A Lesson in Green Careers: Leveraging Business Skills for the Greater Good
This February 23rd marked Babson’s 10th Annual Green Careers Summit sponsored by Mark Donohue, Chairman & CEO of Sheffield Pharmaceuticals and Senior Fellow in Social Innovation at Babson College, and The Graduate Center for Career Development. Students interested in “Green Careers” were granted the opportunity to connect with professionals from Clean Tech, Energy, Impact Investing and Sustainability to receive executive coaching while expanding their network.
During his Welcome remarks, Mark Donohue commented: “Technologies like 3D Printing, Robotics, Infinite Computing, Big & Infinite Data, AI/Cognitive Intelligence, Genomics, life extension, IoT and sensors, Drones, Advanced Materials, Nextgen Renewable Energy, billions of new smart phone users, and many more innovations, will redefine your career path and redefine the dimensions of sustainability and consumption itself, as many ‘things’ become dematerialized, and democratized as they effectively become free, such as the Internet.” Affirming the critical need for corporations to embrace sustainability for twenty-first century business.
This year’s nine coaches included CEOs, innovators, entrepreneurs and senior execs with a shared vision focused on change for social good:
Sissi Liu, Head of N. American Business Development at Joule Unlimited
Eric Graham, Founder & CEO of CrowdComfort
John Chaimanis, Managing Director for Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure
Conor Carlin, Sales & Marketing Manager, CMT Materials, Inc.
Jacqueline Ashmore, Lead, Techbridge, Fraunhofer USA
Jeff McAulay, Sr. Manager of Strategic Partnerships at EnerNOC
Paul Nace, Chief Development Officer, Biofine
Robert Goodof, Principal at Seaview Advisors
Mark Donohue, Chairman & CEO of Sheffield Pharmaceuticals and Senior Fellow in Social Innovation at Babson College
About 20 undergraduate and graduate students from Babson College participated in the coaching session where they received tips on how to network, interview, and position themselves as candidates for careers in CleanTech. Chris Dowd, MBA Class of 2016 and co-president for the Energy Student Club said “[the conversation with my coach was] all part of a wider map for me…it was a conversation that helps me as I address my career goals and do outreach this month.”
Students deliver their Financing Sustainability pitches for Prof. Richard Bliss’ class at the BEEC
After the coaching session, an additional 25 students from Prof. Richard Bliss’s Financing Sustainability class attended the Green Careers dinner. Hosted at the Babson Executive Education Center, student teams delivered their Financing & Valuing Sustainability Rocket Pitches and the coaches acted as judges. Dowd said “It was a really unique opportunity to learn from leaders in the field. It was directed and practical but also congenial since there was a great Babson presence and dinner afterwards.” In conclusion, this event showcased one of Babson’s many unique features as a small campus in Wellesley, MA with great impact. We look forward to next year’s summit!