sigma program.

Scott’s legal experience includes six years in private practice with top corporate law firms in New York, NY and Denver, CO and six years as in-house counsel with Johns Manville in a series of roles with increasing levels of responsibility including division counsel for $600 million business.

Scott received his Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law in New York City and a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah with a major in General and International Business and a minor in Japanese. He has completed advanced training in facilitation, project management, statistical analysis, leadership skills, metrics, process analysis and has provided legal advice and counseling in all aspects of business operations, including distribution, procurement, products liability, product warranty, antitrust, acquisitions, joint ventures, advertising and general commercial counseling.

Scott has been married for 24 years to Jenifer and they have four children. Scott actively pursues involvement in many different sports, art, and web design and he regularly volunteers at his church and for various non-profit organizations.

Karen Padgett

Karen Padgett is the president and founder of Novus Biologicals. Novus Biologicals was founded in 1996 to license, produce and sell antibodies to support life science research. Novus has been an Inc 5000 fastest growing company the last 5 years, as well as recipient of Colorado Companies to Watch, and Fast 50. Karen has an MBA from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a BS in Microbiology from Indiana University. Karen is a member of Young President’s Organization, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Kent Denver School, AMC Cancer Foundation and Breakthrough. In her spare time she enjoys running, reading, traveling, golfing and spending time with her husband Todd and her three teenagers – Tyler, Ryan and Allie.

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Mission & Vision

Mission Statement

To develop socially conscious, values-driven leaders of tomorrow.

Vision

To become the recognized leader in education on values and social responsibility.

Curriculum Think Tank

July 25-27, 2012

Purpose: To have a roundtable discussion with select schools from around the country to develop and share our approaches to corporate social responsibility and curriculum development.

Expected Outcomes

To determine how to incorporate executives into curricular development
To determine best practices for executive outreach initiatives
To determine and define undergraduate and graduate curriculum in this area
To weigh the benefits of an infused, cross discipline approach to versus a stand alone course on CSR and values based curriculum
To define as a group what the goals and the function of courses in this area should have
To determine how, if at all, to incorporate experiential learning components to courses in this discipline
To evaluate the applied ethics versus a theoretical approach to curriculum
To as a group plan for future conferences on education on CSR, ethics, and curriculum development in these areas

Attendees

Jan Bell
Cathleen Burns
Richard Butler
John Delaney
Jennifer Dunn
Bruce Hutton
Mary Beth Lewis
Scott Showalter
Donna Sockell
Liz Stapp
Lee Tavis

Courses

Initiatives

It's Not Just About Me (JAM)

Certificates

Socially Responsible Enterprise

CESR offers the Certificate in Socially Responsible Enterprise (SRE) to further develop students’ ability to meet these future challenges by crossing the boundaries of traditional functional areas of business and those that separate business from other academic disciplines. Students who complete the certificate will see and understand the social and environmental impacts of business and their ethical implications from a broader perspective. They will also graduate with practical knowledge and marketable experiences that will guide them in conducting business in an informed, responsible, and ethical manner.

Requirements

Blog

Leeds Graduate Embarks on Adventure with Thriive

Posted: February 01, 2013

Terrence Rouda graduated from Leeds in Spring 2012 with an emphasis in Accounting and a certificate in Real Estate. Terrence took Catherine Milburn’s class, Business Solutions for the Developing World, last spring and continues to pursue his passion for social … Continue reading →

Students Clamor for Chance to Meet Buffet

Posted: February 01, 2013

Excitement is building at Leeds around the upcoming trip to meet Warren Buffett in Omaha. On March 15th, twenty lucky students will get the opportunity to have lunch and attend a Q & A session (and also go on two … Continue reading →

CESR SRE Certificate Program Experiences Major Growth

Posted: February 01, 2013

This spring 18 students will be graduating with the CESR Socially Responsible Enterprise (SRE) Certificate. Due to intense student interest and fabulous courses, SRE program enrollment has grown exponentially since its inception three years ago, deepening CESR’s influence on students … Continue reading →

Video

Dave Payne on "What is Sustainability?"

Dave Payne, CESR instructor and former Leeds graduate student, offers his stance on sustainability.

