Escaping the Label Maker
I loved college.
The carefree parties, the amazing people, the memorable late night conversations. For nerds like me, I also just loved learning new things. But what REALLY made it special, was the feeling that you had the potential to be anything.
One fall semester, I enrolled in a "Technosonics" class (digital music making), a "Data and Culture" class (data science to analyze literature and media), and a Buddhist Meditation class. None had anything to do with my major, but I cherished the opportunity to explore different parts of myself. And It's worth celebrating the fact that the human mind can be interested in so many different things at once.
But then you graduate, and you inherit a label.
"Medical student", "Investment banker", "Data analyst", "Researcher"... We get collapsed often into what we do for work. For those of us who can't protect the time to preserve strong hobbies in our spare hours, we can become a flattened version of ourselves. We look inside and see the superstate of everything we could have been has stabilized into a single thing--interesting or not. That's not to say we're sad about our careers--I think most people can find ways to take pride in them. But we can't help but mourn the things we could have been.
Years pass and, just as we feel ourselves sinking further and further into our labels, a quiet voice beckons from the back of our minds:
....business school?
Ah, yes! You've heard of it, no doubt. In its most simplified, it's 2 years of blissful social drinking and learning how to read a P&L. But more profoundly, it's an opportunity to develop as a leader, meet an incredible community of professionals, explore new ideas, and learn how to be an operator in this commercial world we live in. Business School lets people be generalists again, unstick yourself from your label, shake up the magic eight ball one more time and see what Shrodinger's career path has in store.
That's a beautiful thing.
Over the years, I've met people truly transformed by their MBA experience: an oil & gas field engineer turned into a climate venture capital investor, a high school teacher turned into a charter school reformer, a construction foreman turned into a Fortune 500 strategy consultant. The list goes on and on.
But business schools face very meaningful drawbacks:
Elitism: a lot of the value from a B-school degree comes from the network that matriculates, thereby solidifying elite networks in the top ranks of corporate, innovation, and policy worlds
Cost and Discrimination: top B-schools are >$200k for the 2 years, with an opportunity cost (not earning income) that many can't afford, even if they get a full scholarship. This leads to socioeconomic discrimination.
Commercialism: The curriculum is mostly weighted toward for-profit business leadership, with limited exposure to other essential organization types (nonprofits, cooperative models, community organizations...)
Alignment to Social Good: Given the expensive tuition, most grads feel compelled to seek more lucrative jobs after graduation, to recoup their investment. Unfortunately these don't necessarily correspond to the jobs most needed in society. 78% of Harvard's 2022 class went into Finance (Private Equity, Banking, etc.), Consulting, or Tech:
MBAs constitute one of the most valuable stocks of human capital on the planet, and they remain for the most part an escalator for the managerial elite. Does this feel like the right balance of careers they should feed into?
Re-designing the MBA for our most pressing global challenge: Sustainability
Society is at the cusp of reinventing the way it produces, distributes, and consumes goods and services, within the ecological boundaries of the planet. Some people call it Natural Capitalism, others call it Doughnut Economics.
But whatever the name, it's changing everything, and creating tremendous opportunity for those who want purpose AND career growth. I've written a lot about that here.
But we need a way to help people across disciplines--whether business folks, marketers, software engineers, lawyers, bankers, artists, scientists, community organizers--develop as leaders, learn about this new economy (and the models of organization that will enable it), explore careers, and chart a path that has potential and purpose.
This approach needs to be accessible to anyone, regardless of personal or professional background, "pedigree", or financial constraints. And it needs to provide the foundational understanding of the sustainable economy and skills to responsibly lead organizations, of any type--for profit, nonprofit, community-based...
I call it the EcoMBA. It's a 3-4 month sustainability leadership development experience, done while traveling, to activate a passion to embark on a sustainability-focused career.
Let me tell you more about it.
What is it?
The program has seven components:
Academics (Business AND Sustainability): Understanding the fundamentals that drive organizations, and the many disciplines that connect to sustainability. From economics and political science, to ecology and urban planning, there's a lot of areas that are worth exploring. This part of the program will consist of a syllabus of books, articles, and online educational material and media.
Travel: Travel hones priceless skills (problem solving, adaptability, etc.) and builds profound connections with people who can change the way you think. But it can also activate a passion for sustainability. Seeing the impact of climate change around the world--especially in the developing world--is a profound learning and motivating experience. EcoMBA participants are expected to travel for their first term (8 weeks), at least, and apply a sustainability lens to their trip. In Central America that could mean learning about how storms are causing dislocation and climate refugees (often US-bound), or studying how eco-tourism does or doesn't work in Costa Rica. In South and Southeast Asia, that could be learning about energy independence or crop failure in the Himalayas, pollution and waste management in India, or biodiversity conservation in Indonesia. No matter where you've always dreamed of traveling, it can become a sustainability experience.
