This four-week online certificate course is for individuals who want to be hands-on with sustainability policy within a company, better understand what sustainability means to their specific role within a company, grasp fundamental sustainability concepts and jargon, and learn how to add value to support your company’s and career’s success.
A sustainable enterprise is defined as any human endeavor with the integration of three interconnected dimensions (environmental, social, and economic) and whose collective actions meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This course aims to help students advance their careers. Success requires a systems view of the world that extends beyond the enterprise level so that business leaders can create sustainable environmental, social, and financial value for their organizations and society.
Course topics include:
- Introduction to sustainable enterprise solutions
- Ecological degradation and social inequality
- Sustainable enterprise in context
- Drivers for sustainability solutions
- Realistic sustainability solutions
- Supply chain and its effects on sustainability
The curriculum features a self-paced study with lectures that act as deep dives into each element of sustainability. The course culminates with an immersive case study where students will evaluate a company’s published statement about its sustainability report during the course.
Students who complete the course will receive 12 continuing education credits (CEUs).
Schedule
Spring 2023 dates TBD.
The course will be a mix of pre-recorded lectures and live lectures via Zoom. The lectures will be recorded for those unable to attend.
About the Instructor
Karr McCurdy has over 35 years of geologic and project development experience combined with executive management, finance, and technical advisory. Currently, he is a Partner of Rock Elm Capital, a commodities-focused alternative investment and advisory firm.
Karr was CEO of minerals industry advisor Behre Dolbear and served as global head of mining and metals for Standard Chartered Bank and Citigroup. He has completed over 200 transactions valued at over $100 billion and has personally visited hundreds of development projects and operating sites worldwide. As a geologist, he helped discover and develop the world-class Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic.
Karr earned an MBA from Thunderbird and a BSc (geology) from Michigan. He serves on the boards of Bacchus Capital, a London-based investment banking boutique, Pivot Industries, a Denver-based technology start-up providing a collaborative SaaS platform for subject-matter experts working with capital-intensive industries, HonestDig, a technology start-up providing IoT and DLT technology solutions to stakeholders in the extractive industries, the Alumni Advisory Board of the University of Michigan’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Nomadic Venture Partners, a climate tech venture capital fund, and non-profit community organizations in Denver, Colorado.