Faculty

Tony Adams: Lecturer; tony.adams@colorado.edu; 303.492.8535; Koelbel 345F

David Balkin: Professor; david.balkin@colorado.edu; 303.492.5780; Koelbel S433; Curriculum Vitae

Owen Borum: Instructor; owen.borum@colorado.edu; 303.492.3969; Koelbel 448

Lorna Christoff: Lecturer; lorna.christoff@colorado.edu; 303.492.8535; Koelbel 345F

Beth Cross: Instructor; beth.cross@colorado.edu; 303.492.4463; Koelbel 345E; Curriculum Vitae

Kristian Hanssen: Lecturer; hanssen@colorado.edu; Koelbel 497

Kai R. Larsen: Associate Professor; kai.larsen@colorado.edu; 303.735.6448; Koelbel 488; Curriculum Vitae

Kevin McMahon: Instructor; kevin.mcmahon@colorado.edu; 303.492.1284; Koelbel 345H

Catherine Milburn: Instructor; catherine.milburn@colorado.edu; 303.735.5268; Koelbel 345J

Francy Milner: Instructor & Associate Director; francy.milner@colorado.edu; 303.887.2243; Koelbel 345G

Don Oest: Lecturer; don.oest@colorado.edu; Koelbel 497

David S. Payne: Instructor; david.payne@colorado.edu; 303.859.0900; Koelbel 345K

David Sinclair: Lecturer; david.sinclair@colorado.edu

Donna Sockell: Executive Director; donna.sockell@colorado.edu; 303.492.3937; Koelbel 345L

Elizabeth C. Stapp: Instructor; estapp@colorado.edu

Keith Stockton: Instructor; keith.stockton@colorado.edu; 303.492.4439; Koelbel 441; Curriculum Vitae

Noah Zikmund: Instructor; noah.zikmund@colorado.edu; Koelbel S410

Staff

Birdie Reznicek: Managing Director; birdie.reznicek@colorado.edu; 303.492.8214; Koelbel 345N

Colleen Seltz: Program Coordinator; colleen.seltz@colorado.edu; 303.492.3324; Koelbel 345N

Anneli Spielman: Program Coordinator; anneli.spielman@colorado.edu; 303.492.8214

Advisory Board

Gary Antonoff: President; Antonoff and Company

Cathleen Burns: Owner/Consultant; Creative Action Learning Solutions LLC

Peter Burns: General Manager; Celestial Seasonings

Heidi Ganahl: CEO and Founder; Camp Bow Wow

Larissa Herda: President, CEO, Chairwoman; tw telecom

Rich Hoops: Former Chair, Social Venture Partners; Former Marketing Director, Dell

C.A. Howlett: Principal; Indigo Partners, LLC

Michael S. Leeds: VP Sales and Marketing; Executive Fliteways, Inc.

Cindy Lindsay: Principal; FLS Associates

Francy Milner: Instructor & Associate Director; Center for Education on Social Responsibility; francy.milner@colorado.edu; 303.887.2243; Koelbel 345G

Barbara Mowry: President and CEO; Gore Creek Advisors

Dee Perry: Former CFO; McDATA Corporation

Mark Retzloff: Co-Founder; Horizon Organic Dairy

Donna Sockell: Executive Director; Center for Education on Social Responsibility; donna.sockell@colorado.edu; 303.492.3937; Koelbel 345L

George (Geoie) Writer: Founder; Writer Homes

Internal Advisory Board

David Balkin: Professor; Management & Entrepreneurship; david.balkin@colorado.edu; 303.492.5780; Koelbel S433; Curriculum Vitae

Jay Ballantine: Senior Instructor; Accounting; ballantj@colorado.edu; 303.492.4931; Koelbel 430; Curriculum Vitae

Robert Donchez: Instructor; Finance; robert.donchez@colorado.edu; 303.492.5916; Koelbel 423

Manuel Laguna: Media One Professor of Management Science; Management & Entrepreneurship; laguna@colorado.edu; 303.492.6368; Koelbel 445; Curriculum Vitae

Sharon F. Matusik: Associate Professor; Management & Entrepreneurship; sharon.matusik@colorado.edu; 303.735.5113; Koelbel 493; Curriculum Vitae

Kevin McMahon: Instructor; Marketing; kevin.mcmahon@colorado.edu; 303.492.1284; Koelbel 345H

Catherine Milburn: Instructor; Center for Education on Social Responsibility; catherine.milburn@colorado.edu; 303.735.5268; Koelbel 345J

Nathalie Moyen: Associate Professor; Finance; nathalie.moyen@colorado.edu; 303.735.4931; Koelbel 483

Steven Rock: Associate Professor; Accounting; steven.rock@colorado.edu; 303.735.5009; Koelbel 435; Curriculum Vitae

Sousan Urroz-Korori: Senior Instructor; Finance; urrozkor@colorado.edu; 303.492.4707; Koelbel 482

Faculty Affiliates

CESR Faculty Affiliates are Leeds Faculty whose work is aligned with CESR’s mission and values, primarily through their research or teaching but also because of their service interests.