Activism: A big part of sustainability is learning what forms of engagement work for you. Whether that's changing your lifestyle (shifting your diet, going solar...), writing your representatives to make your voice heard, or volunteering with activist groups, there's a lot of ways to get active. The EcoMBA will provide resources and direction to help you find the right opportunities.
Work: Lots of climate challenges demand solutions that scale. Working at a startup or large corporate environment (commercial or nonprofit, interning or full time) is a great way to see how these scalable solutions get built, and how to operate in a corporate environment that's beholden to the demands of growth. Whether that's sales, finance, fundraising, design, software engineering, legal... there's lots of domains to hone in on professional skills, while also exploring sustainability careers. The goal of our program is to have you graduate with an offer in hand, or a clear sense of your professional next steps.
Volunteering: Unlike corporate or global missions, many sustainability challenges are local in scope and community-specific, benefitting from volunteers who drive change locally. These are often volunteer-driven projects based on principles of mutual aid. Examples include working in regenerative community agriculture (like WOOFing), working for a state green corps (example), or volunteering at local groups doing energy efficiency, biodiversity, or green infrastructure work (example). The Biden administration also launched a Climate Corps, to accelerate skill-building in this area. We help our participants find a volunteer experience to get them connected to sustainability in their own backyard.
Leadership and Self Improvement: A big part of traditional MBA programs is personal growth. But beyond leadership books and case studies (the classic curriculum), this could also include working on public speaking, or establishing a meditation practice to help manage emotions. The pillars above are also designed to reinforce this: activism, internships, and volunteer work are ways to flex various leadership muscles not taught in typical MBA programs.
Coaching and Career Guidance: The EcoMBA unifies all the above experiences based on participant's personal skills, passions, and values. Through 1:1 coaching, we help people crystalize their interests, get the most out of their experiences (travel, volunteering, activism), and dial in an effective post-program job search that aligns with skills and interests, with a clear execution plan to break into that career.
The EcoMBA program will look different for every person, and that diversity is designed to enrich learning experience for everyone.
How to know if the EcoMBA for you?
Everyone deserves a chance to escape the label maker and redefine themselves through passion and purpose.
The EcoMBA is not a sustainability bootcamp or course. There are several great programs out there focused on developing depth of sustainability expertise. If that is what you're looking for exclusively, I'd encourage you to visit our friends at Terra.do or Climatebase.
Rather, the EcoMBA is a leadership development experience, rooted in sustainability. It is more similar in goals to an MBA program than anything else. And I think it is the most accessible, approachable, educational, and fun way imaginable to do that. Let's compare:
To be clear, traditional MBAs remain tremendously valuable. Primarily in the high-power networks they create, as well as the breadth of educational and career support that large institutions can bring to bear.
On the other hand, the EcoMBA is for you if you're somebody who:
Is interested in the challenges and opportunities of sustainability
Isn't fulfilled enough by your work and is open to leaving your job (whether to switch professions, or find an organization that aligns better with your values)
Can't afford business school tuition, or the opportunity cost of sacrificing 2 years of work
Has no need for the highly elite network that an MBA grants access to (which is arguably what you are actually paying for)
Is motivated by a purpose-first pedagogy that explores the diverse models of impactful organizations (not just the capitalist or corporate model)
Is adventurous and open to untraditional experiences to achieve personal transformation
Cares less about a formal degree or credential
In short, this program can serve anyone looking to
develop themselves,
have transformational travel and volunteer experiences, and
find out how to integrate sustainability more deeply into their lives and livelihoods.
The EcoMBA is a pedagogy, resource hub, coaching program, and--ultimately--community to empower people to develop as a leader while finding a sustainable livelihood that works for them.
Where do I sign up?
Applications for the EcoMBA's pilot cohort are officially launched! You can apply here.
Applications close December 30th. Space is limited, and applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling and competitive basis--so apply soon! We expect the inaugural cohort to kick off in February.
Have any friends friends who you think may be interested? Feel free to share and repost!
More information about the curriculum, schedule, and application process can be found on our website. And give us a shout if you have any questions not answered in our FAQ.
We're excited to hear from you 🙏
What a program! Congratulations on the launch, you will do big things and nurture the next generation of climate & sustainability leaders!