David B. Balkin
Margaret C. Campbell
Maw-Der Foo
Bret R. Fund
Mathew Hayward
Tracy Jennings
Kai R. Larsen

Stephen R. Lawrence
Sharon F. Matusik

Nathalie Moyen
Frank Moyes
Naomi Soderstrom
Xin “Eva” Yao
Jeffrey G. York

David B. Balkin

David B. Balkin is a Professor of Strategy and Organization Management in the Management and Entrepreneurship division at Leeds. Dr. Balkin earned his PhD at the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the relationship between pay policies and firm strategy, human resource management in high technology firms, and corporate governance and the innovation process.

Balkin’s most recent research focuses on giving pay that encourages ethical behavior rather than unethical behavior. For example, Balkin says a company can give an employee rewards that encourage collaboration and teamwork, instead of separating the individual from the team and thereby creating obstacles that get in the way of teamwork. When employees anticipate individual rewards, they tend to think only about themselves and sacrifice the goals of the team. Balkin’s ethics of pay paper also covers performance evaluation. His research found that assessments based solely on outcomes encourage cheating and cutting corners to achieve performance numbers. Instead, Balkin believes employers can recognize behaviors, including the manner in which employees achieve goals and how they treat one other.

Balkin has also constructed a paper on crafting sustainable work and the importance of long term employment. Balkin suggests that employers should view work as a sustainable resource, creating jobs that offer long term opportunities for employees. His belief is that by respecting humans as a non-disposable resource, the employer will create sustainability for the individual.

Within the classroom, Balkin instructs on the ethics of pay, an area in which he can incorporate his work on rewards. As part of the BCOR 3010 team, he updates cases and helps the other instructors prepare and collaborate to lead a social responsibility course focused on ethical issues relevant in today’s society.

Margaret C. Campbell

Margaret C. Campbell is an Associate Professor of Marketing and teaches in the undergraduate, MBA, and PhD programs at Leeds. She earned her PhD at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Professor Campbell’s research focuses on questions of how consumers interpret the marketplace and how their interpretations influence their responses to other consumers, companies and brands.

Campbell’s research focuses on consumers’ perceptions of unfair or illegitimate marketing tactics, such as manipulative marketing and unfair pricing. She is currently looking at stereotypes of materialism and body weight, studying how the body image of a cartoon character affects children’s consumption habits. In a current study conducted at a Fort Collins school, Campbell and her team found that, when exposed to an overweight cartoon character, children’s cookie consumption almost doubled in comparison to exposure to a normal weight character. She is currently waiting on approval for similar studies involving packaging and other associations with cartoon characters, such as the potential for an athletic character to limit consumption.

Research on product placement within context, such as a branded box of cereal in a television show, also fills Campbell’s time. Currently, many countries are asking whether disclosure of product placement should be required in public media settings. Since consumers treat things they know are commercial speech differently than they treat noncommercial sources, Campbell is interested in learning about whether consumers actually respond to brand disclosure, and whether disclosure at the beginning or end of a presentation affects their response.

Apart from her research, Campbell teaches an undergraduate advertising and promotion course and an MBA marketing communications course. Throughout the semester, her classes talk about consumers’ negative perceptions of marketers and ethical issues regarding marketing actions. Campbell discusses how marketers can balance their profit needs with their responsibility to society and how to avoid crossing the line into unethical territory.

Maw-Der Foo

Maw-Der Foo is an Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Leeds and Visiting Professor at Ghent University (Belgium). His work places him at the forefront of research on the role of emotions in organizations. He also applies management and psychological concepts to understand how entrepreneurs identify, evaluate, and implement business opportunities. Maw-Der teaches courses in Management and Entrepreneurship and serves as Director of the Leeds School Doctoral Program in Strategic, Organizational and Entrepreneurial Studies.

Foo emphasizes the importance of linking the triple bottom line in his research, focusing on individual well-being, resilience, work motivation, and being proactive. In particular, his research confirms the benefits of positive emotions on individual and firm outcomes. These emotions help entrepreneurs recover from stressors and result in entrepreneurs exerting more efforts in their ventures. His studies also confirm the benefits of positive emotions on favorable service outcomes. Interestingly, he found that consumers influence service providers that in turn impact customers’ perceptions of service outcomes. In essence, Foo says, customers create their own service experiences.

Beyond research on work related emotions, Maw-Der studies how individuals can receive career and psychosocial assistance by building relationships with mentors within and outside of their organizations. His research shows that the benefits of having mentors include job satisfaction, meaningful work experiences, faster promotions, and less burnout. Maw-Der frequently distils key take-home points of his research and shares these insights with his students. He emphasizes that a supportive work environment complements an organization’s efforts to improve its bottom line.

Bret R. Fund

Bret R. Fund is an Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Leeds. His research interests incorporate a network perspective in the examination of the social capital of founders and venture capitalists in start-up environments. Bret teaches several courses in his areas of expertise, including Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management and Venture Capital Due Diligence.

In his research, Fund looks at the social capital of the founders and investors involved with startup companies. He explains why social capital is interesting in the realm of social responsibility as companies determine whether an environment is conducive to a startup company. Fund is a believer that startup corporations need to leverage social and professional networks to be part of an honest and trustworthy environment, adequate for an early stage venture. He is currently publishing a paper on new venture finance and entrepreneurship through acquisition. This work explains the system wealth benefits of acquiring and growing a company rather than starting from a blank slate.

Fund teaches an Entrepreneurship and a Venture Capitalist course at the MBA level. Within this course, he discusses the factors an investor would consider when financing an early stage company. Students in Fund’s course choose companies to lead through the first due diligence phase of investment qualification, after which they pass eligible companies on to the Deming Center Venture Fund, of which Fund is the Director. Each year, Fund leads 4 MBA and 4 law students to choose 2-3 companies deserving of investment. Although social responsibility is not a mandate for investment, ethical topics often arise in this selection process.

Within the Boulder community, Fund works with Techstars through the Deming Center Venture Fund. He also sits on the board of 3 local startup companies: Spyder-Lynk, Snugg Home, and Ultimate E.

Mathew Hayward

Mathew Hayward is an Associate Professor in the Management and Entrepreneurship division at Leeds, teaching organizational behavior, strategy, and negotiations. His research examines the application of behavioral decision theory to the decisions and actions of executives. Hayward’s work has been published in most of the major management journals and has been featured in the Economist, Harper’s, and the New York Times. He has consulted major organizations worldwide including Dell, Ericsson, Intel and Pearson.

Hayward’s research investigates the manner in which organizations represent themselves to stakeholders, particularly investors. He examines the methods companies can use to authentically represent their financial position and the aspirations of their managers. After studying the presentation of firms’ financial statements, specifically earnings, Hayward takes three approaches to understanding the data. First, he examines the level of precision firms use to convey the credibility of their financial position. Second, he looks for evidence of overconfidence in the form of over-promising and under-delivering. Finally, Hayward observes the how young companies report their practices and performance, including to what extent they get caught up in public status.

Currently, Hayward is working on an award winning project about impression management and the various ways a company can report bad news to the public. He suggests that CEOs should have a peer report to the public on their behalf, instead of ineffectively representing themselves in a self-serving manner.

Within the classroom, Hayward teaches topics in ethical negotiating to MBA students. He is also working on an upcoming project with a doctoral student examining the manner in which corporations use social media to inform the public. For example, he studies how a company such as Walmart can responsibly communicate its objectives of making money and mitigating public fallout while simultaneously recognizing its effect on local communities.

Tracy Jennings

Dr. Tracy Jennings is a Senior Instructor in the Management Division at Leeds, where she teaches undergraduate and MBA courses. She holds a degree in Religion from Williams College, a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and an MBA, both from the University of Denver. Dr. Jennings worked as a Senior Product Developer for both US West Advanced Technologies and YIPES Communications. Her research interests are focused on the potential for on-line education in business schools.

In the summer of 2011, Jennings spent 2 weeks visiting Musana, a school and orphanage in Uganda founded by CU graduate Andrea Pauline. Jennings helped Musana with hiring and many other projects. As a Senior Instructor of management and entrepreneurship, she teaches both individual team and organizational development. Students from her class lead cross cultural training, which volunteers complete here in the United States before traveling to work in Uganda. In her senior courses, Jennings strives to highlight the importance of ethical decision making above all else.

Jennings is currently conducting research on eLearning to improve educational access. One potential outcome of this research is the identification of the best practices that may be applied to improve educational access. She is also involved in several local non-profits, as well as numerous Leeds clubs.

Kai R. Larsen

Dr. Kai Larsen is an associate professor of management and entrepreneurship at Leeds. As Director of the federally supported Human Behavior Project, he is conducting research to create a trans-disciplinary “backbone” for theoretical research that predicts all aspects of human behaviors.

Larsen’s research focuses on the collection of information on drivers of human behavior in order to create large scale sustainability models. Understanding the individual human level of decision making will provide insight into mechanisms that may reveal sustainability levers. Larsen explains how the creation of a sustainable planet model is difficult because the outcome is dependent on millions of individual decisions. Since humans make decisions consistently, Larsen and his team search for patterns that can ultimately lead to possible incentives for people to consider sustainable actions as useful. By understanding the psychology behind the workings of the human head, Larsen strives to better understand why humans make certain decisions, knowledge that can then be applied to sustainable decision making. He has found that ease of use and “usefulness” of a practice influences human decision making.

In addition to his research, Larsen teaches Business Intelligence and Privacy in the Age of Facebook. His privacy course delves into the ethical issues of information sharing, now one of the fastest growing industries. Larsen questions whether our society is approaching a point where the ability to track information is ruining lives, the very question that drives him to research sustainability topics.

Stephen R. Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at Leeds. His current research and teaching interests include the deployment of renewable energy and the management of health care operations. Lawrence has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the MBA Teaching Excellence Award.

Recently, Lawrence has sharpened his focus on renewable energy. His research projects emphasize storage on a smart grid and the impact of carbon costs on electricity generation. Lawrence has taught the Sustainable Entrepreneurship course in the past, and now teaches a graduate level course on renewable energy that is offered to students across campus. Off campus, Lawrence offers an executive development course called RETool. This set of four workshops brings community members up to speed on renewable energy.

Additionally, Lawrence is a Fellow of RASEI, a joint institute between CU Boulder and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. RASEI works to “expedite the energy industries of the 21st century by advancing renewable energy research, engineering, and analysis”. Lawrence explains that the institute hopes to form a relationship comparable in strength to other well-known institutes on campus, such as the Nobel Laureate producing NIST.

Sharon F. Matusik

Sharon Matusik is an Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Leeds. Her current research focuses on entrepreneurial and venture capital firms and on innovation and knowledge sharing in established firms. She has also conducted research on gender issues, specifically related to the psychological consequences for women in male-dominated work environments. Some of her current research also includes issues related to knowledge and innovation in developing countries and what determines where the value from innovation efforts accrues in these economies. She spent the fall of 2010 in Santiago, Chile, where the government is trying to raise the standard of living by stimulating the economy through innovations and entrepreneurship; this stimulated her research interest in this area.

Matusik also teaches a core strategy course and an entrepreneurship elective for MBAs, in addition to PhD courses. She integrates different social responsibility philosophies into her teachings by using cases and examples that include noneconomic considerations. For example, when covering market entry strategy and timing, she has drawn on examples of products that provide a social benefit, as well as potential economic ones.

Nathalie Moyen

Nathalie Moyen is an associate professor of Finance at Leeds and an affiliated faculty member at the Department of Applied Mathematics at CU, teaching in the undergraduate, MBA and Ph.D programs. Professor Moyen investigates the financial decisions that corporations make and how these financial decisions can influence economic decisions such as capital investments and hiring. Her research has been published in several journals, including the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control and the Journal of Finance.

Moyen supports the Leeds initiative to teach sustainability in all aspects of business. Some would say that finance is inherently “sustainable” because businesses must manage their funds to avoid bankruptcy, maintain profitability, and contribute to the viability of an economy. Apart from this fundamental definition, finance may not be typically considered directly relevant to the field of social responsibility. However, Moyen strives to incorporate sustainability in her teaching by opening each derivative securities class with a discussion of current events relating to the material and its broader impact on our society. For example, discussion of climate change derivatives in Moyen’s classes heightens awareness of ethical issues surrounding financial contracts in the face of adverse developments in the world.

In addition to her interests in teaching, Moyen has completed research related to financial decisions affecting the survival of an individual firm. In her research for which she received the 2007-2008 Charles H. Guiney Professorship Award for Innovative Research, Moyen quantifies the debt overhang problem to remain important in economic highs. As the recent financial crisis shows, firms may choose to increase their leverage in economic booms, making themselves more vulnerable to bankruptcy and underinvestment in productive capital investment projects. Moyen concludes that the overhang on capital investment created by debt may be present in all stages of the business cycle.

Frank Moyes

Frank Moyes is an Entrepreneurship Scholar in Residence and has taught both graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship courses in the Leeds School of Business. In addition he is now responsible for the Cross Campus Entrepreneurship Education initiative and teaches courses in entrepreneurship open to undergraduate students in all of the colleges and departments on the CU campus.

Each summer, Moyes teaches a class in which he, along with two other professors, lead about 20 students to Cape Town, South Africa to work with local entrepreneurs in the village township. This six week experience combines American students with students from the University of Western Cape and then pairs teams of four students with two early stage entrepreneurial ventures. These businesses range from hair dressers to tourism companies to security services, each having employees and sales but seeking advice and training on growing a sustainable firm. In addition to these for-profit businesses, Moyes has guided students to assist a few non-profit preschool establishments in Cape Town. He also leads entrepreneurial workshops around the world, instructing teachers in impoverished areas, such as Egypt and Dubai.

Currently, Moyes teaches entrepreneurship and venture plan writing courses to non-business students on the CU campus, frequently focusing on the non-profit sector. In his three courses, Moyes lends his advice on sustainable ventures, in which a non-profit is more self-reliant, rather than depending on donor funding. He describes how, to be successful as a non-profit, a business must operate very similarly to a for-profit by marketing, recruiting management, and funding the business. The day to day operations of a non-profit are nearly identical to that of a for-profit, with the exception of fundraising, a continuous process for non-profits.

Naomi Soderstrom

Dr. Naomi Soderstrom is a Professor of Accounting at the Leeds School of Business. Dr. Soderstrom’s research investigates how institutional and environmental factors influence manager’s decisions. Her work has appeared in major journals both in the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Soderstrom has presented her research at universities and conferences on four continents and has been a visiting scholar in Germany and Australia. Her primary teaching interests are in the areas of managerial accounting and control systems.

Currently, Soderstrom is working under a Leeds School Sustainability Grant to study clean development mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. As stated in the abstract of her most recent paper, Financial Analysis Used in Clean Development Mechanisms: Fact or Fiction?, Soderstrom’s team “explores incentives for companies to bias financial investment analyses of projects under the auspices of the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism Program”. Developing countries typically host these projects to receive carbon emission permits to offset emissions and satisfy EU requirements. Soderstrom and her colleagues found that “on average, the financial analyses contain items that tend to downwardly bias the value of the project, to increase the probability of UN approval”.

Soderstrom also teaches in the MBA program. During the class, she uses environmentally-focused cases that she has developed. Her courses emphasize “the importance of understanding both the strengths and limitations of accounting information and its proper use relative to other information for decision making”.

Xin “Eva” Yao

Xin "Eva" Yao is an Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and teaches courses in entrepreneurship (undergraduate) and research methods (graduate) at Leeds. Eva’s research examines the sociological and psychological aspects of the startup process. Her recent work covers topics such as venture capital (VC) investment in the Cleantech sector, entrepreneurs’ networking cognition and strategies in different cultures, and entrepreneur identity and motivation.

For the past five years, Yao has served as the executive secretary/ treasurer of the International Association for Chinese Research Management, an academic organization with over 2000 members world-wide that promotes research and knowledge sharing about managing organizations in the Chinese context. Locally, she volunteers with Intercambio – a Boulder-based non-profit organization that serves the immigrant population – on community outreach projects.

Yao recently completed a research project investigating VC firms’ investment behaviors into the clean energy sector. Through this first of a four-study project, Yao wanted to understand the factors that influence a VC firm’s entry into the clean energy sector. Yao and colleagues examined all US VC transactions between 1990 and 2008 and identified those VC firms that entered the clean energy sector during that period. This study holds importance because, as the clean energy sector is growing, startups and investors alike have a need to understand the pattern of equity financing in the sector. The three follow-up studies will look in greater detail at how venture capital firms invest, the motivations behind their investments, and the intricate details about clean energy startups and entrepreneurs.

Each year, Yao invites local entrepreneurs into the classroom to speak about their personal experience starting businesses. She considers such exchange between her, the students, and the entrepreneurs a critical step toward building an economic ecosystem. On the one hand, the speaking engagement offers the entrepreneurs an opportunity to give back to the community, increase awareness of their business, and identify future interns and employees. On the other hand, students learn valuable lessons about the intricacies involved in starting a business from the founders directly. This represents a sustainable model in which different parts of the community help each other and connect through education.

Jeffrey G. York

Professor Jeffrey G. York is an Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. His teaching and research are focused on environmental entrepreneurship, the simultaneous creation of ecological and economic goods. Professor York has received numerous awards for his research on the green building and renewable energy industries, authored six case studies, and appeared in the Journal of Business Venturing, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Management.

York’s research focuses on entrepreneurial behavior in relation to environmental problems and the utilization of renewable and green technology. He looks at why entrepreneurs start businesses related to sustainability and the implications of these startups. One major project York has undertaken is the relationship between policy and entrepreneurship and how they come together to promote green building. An additional project focuses on the drivers of innovation in renewable energy. York also works with several PhD students at Leeds to investigate the role of identity in social entrepreneurship and the diffusion of green technology.

Although much of York’s time is spent on his research, he also teaches an MBA Sustainable Venturing course. In this course, York addresses ways to create businesses that simultaneously produce economic and environmental benefits. His MBA students have had the opportunity to assist with his research, even helping with a case study published last year on the emergence of wind energy in Colorado. York encourages his students to stay up-to-date on rapidly evolving renewable energy topics by bringing knowledge and the latest information to class. He advises students on sustainable entrepreneurial ventures and strives to create a memorable entrepreneurial experience for his undergraduate students. For example, he created an undergraduate business feasibility competition last year. Within the competition, students can propose businesses in downtown Boulder and receive advice from local store owners, allowing them to meet and network with our city’s entrepreneurs.

In addition to his research and teaching, York is currently working on the Sustainability Speaker Series for Leeds, in which he coordinates evening speaking engagements from national sustainability leaders that are open to the Boulder public.

News

CESR Stampede brings social responsibility out of the boardroom and into the community

Leeds School of Business

April 18, 2013

Cynthia Cooper, CEO of the CooperGroup and author of Extraordinary Circumstance: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower, was among the feature presenters at the inaugural CESR Stampede at Leeds: A Week of Driving Values in Business. As former chief audit executive at WorldCom, Cooper and her team unraveled one of the largest corporate frauds in history.

CESR Students to meet with Warren Buffett

Daily Camera

March 14, 2013

On Friday, March 15, CESR will send 19 of its finest to join about 100 fellow business students from schools such as MIT and Harvard in Omaha, Neb., where they will hear from Warren Buffett and tour Berkshire Hathaway's facilities.

Does an 'A' in Ethics Have Any Value?

The Wall Street Journal

February 6, 2013

Dean Ikenberry and the Leeds School of business are referenced in this article about the recent surge in efforts to tie ethics and moral principles into business programs.

Social Responsibility Sets Business Students Apart

Daily Camera

January 17, 2013

The Center for Education on Social Responsibility is encouraging professors throughout Leeds to incorporate ethics into their business classes in an effort to set CU students apart.

Learning to Do the Right Thing - Right Here, Right Now

Business Ethics Magazine

January 16, 2013

Donna Sockell, Director of the Center for Education on Social Responsibility, writes an article for the Business Ethics Magazine about the importance of teaching students, our future business leaders, the everyday application of ethics.

Past Events

Event

Global Water Challenge

April 27, 2013

9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Auraria Campus
Downtown Denver

Global Health Connections, Inc. is looking for volunteer mentors and judges for our upcoming Global Water Challenge.

More Info

Conference

Conscious Capitalism Conference 2013

April 17, 2013

Stadium Club
CU-Boulder

Map & Directions

The 4th Annual Conscious Capitalism Conference—Business Reinvented: Transforming Lives took place Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at the beautiful Stadium Club on the CU Boulder campus. The Center for Education on Social Responsibility (CESR) at CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business hosts the conference which gathers business students from universities across our region, as well as attendees from the wider business community and non-profit arena, to learn how talented leaders have used the traditional tools of capitalism to serve social needs. The goal of the conference is to challenge and inspire tomorrow’s business leaders to fuse business fundamentals with service to the greater good.

The conference was part of CESR Stampede: A Week of Driving Values in Business, a high-profile week of events featuring case competitions, classroom visits, speakers, panels and other special events related to CESR.

Schedule

Thanks for another great conference!

Video Footage of Conference Sessions 2013

Colorado Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Symposium

March 19–20, 2013

Discovery Learning Center
University of Colorado Boulder

A platform for enlightening, encouraging and challenging discussions about global water, sanitation, and hygiene issues.

More Info

Conference

Conscious Capitalism Conference 2012

March 7, 2012

8:45 am – 3:30 pm

Wolf Law
Courtroom 250
2450 Kittredge Loop Road
Boulder, CO 80309

The Conscious Capitalism Conference challenges the thinking and stimulates the creativity of great business leaders of tomorrow by exposure to great business leaders who have made values-driven choices today.

Event

Former Governor Jim Edgar

October 10, 2011

Jim Edgar served as the 38th Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999, and has been recognized for having one of the most ethical administrations in that state's recent history. Former Governor Edgar spoke with CESR's leadership challenges course this past October.

Conference

Conscious Capitalism Conference 2011

March 2, 2011

Wolf Law Building
University of Colorado Boulder

In partnership with ICOSA Magazine and Colorado State University, the Center for Education on Social Responsibility presented the second annual Conscious Capitalism Conference on Wednesday March 2nd, 2011. The Conscious Capitalism Conference challenged the thinking and stimulated the creativity of great business leaders of tomorrow by exposure to great business leaders who have made values-driven choices today. CESR assembled an influential group of business leaders and entrepreneurs who have created remarkable enterprises. These business people and entrepreneurs spoke from personal passion and experience about how they used the traditional tools of capitalism to serve a social need. All who attended the conference were motivated and inspired by these great leaders.

Publications

Research

Crafting sustainable work: development of personal resources

May 2011

Author: David B. Balkin

The aim of this paper is to conceptualize employees’ sustainable work abilities, or their long-term adaptive and proactive abilities to work, farewell at work, and contribute through working. Sustainable work is defined as to promote the development in personal resources leading to sustainable work ability.

Read/Download

Full Publication

Research

Benign Violations : Making Immoral Behavior Funny

June 2010

Author: A. Peter McGraw

Humor is an important, ubiquitous phenomenon; however, seemingly disparate conditions seem to facilitate humor. We integrate these conditions by suggesting that laughter and amusement result from violations that are simultaneously seen as benign.

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Research

Escaping the green prison: Entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for sustainable development

October 2009

Author: David S. Payne

While entrepreneurial activity has been an important force for social and ecological sustainability; its efficacy is dependent upon the nature of market incentives. This limitation is sometimes explained by the metaphor of the prisoner's dilemma, which we term the green prison.

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Research

Threat or coping appraisal: determinants of SMB executives’ decision to adopt anti-malware software

March 2009

Author: Kai R. Larsen

This study presents an empirical investigation of factors affecting small- and medium-sized business (SMB) executives’ decision to adopt anti-malware software for their organizations.

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Case Studies

Case Study

Namasté Solar: Making a Business of Values / Redefining Management

May 2011

Authors: Hailey Broderick, Heather Lowry, Nicholas Mooney, and Dr. Donna Sockell

Namasté Solar is a leading Colorado solar installer in the residential market. Colorado’s favorable market conditions attract new competitors, putting pressures on price and market share. Unusual management structure and values systems, and public incentive structures complicate a pending decision to grow the residential market or develop a commercial installation business. Students must analyze the solar market, public incentive structures and financial scenarios to decide how this renewable energy company should grow.

This case contains a selection of three case studies that can be used to: Discuss a company’s core values, culture, and vision and examine how the corporate culture should be maintained or adjusted as the company experiences rapid growth; and to analyze target market selection in the context of competition, financial returns, and core competencies.

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CESR Stampede: A Week of Driving Values in Business

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December 2012 Newsletter

Businessweek

Dean David Ikenberry and CESR Director Donna Sockell discuss the need for today's business schools to infuse ethics and social impact considerations into every aspect of the curricula.
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A Glimpse of CESR

Watch a recent video highlighting CESR's mission of "One to Many".
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It's Not Just About Me

A new service and outreach program at the Leeds School of Business involving a curricular or extracurricular project that serves the greater good.
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